Biography
Svetlana Sergeevna was born in December 1935 and grew up in the famous Moscow Maryina Roshcha. The childhood years of Svetlana Druzhinina’s biography were not cloudless, but the director’s memories of them remained vivid and interesting. When the war began, Svetlana Sergeevna was six years old, and she, like all wartime children, matured early. The father, Sergei Ivanovich, immediately went to the front, and his daughter never saw him again.
In the photo: Svetlana Druzhinina in childhood
Returning from evacuation, he and his mother found themselves without housing - the apartment in which they had previously lived was occupied by other people, so for some time they had to huddle in a tiny room with a bell ringer who served in the church of Svetlana Sergeevna’s grandfather, who was a priest, and then they got their own corner in Maryina Roshcha. Druzhinina remembers how she always wanted to help her mother, but there was still time for games.
“We lived in a communal apartment, there were three cemeteries near our house, where we played Cossack robbers,” recalls Svetlana Sergeevna.
When she turned eleven, she, dreaming of becoming a famous artist, enrolled in circus courses. She had excellent inclinations to become an acrobat, but after a year of training she had to quit the circus, firstly, because he was going on tour, and, secondly, the classes interfered with school lessons.
But Svetlana could not give up her dream of a creative career forever, so in 1947 she entered the Choreography School at the Music Theater. Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko. She turned out to be a talented and diligent student, so she later got the opportunity to transfer to the school at the Bolshoi Theater. She had serious chances to become a ballerina, but an accident changed everything - Druzhinina seriously injured her hand, and after ten years of hard rehearsals she had to give up her dream of ballet.
However, even after the injury, she could not immediately say goodbye to the school and began hosting television evenings at which young ballerinas performed. Thanks to them, Svetlana was noticed by the director of the Central Television Studio, Valentina Sharoeva, and invited the pretty, talented girl to also host children’s programs together with the famous artist Mikhail Derzhavin. The debut on television was successful, and soon Druzhinina, together with Mikhail Mikhailovich, became the host of the first episodes of KVN.
Experience working on television in the future helped Svetlana Sergeevna quickly get used to cinema. Svetlana Druzhinina’s biography of cinema dates back to 1955, when she made her debut in the film “Behind the Department Store Window,” playing one of the central roles.
In the photo: Svetlana Druzhinina in the film “Behind the Department Store Window”
In the same year, Druzhinina began collaborating with the studio named after. Gorky. Having starred in the first film in her life, Svetlana Sergeevna no longer wanted to part with cinema and entered VGIK. During her studies, Druzhinina did not stop acting - films with her participation were released - “Good Morning”, “It Was in Penkovo”, “Girls”, in which she played the beautiful telephone operator Anfisa, and others.
In the movie "Girls"
In total, the filmography of Svetlana Druzhinina the actress includes eighteen films in which she played both minor and central roles.
In the film “It Was About Penkov”
In 1960, she graduated from the acting department, and then entered the directing department, and in 1969 she graduated from that too, having directed her graduation film “Zinka.” In the same year, Svetlana Druzhinina moved to Mosfilm and began her directorial career.
Svetlana made her first independent film in seventy-four, it was the film “Fulfillment of Desires.”
Director Druzhinina’s films with historical themes brought her particular fame – “Midshipmen, Forward!”, the epic “Secrets of Palace Revolutions”, on which she worked for almost twenty years. And, if the heroes of the first film were completely fictional, then all the characters in “Secrets” are real individuals.
“Directing, as someone accurately said, is not just a profession, but a way of life,” says Svetlana Sergeevna.
Druzhinina’s husband, cameraman Anatoly Mukasey, helps her work on her films.
Svetlana Sergeevna turned to historical topics in order to introduce a young audience to history, since, from her point of view, those who do not know their history have no future.
Actor career
S. Druzhinina’s debut role – tableware saleswoman Sonya Bozhko in the film “Behind the Department Store Window” (1956) – also comes from television. Director Samson Samsonov saw the stately beauty Svetlana when she was hosting another TV show. Samson Iosifovich immediately realized that he had found an actress who would successfully complement the trio of young and bright actors - Anatoly Kuznetsov, Oleg Anofriev and Mikaela Drozdovskaya.
Druzhinina’s debut role in the film “Behind the Department Store Window”
The film was a great success with the audience, but this fact did not turn the debutante’s head: Svetlana clearly realized that she needed to learn the basics of a new profession. And the girl entered the acting department of VGIK, the workshop of talented mentors B.V. Bibikova and O.I. Pyzhova. It is not surprising that, studying with such teachers, even during their studies, both S. Druzhinina herself and her fellow students Leonid Kuravlev, Ariadna Shengelaya, Sofiko Chiaureli were able to become popular film actors...
The next role - Larisa (film “It Was About Penkov”, 1958, directed by S. Rostotsky) - brought Svetlana deafening fame. S. Druzhinina’s partners were Maya Menglet and Vyacheslav Tikhonov. Thanks to the brilliant performances of young actors, this film entered the treasury of Russian cinema.
