Stirlitz
Encyclopedia
Max Otto von Stierlitz is the lead character in a popular Russian
book series written in the 1960s by novelist Julian Semyonov and of the television adaptation Seventeen Moments of Spring
, starring Vyacheslav Tikhonov
, as well as in feature films, produced in the Soviet era, and in a number of sequel
s and prequel
s. Other actors portrayed Stierlitz in several other films. Stierlitz has become a stereotypical spy in Soviet and post-Soviet culture, similar to James Bond
in Western culture.
Stierlitz takes a key role in Adolf Hitler
's SS headquarters in Berlin
during World War II
. Working deep undercover, Stierlitz tries to collect intelligence about the Germans' war plans and communicate it to Moscow. He receives instructions from Moscow on how to proceed, on one occasion travelling to Switzerland on a secret mission. He diverts the German nuclear "Vengeance Weapon" research program into a fruitless dead-end, thwarts peace talks between Nazi Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, engages in intellectual games with members of the Nazi high command and sacrifices his own happiness for the good of his motherland. Despite being wracked with desire to return home to his wife he subordinates his feelings to his duty, thus embodying an idealised Soviet vision of patriotism.
Stierlitz is quite an opposite of the action-oriented James Bond
; most of the time he gains his knowledge without any Bond-style stunts and gadgets, while in the film adaptation of the stories the action is presented through a narrative voice-over
by Yefim Kopelyan
. He is presented in a deeply patriotic but non-ideological light, fighting to defend the Soviet motherland against external enemies rather than just defending the communist regime against its ideological opponents.
Stierlitz continues to be a popular character in modern Russia. Despite the fact that references and Stierlitz jokes still penetrate contemporary speech, Seventeen Moments of Spring is very popular mainly because it is quite patriotic. It is repeated annually on Russian television, usually around Victory Day. Stierlitz also continues to have a political significance. When his portrayer Vyacheslav Tikhonov died in December 2009, the Foreign Intelligence Service
– one of the successor organisations of the former Soviet KGB
– sent its condolences to his family. Ivan Zassoursky notes that Russian Prime Minister (and former President) Vladimir Putin
, a former KGB agent, has been portrayed as "embod[ying] the image – very important for the Russian television audience – of Standartenführer von Stierlitz... If anyone missed the connection between Putin, who served in Germany, and von Stierlitz, articles in the press reminded them of the resemblance and helped create the association." The connection went both ways; Putin was strongly influenced by the novels, commenting: "What amazed me most of all was how one man's effort could achieve what whole armies could not."
Stierlitz movies contributed a number of catchphrases, such as "Character: nordic, robust" (Характер — нордический, выдержанный, a personal characteristic, usually mocking or ironic).
!Work>
Years portrayed
|Бриллианты для диктатуры пролетариата (Diamonds for the Dictatorship of the Proletariat)1921
|Пароль не нужен (Password Not Needed)1921—1922
|Нежность (Tenderness)1927
|Испанский вариант (Spanish Variant)1938
|Альтернатива (Alternative)1941
|Третья карта (Third Card)1941
|Майор «Вихрь» (Major "Whirlwind")1944—1945
|Семнадцать мгновений весны (Seventeen Moments of Spring
)1945
|Приказано выжить (The Order is to Survive)1945
|Экспансия — I (Expansion - Part I)1946
|Экспансия — II (Expansion - Part II)1946
|Экспансия — III (Expansion - Part II)1947
|Отчаяние (Despair)1947
|Бомба для председателя (A Bomb for the Chairman)1967
Russian literature
Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia or its émigrés, and to the Russian-language literature of several independent nations once a part of what was historically Russia or the Soviet Union...
book series written in the 1960s by novelist Julian Semyonov and of the television adaptation Seventeen Moments of Spring
Seventeen Moments of Spring
Seventeen Moments of Spring is a 1973 Soviet TV miniseries. It was filmed at Gorky Film Studio, directed by Tatyana Lioznova and based on the book of the same title by the novelist Yulian Semyonov. The series comprises 12 episodes of 70 minutes each...
, starring Vyacheslav Tikhonov
Vyacheslav Tikhonov
Vyacheslav Vasilyevich Tikhonov was a Soviet and Russian actor whose best known role was as Soviet spy Stirlitz in the television series Seventeen Moments of Spring. He was a recipient of numerous state awards, including the titles of People's Artist of the USSR and Hero of Socialist Labour .-...
