Mark Donskoy

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Semyonovich and the family name is Donskoy.
For other uses, see Donskoy (disambiguation).

Mark Donskoy
Марк Донской
Donskoy (center) in 1963
Born(1901-03-06)March 6, 1901
Odesa, Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine)
DiedMarch 21, 1981(1981-03-21) (aged 80)
Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Occupation(s)Film director, screenwriter
Years active1926–1981

Mark Semyonovich Donskoy[a] (6 March [O.S. 21 February] 1901 – 21 March 1981) was a Soviet film director, screenwriter, and studio administrative head.[1][2][3]

Biography

[edit]

Mark Donskoy was born in Odessa in a Jewish family. During the Civil War, he served in the Red Army (1921-1923), and was held captive by the White Russians for ten months. After he was freed, he was discharged from military service.

He studied psychology and psychiatry at the Crimean Medical School. In 1925 he graduated from the legal department of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Crimean M.V. Frunze University in Simferopol. He worked in investigative bodies, in the Supreme Court of the Ukrainian SSR, and in the bar association. He published a collection of short stories drawn from his life called "Prisoners" (1925).[3]

Donskoy began his career in film in 1926. He worked in the script department, but soon advanced as an assistant director in Moscow. Later he worked in Leningrad as an editing assistant. In 1935 he became the first Soviet dubbing director; he dubbed the American film The Invisible Man.

Following this, he directed numerous films. He also worked from time to time as a studio administrator: in 1938–1941, and in 1945-1955 he was the administrative director of Soyuzdetfilm's film studio in Moscow; in 1942-1945 and in 1955-1957 he was director of the Kiev film studio; after 1957, he was director and art director of the Maxim Gorky film studio where he mentored Ousmane Sembène.[4]

His wife was the screenwriter Irina Borisovna Donskaya [ru] (1918–1983).

Selected filmography

[edit]

Honours and awards

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Russian: Марк Семёнович Донской, romanized: Mark Semyonovich Donskoy

References

[edit]
  1. ^ " Величие в рамках советского" (retrieved 20 January 2019)
  2. ^ Richard Taylor, Nancy Wood, Julian Graffy, Dina Iordanova (2019). The BFI Companion to Eastern European and Russian Cinema. Bloomsbury. p. 1934. ISBN 978-1838718497.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ a b Peter Rollberg (2009). Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema. US: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 181–184. ISBN 978-0-8108-6072-8.
  4. ^ Gadjigo, Samba; Silverman, Jason (10 June 2021). "'Father of African cinema' Ousmane Sembène at work – in pictures". The Guardian. London.
[edit]


Stub icon

This article about a Soviet film director is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Stub icon

This Ukrainian biographical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mark_Donskoy&oldid=1254016740"