Svetlana Druzhinina in the film “The Case in Penkov”
The actress’s second star role was the bright and broken Anfisa in the film “Girls” (1961) directed by Yuri Chulyukin. All the girls of the USSR strived to be like the self-confident, beautiful and cheerful “firebird”, easily breaking men’s hearts.
After graduating from high school in 1960, S. Druzhinina continued acting (“You Can’t Cross the Bridge,” 1960; “Eagle Island,” 1961; “On the Seven Winds,” 1962, and many others), but felt that she wanted more and more change your role: be a film director, the creator of this complex creation, and not a cog in it. Therefore, the actress returned to her native walls of VGIK, but now - to the directing department, to the workshop of Igor Talankin.
Svetlana’s directorial debut was her graduation work – the excellently staged film “Zinka”. After graduating from university in 1969, Svetlana Sergeevna began working at Mosfilm. Among her first films are “Wishes Fulfilled” (1973) and “The Sun, the Sun Again!” (1976). But soon Druzhinina switched to creating television films.
Svetlana’s directorial debut was the film “Zinka”
The whole country greeted with delight her wonderful films “The Matchmaking of a Hussar” (1979), “Dulcinea of Toboso” (1980), “Circus Princess” (1982), “Midshipmen, Go!” (1988-1992), in which the best actors of those years shone - the stars of Soviet cinema Mikhail Boyarsky, Elena Koreneva, Natalya Belokhvostikova, Andrei Popov, Natalya Gundareva, Dmitry Kharatyan, Innokenty Smoktunovsky, Sergei Zhigunov.
Photos from the filming of the film “Midshipmen, Forward!”
From 1994 to 2013, Svetlana Sergeevna worked on a grandiose project in the historical adventure genre - the epic “Secrets of Palace Revolutions. Russia, XVIII century”, releasing films on television screens, one better than the other.
Svetlana Druzhinina in her youth and now
Svetlana Druzhinina also always found time to do a lot of social work. She headed the council for organizing film festivals of historical films “VECHE” in Veliky Novgorod, which have been held regularly since 2003. On her initiative, the All-Russian Film Festival of Historical Cinema “UGRA” has also been held in Kaluga since 2013.
Svetlana Druzhinina also always found time to do a lot of social work
Svetlana Sergeevna’s selfless service to the domestic film industry was awarded the honorary title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1989), the National Olympia Prize (2002), and the Order of Honor (2006) and Friendship (2012).
Svetlana Druzhinina's husband
Svetlana Druzhinina’s personal life took shape a long time ago - she met her future husband while studying at VGIK, but then Anatoly Mukasey was still a schoolboy, and she was a freshman. Svetlana played on the same team with his sister Ella, and one day the girl brought her brother to the playground and introduced them. Despite the age difference - Svetlana was almost three years older than Anatoly, the young people began dating, although at first Druzhinina did not take Mukasey seriously.
“At first I didn’t take him - pot-eared, long-armed and long-legged - seriously, and that made him angry. He was a child and didn’t interest me,” recalls Svetlana Sergeevna.
But later, when Anatoly also entered VGIK, many common interests appeared, and a romance arose between them, and in 2021 they celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of their life together.
In the photo: Svetlana Druzhinina and Anatoly Mukasey
Svetlana Druzhinina’s husband is the son of famous intelligence officers - Mikhail Isaakovich and Elizaveta Ivanovna Mukasey. When Anatoly was one year old, he and his parents and sister went to Los Angeles, where his father worked undercover, and in forty-three they returned to Moscow. Anatoly Mikhailovich became acquainted with a movie camera thanks to his father, who was fond of amateur filmmaking.
The parents went on their next long business trip abroad alone, so they missed such an important event in their son’s personal life as his marriage to Svetlana. After the wedding, solemnly held in the Prague restaurant, the newlyweds went on a honeymoon to Yalta, and a few months later the first child was born into the young family - at that time Anatoly Mikhailovich was still studying at the camera department of VGIK, and eight years later in the family of Svetlana Druzhinina and Another heir appeared for Anatoly Mukasey.
Their family is considered one of the most harmonious and strong in Russian cinema, and the secret of family happiness, according to Svetlana Sergeevna, lies in mutual love.
“And it rests on patience, the ability to forgive, sacrifice, mutual understanding, friendship. In my understanding, this is love. Of course, every family faces challenges. Anatoly Mikhailovich and I are no exception; we’ve been through a lot,” admits Druzhinina.
The secrets of Svetlana Sergeevna’s youth lie in her personal happiness and the fact that she has many hobbies. She loves painting, music, reads a lot when she has free time, and plays sports. Druzhinina is also happy that she is doing a job she loves, with which, in her opinion, she is very lucky.
She continues to work and make plans not only for the coming year 2020, but also for many years to come.
Parents
Svetlana is a native Muscovite, born in the Catherine Hospital on December 16, 1935.
