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==In The Spotlight==
 
==In The Spotlight==
  
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===ALEXANDRE PALISSE===
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===YURY NIKULIN===
  
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[[File:Palisse_in_costume.png|right|300px]]In the first half of the twentieth century, Alexandre Palisse (1876-1932) managed one of the best circuses touring the French provinces (and some bordering countries); in addition, his traveling equipment, which he conceived, was extremely innovative at the time and would inspire some of his competitors' way of touring. Palisse was also a clown, well known in Europe and South America for his spectacular costumes, his impeccable makeup, and his talent for training small animals. After his death in 1932, Jérôme Medrano bought and continued to exploit his elegant and revolutionary touring circus.
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Yury Nikulin (1921-1997) was the Soviet Union’s (and later, Russia’s) greatest and most beloved clown, as well as a remarkable and equally beloved screen actor; his performing career covered more than three decades, from 1948 to 1981. Upon his retirement from the ring, he became Director of Moscow's "Old Circus" on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, which he had entirely rebuilt (from 1985-1989) into a modern facility by a Finnish company, thus bringing that cherished Moscow institution into the modern age, and restoring its prominence on the Russian and European circus scenes at a critical moment in Russian history.
  
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Alexandre François Palisse was born in a circus family on November 17, 1876, during the family's stay in Saint-Chamond, an early industrial town in the Rhône-Alpes region of France. His father was Louis-Marius Palisse (1856-1891), an acrobat; his mother, Louise (1859-1895), née Bertoletti, was an equestrienne. Alexandre, who had a younger brother, Nicolas (1879-1938, an acrobat), was fifteen when he lost his father, and his mother died four years later: He had to help support his family at a young age, which developed in him earnestness and a sense of responsibility that was in no small part the reason of his success in life.
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Yury Vladimirovich Nikulin (Юрий Владимирович Никулин) was born in a theatrical family on December 18, 1921, in Demidov, a small town in the province of Smolensk, in northwest Russia, near the Belarussian border. His father was Moscow-born Vladimir Andreyevich Nikulin (1898-1964); his mother, Lidiya Ivanovna Nikulina (1902-1979), was born Lidia Germanova in Lievenhof (today's Līvāni) in Latvia, which was then part of the of the Russian Empire; she had moved to Demidov with relatives during the First World War to stay away from the combat zone. There, she met and married Vladimir Andreyevich.
  
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He was a good acrobat and tumbler, and had a knack for training small domestic animals, notably dogs. This led him to clowning, since small animal training was at the time regarded as the domain of clowns (which was spectacularly demonstrated by many of them, notably Anatoly and Vladimir Durov). Palisse worked either alone or with partners such as Pierre Perié (who will also create his own, successful circus) and Leonardo Ceratto, with whom he worked extensively in Spain and Portugal, and even in Argentina, where he had an enormous success with his trademark trained bulldogs.... ([[Alexandre Palisse|more...]])
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When Yury was born, Vladimir Nikulin had just been discharged from the Red Army and got a job at the Drama Theater in Demidov, where Lidia also worked as an actress. Then, he organized a traveling propaganda-theater group that promoted the brand-new Soviet regime through "revolutionary humor," and acted in plays which he also directed. In 1925, the Nikulin family moved to Moscow, where Vladimir wrote sketches for circus and variety shows—which were still intensely politicized then. He also organized the theater group at the school his son, Yury, attended. Later, he became a journalist.
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On November 18, 1939, after graduating from high school, young Yury Nikulin was drafted into the Red Army for his three-year mandatory military service. This would have a long-lasting impact on Yury Nikulin as a man: In June 1941, the USSR declared war on Germany and the Axis powers, and what will be known in Russia as "The Great Patriotic War" started. Yury Nikulin was then serving in the 115th anti-aircraft artillery regiment. During the Soviet-Finnish war (1939-1940), his anti-aircraft battery had guarded the air approaches to Leningrad.  
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The siege of Leningrad (St. Petersburg) started in 1941, and Yury and his regiment fought to save the old imperial capital. The siege of Leningrad by the Germans was particularly brutal. In 1943, Yury was hospitalized for shock-shell treatment (today known as PTSD), and was subsequently transferred to another anti-aircraft battalion, where he oversaw an intelligence department. He was in Courland, Latvia (which had been annexed to the USSR) when the war ended on May 9, 1945; he remained in the Red Army for another year and was demobilized, a decorated soldier, on May 18, 1946, with the rank of Senior Sergeant. For the rest of his life, Yury Nikulin never forgot his war companions; even at the height of his fame, he always remained "one of them."([[Yury Nikulin|more...]])
  
