People's Artist of the USSR

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Maria Yermolova, first People's Artist of the Republic 1920.

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.

1 Nomenclature and significance
2 Performing arts
3 Visual arts
4 Other honored professions
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] 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.

Russian SFSR Народный артист РСФСР
Ukrainian SSR Народний артист Української РСР
Byelorussian SSR Народны артыст Беларускай ССР
Kazakh SSR Қазақ КСР-ң халық әртісі
Lithuanian SSR Lietuvos TSR liaudies artistas
Moldavian SSR артист ал попорулуй дин РСС Молдовеняскэ
Latvian SSR Latvijas PSR Tautas mākslinieks
Kyrgyz SSR Кыргыз ССР эл артисти
Estonian SSR Eesti NSV rahvakunstnik

Sofia Rotaru, for example, was named Distinguished Artist of the Ukrainian SSR in 1973, People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR in 1976, People's Artist of the Moldovian SSR in 1983, and finally People's Artist of the USSR in 1988.

As this title was granted by the government, honorees were afforded certain privileges and would often receive commissions from the Minister of Culture. Accordingly, artists and authors who expressed criticism of the Communist Party were seldom granted such recognition, if not outright censored.

Several of the sucessor states of the USSR still grant the award, namely Russia, Ukraine, and Armenia.

[edit] Performing arts

The title bestowed for exceptional achievements in performing arts in the former USSR. Its recipients include many of the most-acclaimed composers, dancers, singers, film and theatre directors and actors of every republic.

Valentina Leontieva, better known to the public as "Aunt Valya", was the only female TV presenter to be named People's Artist of the USSR.

The title was introduced in 1936, replacing an earlier title of "People's Artist of the Republic". The first recipient of the title was the actress Maria Yermolova. The last persons to be honoured with the title were Oleg Yankovsky and Alla Pugacheva, just hours before the Union's demise.

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., Dmitri Shostakovich), pop singers (e.g., Leonid Utyosov), comics (e.g., Arkady Raikin), and even clowns (e.g., Oleg Popov).

Normally, a person was named the People's Artist of the USSR after 40 years of age. Exception was made for ballet artists, e.g., Nadezhda Pavlova received the title at the age of 28. 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, Lyudmila Chursina, at age 40.

As of 2005, the earliest living recipients of the title were three ballet artists: Olga Lepeshinskaya 1951, Igor Moiseyev 1953, and Maya Plisetskaya 1959.

[edit] Visual arts

The title Народный художник СССР (People's Painter of the USSR) was awarded for exceptional achievements in certain visual arts: painting, sculpture, drawing, and photography.

[edit] Other honored professions

Architecture: Народный архитектор СССР (People's Architect of the USSR)
Literature: Народный писатель СССР (People's Writer of the USSR); Народный поэт СССР (People's Poet of the USSR, roughly equivalent to Poet Laureate)
Education: Народный учитель СССР (People's Teacher of the USSR)
Medicine: Народный врач СССР (People's Doctor of the USSR)