Sergey Gerasimov(1906-1985)

Sergei Gerasimov was born in the village of Kundravy in Urals area of the Russian Empire, in 1906. He studied at the Leningrad College of Arts and graduated from the Actors Department of the Leningrad Institute for Stage Arts in 1928. He started his film career in 1924 as an actor, continued as an assistant director and joined the "FEKS" film group, under the leadership of Grigoriy Kozintsev, Leonid Trauberg, and Sergei Yutkevich. He taught acting class at Lenfilm Studios, and employed his students in his film Seven Brave Men (1936), which became a success. His student Tamara Makarova became his wife and partner in film-works.

Sergei Gerasimov directed the 1945 Victory Parade on the Red Square in Moscow. His apprentice, Nikolai Rozantsev, became a reputable Russian director. His students Sergey Bondarchuk, Inna Makarova, Sergei Gurzo, Lyudmila Shagalova, Nonna Mordyukova, Vyacheslav Tikhonov became instant celebrities after the success of his film The Young Guard (1948). His most acclaimed work was the epic film Quiet Flows the Don (1957), based on the eponymous book by Mikhail Sholokhov. A crowning finale to his career was the biographical film Lev Tolstoy, in which Gerasimov starred as the famous Russian writer. The oldest film school in the world, VGIK, is named after Sergei Gerasimov.