 
==New Essays and Biographies==
 
==New Essays and Biographies==

Revision as of 05:18, 31 January 2022

Welcome! ✫ Bienvenue! ✫ Willkommen! ✫ Добро Пожаловать!
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Circopedia was originally created with the support of the Big Apple Circus Ltd.
and inspired and funded by the Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation.

In The Spotlight

YURY NIKULIN

Yury Nikulin (1921-1997) was the Soviet Union’s (and later, Russia’s) greatest and most beloved clownGeneric term for all clowns and augustes. '''Specific:''' In Europe, the elegant, whiteface character who plays the role of the straight man to the Auguste in a clown team., as well as a remarkable and equally beloved screen actor; his performing career covered more than three decades, from 1948 to 1981. Upon his retirement from the ring, he became Director of Moscow's "Old Circus" on Tsvetnoy Boulevard, which he had entirely rebuilt (from 1985-1989) into a modern facility by a Finnish company, thus bringing that cherished Moscow institution into the modern age, and restoring its prominence on the Russian and European circus scenes at a critical moment in Russian history.

Yury Vladimirovich Nikulin (Юрий Владимирович Никулин) was born in a theatrical family on December 18, 1921, in Demidov, a small town in the province of Smolensk, in northwest Russia, near the Belarussian border. His father was Moscow-born Vladimir Andreyevich Nikulin (1898-1964); his mother, Lidiya Ivanovna Nikulina (1902-1979), was born Lidia Germanova in Lievenhof (today's Līvāni) in Latvia, which was then part of the of the Russian Empire; she had moved to Demidov with relatives during the First World War to stay away from the combat zone. There, she met and married Vladimir Andreyevich.

When Yury was born, Vladimir Nikulin had just been discharged from the Red Army and got a job at the Drama Theater in Demidov, where Lidia also worked as an actress. Then, he organized a traveling propaganda-theater group that promoted the brand-new Soviet regime through "revolutionary humor," and acted in plays which he also directed. In 1925, the Nikulin family moved to Moscow, where Vladimir wrote sketches for circus and variety shows—which were still intensely politicized then. He also organized the theater group at the school his son, Yury, attended. Later, he became a journalist.

On November 18, 1939, after graduating from high schoolA display of equestrian dressage by a rider mounting a horse and leading it into classic moves and steps. (From the French: Haute école), young Yury Nikulin was drafted into the Red Army for his three-year mandatory military service. This would have a long-lasting impact on Yury Nikulin as a man: In June 1941, the USSR declared war on Germany and the Axis powers, and what will be known in Russia as "The Great Patriotic War" started. Yury Nikulin was then serving in the 115th anti-aircraft artillery regiment. During the Soviet-Finnish war (1939-1940), his anti-aircraft battery had guarded the air approaches to Leningrad.

The siege of Leningrad (St. Petersburg) started in 1941, and Yury and his regiment fought to save the old imperial capital. The siege of Leningrad by the Germans was particularly brutal. In 1943, Yury was hospitalized for shock-shell treatment (today known as PTSD), and was subsequently transferred to another anti-aircraft battalion, where he oversaw an intelligence department. He was in Courland, Latvia (which had been annexed to the USSR) when the war ended on May 9, 1945; he remained in the Red Army for another year and was demobilized, a decorated soldier, on May 18, 1946, with the rank of Senior Sergeant. For the rest of his life, Yury Nikulin never forgot his war companions; even at the height of his fame, he always remained "one of them."(more...)

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CIRCOPEDIA is a constantly evolving and expanding archive of the international circus. New videos, biographies, essays, and documents are added to the site on a weekly—and sometimes daily—basis. Keep visiting us: even if today you don't find what you're looking for, it may well be here tomorrow! And if you are a serious circus scholar and spot a factual or historical inaccuracy, do not hesitate to contact us: we will definitely consider your remarks and suggestions.

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