Tatyana Lioznova | |
|---|---|
 Lioznova in 2000 | |
| Born | Tatyana Moiseyevna Lioznova (1924-07-20)20 July 1924 |
| Died | 29 September 2011(2011-09-29) (aged 87) Moscow,Russia |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1948–1986 |
| Awards | People's Artist of the USSR |
Tatyana Mikhailovna Lioznova (Russian:Татьяна Михайловна Лиознова; 20 July 1924 – 29 September 2011) was a Sovietfilm director andscreenwriter best known for her TV seriesSeventeen Moments of Spring (1973).[1]
Tatyana Lioznova was born in Moscow to parents Moses Alexandrovich (Russian: Моисей Александрович) and Ida Israilevna (Russian: Ида Израилевна). Her father worked as an economic engineer, but died in the early years of WWII, known in Russia as theGreat Patriotic War. She was raised by her mother, who had a limited education, but worked hard to provide for her daughter.[2]
Lioznova never had children of her own, but had an adopted daughter, Lyudmila Lisina.[3]
In 2011, Lioznova died in Moscow, and is buried next to her mother in Moscow'sDonskoye Cemetery.[2]
Lioznova spent one semester at theMoscow Aviation Institute during the war, but ultimately decided on a different career path, and in 1943 began attending the Russian State University of Cinematography, the world's oldest film school, now known as theGerasimov Institute of Cinematography. Lioznova was lucky enough to get into a workshop led by famed directorSergei Gerasimov and his wife, Soviet actressTamara Makarova.[4]
Following her graduation, Lioznova struggled to find work in the world of cinematography, and worked on custom sewing projects with her mother. She was able to find a job working as a handyman at a film studio, and worked in any position she was able to.[4]
Her former mentor, Sergei Gerasimov, hired her as an assistant on several projects, and Lioznova spent eight years assisting other directors in their work before her own breakthrough.[4]
Lioznova's breakthrough came in 1958, with the debut of her first film,Memory of the Heart.[5]
All of Lioznova's features – fromThree Poplars in Plyushchikha (1967), a cult film of the 1960s, to her last movie,Carnival (1981), – are distinguished by open narratives, psychologically penetrating close-ups, and poignant musical scores.
The subtle and touching dramaThree Poplars in Plyushchikha (1967) sprouted fromAleksandra Pakhmutova’s song “Tenderness”. This story of a nearly sprung love of a taxi driver and a married peasant woman won the hearts of Russian viewers, just likeCasablanca gained the love of Americans.
In 1971, Lioznova began work on a television series entitledSeventeen Moments of Spring (Russian: Семнадцать мгновений весны), which aired in 1973 and became one of the most successful Soviet spy thrillers ever made. The twelve-part series gathered a cult following and won several state awards.[6]
Lioznova's final film released in 1986,The End of the World, followed by a symposium (Russian: Конец света с последующим симпозиумом), was an adaptation of a play by American writer,Arthur Kopit, for which Lioznova wrote the original script.[6]
She becamePeople's Artist of the USSR in 1984.[7]
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Lioznova did not shoot any more films.[8]
Lioznova devoted many efforts and much time to teaching. Among the students of Professor Lioznova there are a lot of cinematographers well-known today.
Lioznova was Jewish and was a member of theAnti-Zionist Committee of the Soviet Public from 1983 to the closing of Committee in 1994.[9]
On July 20, 2020,Google celebrated her 96th birthday with aGoogle Doodle.[10]
A plaque on the facade of theGorky Film Studio building was dedicated to Lioznova in 2016 as a memorial to the director and the forty years she spend working for the studio.[11]
