Yuri Lavrov

Biography

Yuri Sergeevich Lavrov was born in 1905, in St. Peterburg, Russian Empire. His father, named Sergei Vasilyevich Lavrov, was Director of Gymnasium of the Imperial Humanitarian Society in St. Petersburg; he emigrated to Belgrade after the Russian Revolution of 1917. His mother, named Elizaveta Akimovna, refused to emigrate and stayed home in Petrograd with her children. Young Yuri Lavrov was admitted to the troupe of Bolshoi Drama Theatre at the Age of 14. His stage costumes were designed by the legendary theatrical artist Alexandre Benois. In 1924, Yuri Lavrov joined the troupe of "Molodoi Theatre" in Leningrad. That same year he married actress Olga Gudim-Levkovich and they lived on Ozerny Pereulok in the historic district of Leningrad (St. Petersburg). Their son, Kirill Lavrov was born in Leningrad and baptized at the nearby Chirch of St. John the Divine of Leushinsky Monastery. At that time Yuri Lavrov was a promising young actor and his future career looked bright. He made his film debut at Lenfilm studio in 1928, in Tretya molodost (1929) by director Vladimir Shmidtgof. In the 1930s, Yuri Lavrov was shocked by a series of high-level political murders in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) and the following Great Purges under the dictatorship of Joseph Stalin. Stalin targeted intellectuals and cultural elite for the purpose of degrading the superior reputation of the former Russian capital by destruction of its culture and society. While the director of Bolshoi Drama Theatre (BDT) Aleksei Dikij was arrested and imprisoned, Yuri Lavrov managed to escape from Leningrad amidst the heat of the Stalinist repressions. From 1938-1968 Yuri Lavrov was a permanent member of the troupe at Kyiv State Russian Drama Theatre named after Lesya Ukrainka. During the years from 1941 - 1945 Yuri Lavrov was evacuated in Siberia because Kyiv was occupied by the Nazis in the Second World War. In 1945 Yuri Lavrov with the theatrical troupe returned to Kyiv. There, in 1950 he was joined by his son Kirill Lavrov who began his acting career in Kyiv. There father and son Lavrovs worked in the same troupe for five years until Kirill Lavrov was invited to join the troupe of the Bolshoi Drama Theatre (BDT) in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). Yuri Lavrov remained among the leading actors in Kyiv. He was honored with the title of People's Artist of the USSR in 1960, and received awards and decorations for his achievements in film and on stage. Yuri Lavrov died on August 20, 1980, and was laid to rest in Baikovo Cemetery in Kyiv, Ukraine.