Multifaceted talent allowed this personImmediately realized in several creative professions. He is an eminent theater artist, portraitist, director, and teacher. Of course, this is the well-known Nikolai Petrovich Akimov. About him said that he stood out from the crowd by the fact that when he started talking, he overshadowed all the men of the "Apollonian" appearance.
His creative path, like many otherscreative people, was not iridescent and cloudless. Akimov Nikolai experienced both ups and downs, but he never for a moment forgot about his great goal, which was to serve the arts. And he achieved it.
Nikolai Akimov is a native of Kharkov(Ukraine). He was born on April 16, 1901 in the family of a railwayman, and when the boy was 9 years old, the Akimovs had to move to Tsarskoe Selo, as the head of the family was transferred to a new place of work.
After a while a young man with his parentsis in the "city on the Neva". It was in St. Petersburg that he awoke a real interest in the fine arts. There Akimov Nikolai becomes a student of the evening drawing school of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists. In 1915, a teenager comprehends the basics of fine art in the studio of SM Seidenberg, and after a while continues painting training at the New Art Studio under the leadership of MV Dobuzhinsky, AE Yakovlev, and VI Shukhaev.
In 1919, at home in his homeland Akimov Nikolaitakes part in the exhibition and sale of works by eminent masters of drawing: AM Lyubimov, VD Ermilov, M. Sinyakova-Urechina, Z. Serebryakova. Also at the event were landscapes of beginning illustrators.
By that time, Nikolai Akimov (artist) had already worked in the workshop of Proletkult's poster in Petrograd.
In the period from 1920 to 1922, the young man taught at the Higher Courses of Political Enlightenment Workers in Kharkov.
In his youth Akimov realizes himself and howbook illustrator. In 1927, a major exhibition of his works took place, visitors of which could personally enjoy how masterfully the maestro was able to decorate popular editions of that time.
In the early 20's a young man was invitedwork in the Kharkov Children's Theater as an artist-designer. His debut in this field was the play "Heroic deeds of Hercules" (A. Beletsky). Then Nikolai Pavlovich was entrusted with the work in the production of "Alinur" (based on O. Wilde's fairy tale "The Star Boy").
In 1923 he came to the Higherartistic and technical workshops. Here he begins decorating activities in the play "Give Hamlet" (N. Evreinov). Soon the young man starts to cooperate with the "Melpomene Small Form Temples", namely: "Free Comedy", "Musical Comedy" and "Modern Theater".
In 1924, Akimov decorated the production"Virgin Forest" (E. Toller), which successfully went to the Bolshoi Drama Theater. Nikolai Petrovich also designed the play "Lake Lyul" (A. Fayko), staged at the Academic Drama Theater.
In addition, the maestro worked on a play by the notorious A. Fiko "Evgraf - an adventurer", which theater people could contemplate on the stage of the 2nd Moscow Art Theater.
At that time Akimov Nikolai Pavlovich (artist) came up with his first theatrical posters.
The maestro was held not only in the profession of an illustrator. He became famous and thanks to his directorial works.
In 1932, Akimov made his debut with the classical play "Hamlet", which premiered on the stage of the Theater. E. Vakhtangova.
A year later, Nikolai Pavlovich offered to become the chief director of the Leningrad Music Hall, and he agrees.
He creates an experimental workshop and putsperformance "The shrine of marriage (E. Labish). Occupying an honorary post in the music hall, director Akimov Nikolai Pavlovich tries to create a "permanent" creative team, and the repertoire of the theater is made diverse in genre. With his wards, he spent a lot of time acting, wishing to educate in them the actors who would be able to play diverse roles. However, he had to leave the above-mentioned "Melpomene temple", because he had disagreements with his leadership. Their essence boiled down to the following: the maestro was not allowed to stage a play based on E. Schwartz's play The Princess and the Swineherd.
After leaving the music hall, Nikolai Pavlovichdid not remain without work for a long time. In 1935 he began to lead the Leningrad Comedy Theater (satire). For the sake of justice, it should be noted that this theater at that time was going through far from the best of times: the viewer did not want to visit the institution with a rather monotonous repertoire. It was Akimov who managed to make a colossal reform in the internal life of the comedy theater.
In just one year he made the theater unrecognizable:Nikolai Pavlovich breathed into him a "second life", and even the word "comedy" began to be written with a capital letter. Anisimov's "K" still appears in theatrical programs.
The premiere, held with triumph, was staged onefor one. On the stage of the Comedy Theater, he was able to translate into reality his old plans. Nikolai Petrovich has long wanted to put famous plays by E. L. Schwartz and did it. So there were performances "Dragon" and "Shadow". The repertoire of the theater included classical performances, such as: "The Dog in the Manger" (Lopa de Vega), "The Twelfth Night" (William Shakespeare), "The Sinology School" (Richard Sheredan). Nikolai Akimov, whose photo was regularly published in newspapers covering the cultural life of Leningrad in the 1930s, actively experimented in his "patrimony". In the theater of Comedy, he picked up a new cast, saying goodbye to Prima Granovskaya and refusing to cooperate with the Russian tenor Leonid Utesov. In the troupe he invited inexperienced but promising actors, some of whom worked in the theatrical studio "Experiment". In particular, Nikolai Akimov (director) invited Irina Zarubina, Boris Tenin, Sergei Filippov, Alexander Beniaminov to his team. All of them became well-known figures in the art of reincarnation. The sketches of the costumes that the maestro came up with were as much as possible consistent with the actors he claimed for the role. Naturally, Nikolai Pavlovich himself worked on theatrical posters, not trusting this matter to anyone else.
At the end of the 30-ies, the Melpomene Church he led became a favorite place for leisure for the theater-goers of the "city on the Neva".
When the Great Patriotic War began,the Comedy Theater troupe continued to give performances for some time, but already in the building of the BDT, since only there were bomb shelters. About 30 artists took up arms and went to fight with the enemy. The theater was evacuated to the Caucasus, where the director staged as many as 16 premiere performances.
In the late 1940s, Soviet officials accusedmaestro in Westernism and a formal approach to art, after which he was removed from the post of head of the theater. Nikolai Petrovich was left without work, but he was left in the trouble of his "colleagues in the shop" - N. Cherkasov, N. Okhlopkov, B. Tenin, helping him financially. During this period of the biography the maestro turns to painting and begins to paint portraits. He will create unique images of the above friends.
But already in 1952 Akimov will return to the director'swork, putting on the stage of the theater. Lensoveta performances "Delo" (Sukhovo-Kobylina) and "Shadows" (M. Saltykov-Shchedrin). Four years later, Nikolai Pavlovich again take the reins of the theater Comedy in their own hands.
Akimov was also known as a talented teacher.In 1955 he will come to teach young artists the stage skills to the Leningrad Theatrical Institute. There he will establish an artistic and production department, which later will lead.
Through his brainchild he will bring up not a single pleiad of masters of theatrical art. In 1960, Nikolai Pavlovich was awarded the title of Professor of the LTI.
Back in the mid-fifties in the Soviet capitalan exhibition of theatrical posters of Akimov was organized. After a short time, he went to the capital of Belgium for the World Exhibition, where he received a silver medal for his services in art.
In 1963 in the "northern capital" and in 1965 in Moscow personal exhibitions of his works took place. The maestro was married to actress Yelena Junger, in marriage with whom he had a daughter, Nina.
Nikolai Pavlovich died on September 6, 1968, during the tour of the Comedy Theater. He was buried at Volkovsky Orthodox cemetery of St. Petersburg.
