Boris Alexandrovich Pokrovsky (Russian

Russian language

Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

: Борис Александрович Покровский; 23 January 1912 in Moscow, Russian Empire

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

  - 5 June 2009 in Moscow, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 ) was the opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

tic stage director of the Bolshoi Theatre

Bolshoi Theatre

The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds performances of ballet and opera. The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world...

 between 1943 and 1982. After his departure from the Bolshoi, Pokrovsky founded the Moscow Chamber Opera Theater.

Pokrovsky served as the artistic director of the Bolshoi in 1952-1963 and 1973-1982 and was named a People's Artist of the USSR

People's Artist of the USSR

People's Artist of the USSR, also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to citizens of the Soviet Union.- Nomenclature and significance :...

 in 1961. His production of Vano Muradeli

Vano Muradeli

Vano Muradeli was a Soviet Georgian composer.Born in Gori, Georgia, then part of Imperial Russia, he graduated from Tbilisi State Conservatory in 1931. From 1934 to 1938, he worked at the Moscow Conservatory. From 1942 to 1944, he served as a principal and artistic director of the Central Ensemble...

's opera The Great Friendship was the target of the second Zhdanov Ukase

Zhdanov Doctrine

The Zhdanov Doctrine was a Soviet cultural doctrine developed by the Central Committee secretary Andrei Zhdanov in 1946. It proposed that the world was divided into two camps: the imperialistic, headed by the United States; and democratic, headed by the Soviet Union...

 (1948), and it was he who first staged Sergei Prokofiev

Sergei Prokofiev

Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century...

's War and Peace

War and Peace (Prokofiev)

War and Peace is an opera in two parts , sometimes arranged as five acts, by Sergei Prokofiev to a Russian libretto by the composer and Mira Mendelson, based on the novel War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy...

(in 1946). Pokrovsky's many awards include four Stalin Prizes (1947, 1948, 1949, 1950), a Lenin Prize

Lenin Prize

The Lenin Prize was one of the most prestigious awards of the USSR, presented to individuals for accomplishments relating to science, literature, arts, architecture, and technology. It was created on June 23, 1925 and was awarded until 1934. During the period from 1935 to 1956, the Lenin Prize was...

 (1980), two Orders of Lenin (1967, 1976), as well as two State Prizes

State Prize of the Russian Federation

State Prize of the Russian Federation is a state honorary prize established in 1992 as the substitute for the USSR State Prize. In 2004 the rules for selection of laureates and the status of the award was significantly changed making them closer to such awards as Nobel Prize or the Soviet Lenin...

 (1995, 2004).

He was the father of actress Alla Pokrovskaya, father-in-law of Oleg Yefremov

Oleg Yefremov

Oleg Nikolayevich Yefremov was a Soviet/Russian actor and Moscow Art Theatre producer. People's Artist of the USSR , Hero of Socialist Labour ....

, and the grandfather of actor Mikhail Yefremov

Mikhail Olegovich Yefremov

Mikhail Olegovich Yefremov is a Russian film and stage actor, Meritorious Artist of Russian Federation ....

.