People's Artist of the USSR, also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to citizens of the Soviet Union.
Nomenclature and significance
The term is confusingly used to translate two Russian language titles: Народный артист СССР (fem. Народная артистка СССР), awarded in performing arts and Народный художник СССР, granted in some visual arts.
Each Soviet Republic, as well as the Autonomous Republics (ASSRs), had a similar award held previously by virtually every receiver of the higher title of People's Artist of the USSR.
As this title was granted by the government, honorees were afforded certain privileges and would often receive commissions from the Minister of Culture of the Soviet Union. Accordingly, artists and authors who expressed criticism of the Communist Party were seldom granted such recognition, if not outright censored.
Performing arts
The title bestowed for exceptional achievements in performing arts in the former Soviet Union. Its recipients include many of the most-acclaimed composers, dancers, singers, film and theatre directors and actors of every republic. In all, there have been 1010 recipients of the award.
The title was introduced in 1936, replacing an earlier title of "People's Artist of the Republic". The first recipients of the title (6 September 1936) were Constantin Stanislavski, Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, Ivan Moskvin, Antonina Nezhdanova, Boris Shchukin, Kulyash Baiseitova and some other actors. The last persons to be honoured with the title were Sofia Pilyavskaya and Oleg Yankovsky (21 December 1991).
Originally, the title was bestowed on theatre actors, ballet dancers, and opera singers only. Gradually, it came to be bestowed upon film actors (e.g., Lyubov Orlova), composers (e.g., Arno Babajanian, Dmitri Shostakovich), violinist (e.g., Anahit Tsitsikian, David Oistrakh), pop singers (e.g., Leonid Utyosov), comedians (e.g., Arkady Raikin), and even a clown (Oleg Popov).
Normally, a person was named the People's Artist of the USSR after 40 years of age. Exceptions were made for dancers, e.g., Nadezhda Pavlova, a ballet artist, received the title at the age of 28, and Malika Kalantarova, a famous Bukharian Jewish folk dancer from Tajikistan, received the title at the age of 34.[1]
The youngest female persons to receive this title were Kazakh opera singers Kulyash Baiseitova (1936) and Halima Nasyrova (1937) (at the age of 24). The youngest men were Uzbek singer Batir Zakirov (1965) (at the age of 29),[2] followed by the Azerbaijani baritone operatic and pop singer Muslim Magomayev (1973) (at the age of 31). Among the actors, the youngest recipient was Sergey Bondarchuk (age 32). The youngest actress to receive the title was Yuri Andropov's daughter-in-law,[3] Lyudmila Chursina, at age 40.[4]
Sofia Rotaru, for example, was named Merited Artist of the Ukrainian SSR in 1973, People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR in 1976, People's Artist of the Moldavian SSR in 1983, an attained cumulation of People's Artist titles,[5] and finally People's Artist of the Soviet Union in 1988, the first female pop-singer to be honored with this award and the only one with three People's Artists.[6]
As of 2009, the earliest living[7] recipient is Turkmen opera singer Maya Kuliyeva (1955).
Visual arts
The title of People's Painter of the Soviet Union (Народный художник СССР) was awarded for exceptional achievements in certain visual arts: painting, sculpture, drawing, and photography. The lesser title of Meritorious Painter of the Soviet Union (Заслуженный художник СССР) was also awarded for achievement in these fields.
Other honored professions
- People's Architect of the Soviet Union: Народный архитектор СССР
- People's Writer of the Soviet Union: Народный писатель СССР
- People's Poet of the Soviet Union: Народный поэт СССР (roughly equivalent to Poet Laureate)
- People's Teacher of the Soviet Union: Народный учитель СССР
- People's Doctor of the Soviet Union: Народный врач СССР
See also
References
External links
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| | Civil medals |
- Medal "For Labour Valour"
- Medal "For Distinguished Labour"
- Medal "For the Salvation of the Drowning"
- Medal "For Courage in a Fire"
- Medal "Veteran of Labour"
- Medal "For the Restoration of the Donbass Coal Mines"
- Medal "For the Restoration of the Black Metallurgy Enterprises of the South"
- Medal "For the Development of Virgin Lands"
- Medal "For Construction of the Baikal-Amur Railway"
- Medal "For Transforming the Non-Black Earth of the RSFSR"
- Medal "For the Tapping of the Subsoil and Expansion of the Petrochemical Complex of Western Siberia"
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| | Jubilee medals |
- Jubilee Medal "XX Years of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army"
- Jubilee Medal "30 Years of the Soviet Army and Navy"
- Jubilee Medal "40 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
- Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
- Jubilee Medal "60 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
- Jubilee Medal "70 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
- Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
- Jubilee Medal "Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
- Jubilee Medal "Forty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
- Medal "In Commemoration of the 800th Anniversary of Moscow"
- Medal "In Commemoration of the 250th Anniversary of Leningrad"
- Medal "In Commemoration of the 1500th Anniversary of Kiev"
- Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Soviet Militia"
- Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary since the Birth of Vladimir Il'ich Lenin"
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