65th birth anniversary of famous writer, playwright Alexander Vampilov

People say that "to become great, one should be unhappy". It often happens to talented people, for instance, to playwright Alexander Vampilov, who would have turned 65 on August 19th. He died at the age of 35 in August 1972.

Films and performances after his plays "Farewell in June", "Elder Son", "Duck Hunting", "Provincial Anecdotes", "Last Summer in Chulimsk" and "House, Overlooking the Field" became national classics. Best Russian actors performed in them. Best theatre and film directors stage them in Russia, Europe and all over the world.

A son of a repressed Buryat schoolmaster and a Russian teacher, he was called Alexander in honour of Pushkin, whose 100th death anniversary was celebrated in the year, when Vampilov was born. He came into literature after school, university and journalist work. He was long waiting for the popularity of his plays, which he had written by the age of 25. However, Moscow's creative intelligentsia didn't notice the young playwright, with the exception of some people who did their best to help him. For instance, famous film director Oleg Yefremov tried to promote Vampilov as a representative of ethnic minorities.

In 1966 Vampilov joined the Union of Writers and his "Farewell in July" was staged in Claipeda drama theatre /Lithuania/. "Elder Son" premiered in 1969. In 1971 it was on already in 28 theatres of the country and became the hit of the season. On August 17th, two days before his 35th birthday, Alexander Vampilov was killed in an accident on Lake Baikal (East Siberia). The playwright wrote in his note-book, "To win recognition, one has either to go away, or to die". He never wanted to leave Russia.