, as well as in feature films, produced in the Soviet era, and in a number of sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
s and prequel
Prequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...
s. Other actors portrayed Stierlitz in several other films. Stierlitz has become a stereotypical spy in Soviet and post-Soviet culture, similar to James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
in Western culture.
Character
In the universe of the Seventeen Moments of Spring, Stierlitz is the cover name for a Soviet superspy Colonel Maxim Maximovich Isaev (Макси́м Макси́мович Иса́ев), whose "real" name is Vsevolod Vladimirovich Vladimirov (Все́волод Влади́мирович Владимиров).Stierlitz takes a key role in Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
's SS headquarters in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Working deep undercover, Stierlitz tries to collect intelligence about the Germans' war plans and communicate it to Moscow. He receives instructions from Moscow on how to proceed, on one occasion travelling to Switzerland on a secret mission. He diverts the German nuclear "Vengeance Weapon" research program into a fruitless dead-end, thwarts peace talks between Nazi Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, engages in intellectual games with members of the Nazi high command and sacrifices his own happiness for the good of his motherland. Despite being wracked with desire to return home to his wife he subordinates his feelings to his duty, thus embodying an idealised Soviet vision of patriotism.
Stierlitz is quite an opposite of the action-oriented James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
; most of the time he gains his knowledge without any Bond-style stunts and gadgets, while in the film adaptation of the stories the action is presented through a narrative voice-over
Voice-over
Voice-over is a production technique where a voice which is not part of the narrative is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations...
by Yefim Kopelyan
Yefim Kopelyan
Yefim Zakharovich Kopelyan was a Soviet actor of theater and cinema, one of the legendary masters of the Bolshoi Theatre of Drama . He performed the bright characteristic roles in the films The Elusive Avengers, Intervention, Eternal call, Straw cap, read author's text in the television series...
. He is presented in a deeply patriotic but non-ideological light, fighting to defend the Soviet motherland against external enemies rather than just defending the communist regime against its ideological opponents.
Influences in Russian life and culture
Although Stierlitz was a much-loved character, he was also the butt of a common genre of Russian jokes, often satirising his deductive trains of thought, with unexpected twists, delivered in the deadpan style of the voice-overs in the film adaptations; for example:Stierlitz continues to be a popular character in modern Russia. Despite the fact that references and Stierlitz jokes still penetrate contemporary speech, Seventeen Moments of Spring is very popular mainly because it is quite patriotic. It is repeated annually on Russian television, usually around Victory Day. Stierlitz also continues to have a political significance. When his portrayer Vyacheslav Tikhonov died in December 2009, the Foreign Intelligence Service
Foreign Intelligence Service (Russia)
The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service is Russia's primary external intelligence agency. The SVR is the successor of the First Chief Directorate of the KGB since December 1991...
– one of the successor organisations of the former Soviet KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
– sent its condolences to his family. Ivan Zassoursky notes that Russian Prime Minister (and former President) Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
, a former KGB agent, has been portrayed as "embod[ying] the image – very important for the Russian television audience – of Standartenführer von Stierlitz... If anyone missed the connection between Putin, who served in Germany, and von Stierlitz, articles in the press reminded them of the resemblance and helped create the association." The connection went both ways; Putin was strongly influenced by the novels, commenting: "What amazed me most of all was how one man's effort could achieve what whole armies could not."
Stierlitz movies contributed a number of catchphrases, such as "Character: nordic, robust" (Характер — нордический, выдержанный, a personal characteristic, usually mocking or ironic).
Novels with Stierlitz
|Бриллианты для диктатуры пролетариата (Diamonds for the Dictatorship of the Proletariat)
|Пароль не нужен (Password Not Needed)
|Нежность (Tenderness)
|Испанский вариант (Spanish Variant)
|Альтернатива (Alternative)
|Третья карта (Third Card)
|Майор «Вихрь» (Major "Whirlwind")
|Семнадцать мгновений весны (Seventeen Moments of Spring
Seventeen Moments of Spring
Seventeen Moments of Spring is a 1973 Soviet TV miniseries. It was filmed at Gorky Film Studio, directed by Tatyana Lioznova and based on the book of the same title by the novelist Yulian Semyonov. The series comprises 12 episodes of 70 minutes each...
)
|Приказано выжить (The Order is to Survive)
|Экспансия — I (Expansion - Part I)
|Экспансия — II (Expansion - Part II)
|Экспансия — III (Expansion - Part II)
|Отчаяние (Despair)
|Бомба для председателя (A Bomb for the Chairman)