Mikhail Shchepkin

Mikhail Semyonovich Shchepkin
Portrait by Nikolai Nevrev
Native name	Russian: Михаи́л Семёнович Ще́пкин
Born	17 November [O.S. 6 November] 1788 Krasnoe, Kursk Province, Russian Empire
Died	11 August [O.S. 23 August] 1863 (aged 74) Yalta, Russian Empire
Occupation	Actor
Language	Russian
Nationality	Russian
Period	19th-century theatre
Literary movement	Realism
Years active	1805—1863
Notable work	Memoirs

Mikhail Semyonovich Shchepkin (Russian: Михаи́л Семёнович Ще́пкин, 17 November [O.S. 6 November] 1788, the village Krasnoe, Oboyan county, Kursk Province — 11 August [O.S. 23 August] 1863) was the most famous Russian Empire actor of the 19th century. He is considered the "father" of realist acting in Russia and, via the influence of his student, Glikeriya Fedotova, a major influence on the development of the 'system' of Konstantin Stanislavski (who was born in the year in which Shchepkin died).^[1] Shchepkin's significance to the Theatre of Russia is comparable to that of David Garrick to the English theatre.^[2]

He distinguished between two kinds of actors, both of whom are dedicated to the art of acting: (1) those who have developed the art of pretense on the basis of intelligence and reason; (2) those who express feelings actually experienced by the actor in performance and work on the basis of "a flaming-soul, heavenly spark." Shchepkin considered the effect of the latter approach superior to that of the former.^[3] He was opposed to the principles advanced by the French playwright and philosopher Denis Diderot in his Paradox of the Actor (published posthumously in 1830), which inverted Shchepkin's evaluation.^[4]