Today, on September 17, according to the tradition established by Maria Nikolaevna Sumbatova, we at the Maly Theatre remember Alexander Ivanovich Sumbatov-Yuzhin. On this day, he usually celebrated his birth (having added one day when recounting from the old style, since he was born on September 4, 1857), and on September 17, 1927, he died in France, in the boarding house in Juan-les-Pins.

Yuzhin was an outstanding actor and playwright, and the head of the Maly Theatre, who took over as the head of the Moscow Dramatic Company in 1909, and remained at the head of the theatre during the First World War, during the years of the revolution and civil war.

On August 9, 1909, he delivered a speech to the Maly Theatre's company, in which he addressed in detail the current situation of the Russian theatre and its problems, and formulated his vision for the further development of Maly Theatre and set strict priorities of his future work as head of the company.

Many of his statements can be regarded today as call to action and his theses on the development of world culture have not lost their relevance. His speech was published in «Alexander Ivanovich Sumbatov-Yuzhin. Records. Articles. Letters» (M., 1951) and consists of 28 pages of text! Most likely, his speech lasted for several hours and, as he writes in his diary: «The impression of my speech seems to be deep: they realized that the salvation of both the theatre itself and the company is hard work. The attitude towards me seems to be sincere and confidential.»

We asked the people's artists of Russia Valeriy Afanasyev, Vasiliy Bochkaryov and Alexander Ermakov to read a few fragments from Yuzhin's speech. We invite you to watch the video.

Dear friends,

On November 26, 2017 an exceptional evening called «"Boldly for the first time I take complete responsibility for his entire life": Alexander Yuzhin and Alexander Ostuzhev» was held in A.I.Sumbatov-Yuzhin's Memorial Apartment. The evening is part of the cycle «The history of one friendship» and is dedicated to 160th anniversary since the birth of Alexander Ivanovich Sumbatov-Yuzhin (1857 - 1927). The evening was held by the Chief Funds Curator of the Maly Theatre's museum Nadezhda Telegina. Honored Artist of Russia Alexander Beliy and artist Alexander Driven recited fragments of letters and diaries of Alexander Ostuzhev and AIexander Sumbatov-Yuzhin.

Today we are sharing with you a video of this evening.