People's Artist of the USSR
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.
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
- Georgian SSR საქართველოს სსრ სახალხო არტისტი
- Azerbaijan SSR Азәрбајҹан ССР халг артисти
- 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, the first female pop-singer to be honored with this award.
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.
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. In all, there was 1010 recipients of the award.
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 first female singer who was ever awarded the title became Sofia Rotaru in 1986. 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), comedians (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.
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.
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)
See also
- Category:People's Artists of the USSR - list of recipients
- Category:People's Artists of the USSR (visual arts) - list of recipients
- Hero of Socialist Labour - the highest civilian decoration in the USSR
- People's Artist
- Meritorious Artist