Pavel Antokolsky

Pavel Antokolsky (1896 - 1978) was a poet, translator and essayist. Born in St. Petersburg, his father was the great sculptor Mark Antokolsky, one of the first unconverted Jews to rise to the top of Russian culture.

Living in Moscow since 1904, Antokolsky entered the Law Faculty of Moscow University, but left after two years.

Starting from 1915 he acted on stage and in 1920 became the co-director of the studio of Evgeny Vakhtangov, where he remained until 1934. Antokolsky began to publish in 1918.

During the Great patriotic War, Antokolsky headed a front-line theatre and composed patriotic ballads and long poems, next to him being a correspondent for the "Komsomol Truth'.