Viktor Ivanov

• Name — Viktor Ivanov • Birthplace — Kazatin, Berdichevsky Uyezd, Kiev Governorate, Russian Empire (now Koziatyn, Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine) • Died — 18 June 1981 • Place of death — Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union • Occupation — Film director • Years Active — 1950–1981 • Political Party — Communist Party of the Soviet Union • Father — Mykhailo Spyrydonovych • Mother — Tetiana Andriivna • Awards — see here • Burial Place — Baikove Cemetery • Education — Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography

Born on, in the Ukrainian city of Koziatyn. Ivanov was raised in a modest household. His mother, Tetiana Andriivna, was a homemaker, while the father, Mykhailo Spyrydonovych, worked as a military paramedic at the district hospital. His father died from cholera he caught in 1919 while tending to the ill, leaving his wife and their three children. At the age of 13, he began to work as a sender for the department of education in order to pay his bills. His mother remarries in 1923 and assists stepfather Mykhailo Zhydkomlinov чin raising her children. Ivanov holds diplomas from Berdychiv Craft School (1923–1925) and Zhmerynka Vocational School (1925–1927). He was then given the specialization of assistant machinist in Vyazma. After earning his locomotive driving certification in 1929, he moves to Moscow to pursue further education. He was assigned to the Moscow State University of Railway Engineering in 1932. However, he decides to send paperwork to the Moscow State Institute of Cinematography. After enrolling in the director's program, he receives instruction from filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein, who first recognized his comedic ability.

Ivanov's first workplace was the Dovzhenko Film Studio, where he had previously served as an assistant director. When he inquired for the front, he was informed that the film served as both the front and the rear of the resistance to Adolf Hitler. Film studio employees were relocated to Ashgabat in 1942. He led a Red Army's flamethrower platoon and assistant to the Chief of Staff to fight near Stalingrad, crossed the Dnieper, and was the first to sign at the gates of the Dovzhenko Film Studio upon Kiev's liberation. He had two significant injuries, and was discharged due to health concerns, and more.

The Kyiv Film Studio refused to hire Ivanov as a disabled person, therefore he continued to direct in the film studios in Sverdlovsk, Vilnius, and Kaunas after the war. He didn't go back to Dovzhenko's film studio until 1950. Among the almost ten movies Ivanov directed was the comedy Chasing Two Hares (1961). Writer of children's books Наша Наташа (1954), Доріжка (1958), poetry collections Доделки-переделки, Попади, and Сатирический патруль (1960). Iavnov spent the rest of his life fighting the bureaucracy, despite his skill. This had an impact on health; on 18 June 1981, he died following two heart attacks at the age of 73. He was laid to rest in the Baikove Cemetery beside his family.

Sources: • Пригоди з піджаком Тарапуньки (1955) • Шельменко-денщик (1957) • Сто тисяч (1958) • Олекса Довбуш (1960) • Chasing Two Hares (1961) • The Keys of Skies (1965) • Непосиди (1968, co-authored with Abram Narodytsky) • Вулиця тринадцяти тополь (1969, co-authored with Abram Narodytsky) • Веселі Жабокричі (1973) • Ні пуха, ні пера (1975) • Співає Микола Кондратюк (1977) • Оглядини (1980) • Снігове весілля (1981)