Vasily Makarovich Shukshin

Vasily Makarovich Shukshin – a Soviet film actor, film director, screenwriter and writer. Vasily Shukshin was born in the Altai village of Srostki into a peasant family. After finishing school, Shukshin worked as a mechanic and served in the Baltic Fleet. Returning home, he became the director of the evening school in his native village. From 1954 Vasily Makarovich lived in Moscow and graduated from the directing faculty of VGIK. In 1959 he began writing short stories and published a collection titled 'Village Residents'. In 1964 Shukshin directed the film 'There Is Such a Guy' based on his own screenplay. The film received the prestigious 'Golden Lion' prize at the Venice International Film Festival.

In 1973–1974 Vasily Shukshin reached a creative peak. His film 'The Red Snowball Tree' was awarded the top prize at the All-Union Film Festival. A collection of stories titled 'Characters' was published. Director Georgy Tovstonogov was preparing a production of the play 'Energetic People' on the stage of the Leningrad Academic Bolshoi Drama Theater (LABDT). Shukshin also received an invitation to appear in a film by Sergey Bondarchuk. However, long-standing health problems cast a shadow over this period. Vasily Shukshin died at the age of 45 from a myocardial infarction during the filming of 'They Fought for Their Country' on the river ship 'Dunay'. His body was found by his close friend Georgy Burkov. On October 7, 1974, Vasily Shukshin was buried at Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.

Vasily Shukshin was awarded the title Honored Art Worker of the RSFSR (1969), and he also became the laureate of prestigious awards: the Lenin Prize (1976, posthumously), the USSR State Prize (1971) and the RSFSR State Prize named after the Vasilyev brothers (1967).