Mikhail Zhvanetsky

Mikhail Zhvanetsky studied at Odesa National Maritime University. The recorded working language is Russian. Distinctions recorded are Honored art worker of the Russian Federation, People's Artist of the Russian Federation, People's Artist of Ukraine and Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 4th class.

• Name — Mikhail Zhvanetsky • Honorific Suffix —, People's Artist of Ukraine • Birth Name — Mikhail Manyevich Zhvanetsky • Born — 6 March 1934 • Birthplace — Odesa, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine) • Died — 6 November 2020 • Place of death — Moscow, Russia • Genre — Satire • Website — jvanetsky.ru • Native Name — Михаил Жванецкий

Zhvanetsky was born in Odesa, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union. His father, Mane (Emmanuel) Moiseevich Zhvanetsky, was a surgeon; his mother, Raisa Yakovlevna Zhvanetskaya, was a dentist. After the beginning of the Great Patriotic War in 1941, his father was drafted into the army as a medical worker; he received the Order of the Red Star in 1942. The family returned to Odesa from evacuation after the liberation of the city in 1944. Mikhail Zhvanetsky studied at secondary school 118 for boys. He continued his studies at the Odessa National Maritime University. He began his literary activity by writing plays and monologues for the Odessa amateur theater “Parnas-2”, which he founded together with his friend Victor Ilchenko. In 1964 Raikin invited him to join his troupe as head of the literary section. He then began to read his works on stage, first at the Odessa Philharmonic, then at the Hermitage Theatre. He joined the Union of Soviet Writers in 1978 and wrote several books. In 1988, he founded the Theater of Miniatures in the Tverskoy district of Moscow, where he worked as artistic director. In 2001, his writings were published in a four-volume collection. From 2002 to 2019, he hosted the monthly humorous program “Guardian of the Country” on the TV channel “Russia 1”. His monologues and sketches were performed by Arkady Raikin, Roman Kartsev and Viktor Ilchenko.

• Illustration — Mikhail Zhvanetsky's grave in November 2020. Zhvanetsky died in Moscow at the age of 86. According to his director and literary secretary, Oleg Stashkevich, the causes of death were old age and illness. He was buried with military honors on November 9, next to the graves of People’s Artists of the USSR Galina Volchek and Mark Zakharov. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the farewell ceremony was held in a closed format. A year after his death, on November 6, 2021, a monument was unveiled at the writer’s grave (sculptor: Vladimir Borisovich Soskiyev, full member of the Russian Academy of Arts).

The canonical record carries the following identifying particulars.

The following is established of origins and background. Zhvanetsky died in 2020 at Moscow. Recorded at birth as Михаил Маньевич Жванецкий. Institutional cataloguing adds that mikhail Zhvanetsky was born in 1934 at Odesa.