Volodin, Aleksandr Moiseevich

(pseudonym of A. M. Lifshits). Born Feb. 10, 1919, in Minsk. Soviet Russian playwright.

Volodin graduated from the scenario department of the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography in 1949. He published a collection entitled Short Stories in 1954. Volodin is the author of the plays Factory Girl (staged in 1956), Five Evenings (1959), Visiting and at Home (1960), Elder Sister (1961; and the film of the same name, 1967), and The Assignment (1963). He also wrote the film scenarios The Bell Is Ringing, Open the Door (1965), Adventures of a Dentist (1966), The Mysterious Hindu (released under the title The Conjurer, 1968), and others. Describing persons in “insignificant” occupations, Volodin is opposed to routine, dogmatism, and philistine psychology; he advocates a man’s right to assert his purpose in life. Some of Volodin’s plays have been criticized by the press for elements of deheroizing reality. In 1971 the Moscow Art Theater staged Volodin’s new playDulcinea ofToboso, He has been awarded medals.