Mother, Myznikova Anna Ivanovna, born in 1910, was a Don Cossack from the city of Shakhty. She studied at the workers' school and received the profession of a teacher, but worked at the People's Agricultural Commissariat. She managed to edit the biography of her husband, Sergei Ivanovich Druzhinin, which helped him get a driver’s course, and then a job in the same department where Anna Ivanovna worked. The fact is that Svetlana Druzhinina’s dad was the son of a priest, and in those days this was considered a stigma similar to “enemy of the people.” Sveta herself only learned at the age of seventeen that her grandfather was the priest John. Mom didn’t tell her before, she was afraid that her daughter would spill the beans somewhere and ruin her career.
Svetlana Druzhinina's parents
Svetlana spent her childhood in Maryina Roshcha. From the People's Commissar of Agriculture, the parents were given a room of 16 m2 in a communal apartment near the Minaevsky market. This was great happiness for the family.
Children of Svetlana Druzhinina
Svetlana Druzhinina’s children’s personal lives developed differently, and while she talks about the younger one with pleasure, she doesn’t mention the older one at all, and when asked, she immediately turns the conversation to another topic, not wanting to stir up memories associated with her son’s death.
All that is known about Anatoly Mukasey Jr. is that he passed away at the age of twenty. The cause of death was the drugs he used in his youth. At that time, he was married and had a growing son, who was only a few months old. Soon his wife died, and the grandson of Svetlana Sergeevna and Anatoly Mikhailovich was left an orphan.
All these events became a real tragedy for Svetlana Sergeevna and her husband, and in her interviews she never mentions this, so many generally think that Svetlana Druzhinina’s children are not two, but one.
War
Druzhinina was not yet six years old when the war began. My father was a first-class driver, he was given a reservation, but he gave it to his younger brother, and he himself went to the front. He fought in tank forces and went missing near Smolensk. The only clear memory that Svetlana has of her father is 1941, when at the Kursk station he saw off his wife and little daughter to evacuation. Suddenly people around started running and screaming. The father covered Sveta with himself and pressed her to the suitcase. In the small visible piece of sky, she saw black crosses - fascist bombers.
Svetlana as a child with her friends (right)
When we returned from evacuation to Moscow, we discovered that a war veteran, a one-armed sailor, was living in their room in a communal apartment. But Sveta and her mother were no longer listed in the register of those registered at this address. I had to wander around cold and damp Moscow in search of accommodation and justice. Many acquaintances left, and those who remained lived in cold and hunger; they could shelter them for no more than one night.
The youngest son of Svetlana Druzhinina
Having survived the death of their eldest son, Svetlana Sergeevna and Anatoly Mikhailovich took a more responsible and serious approach to raising their youngest son, who was twelve years old at that time. Mikhail, having received a certificate of secondary education, entered the VGIK camera department.
“My husband and I supported his choice. Mikhail is a talented cameraman, he has made many good films,” says Svetlana Druzhinina.
Another hobby of Mukasey Jr. was music - in his youth he was a bassist in the group “Obermaneken”, with which he went on tour not only at home, but also abroad.
In the photo: Druzhinina’s youngest son with her children and nephew
Having become a certified cameraman, Mikhail took part in work on such projects as “Tin”, “Down House”, “Idiot”. He achieved great success in the production of music videos and advertising videos. In recent years, Mikhail Anatolyevich has gone into business - selling filming equipment.
In the photo: Mikhail Mukasey with his wife Ekaterina Gamova
Mikhail does not like to talk about his private life, but it is known that he was twice divorced, and then found happiness in the person of the famous Russian athlete, volleyball player Ekaterina Gamova, who is fifteen years younger than him.
From two previous marriages, Mikhail has a son, Maxim, and a daughter, Elizaveta.
Childhood and youth
Over time, my mother finally succeeded, and they got the room back. Soon, Anna Ivanovna’s work was sent to Potsdam, where she organized children’s institutions for the families of Soviet officers. Grandmother Masha (on my mother’s side) came from the village, and she took up Svetlana’s upbringing. Mom sometimes sent parcels from Germany; once she sent a Singer sewing machine, and Grandma Masha sewed very beautiful skirts and dresses for her granddaughter from dyed sheets.
In 1946, having read an advertisement on the tram about recruiting children to a circus school, Svetlana asked her mother to let her go to the competition. Anna Ivanovna had just arrived on vacation from Germany. She gathered a whole squad of children from Maryina Roshcha and took everyone to the screening. They selected one Svetlana, amazed at her amazing flexibility. The squad was even nicknamed the rubber girl. For a year she attended classes in a circus acrobatics group.
In 1947, at a summer camp, Sveta met the granddaughter of Isadora Duncan, who gave her her ballet shoes. Druzhinina fell ill with this type of art, and began the new academic year at the choreographic school at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater. A year later, as the best student, she was transferred to the school at the Bolshoi Theater. Although initially Svetlana was not accepted here, saying that the girl was already old. She studied with the famous dancer Maries Liepa.
But Sveta was not destined to take part in ballet due to a serious injury; she hit the metal mount of the machine with her right elbow.
Druzhinina's grandchildren
Having survived the death of her son, Svetlana Sergeevna found solace in her grandchildren, of whom she has three. Anatoly left behind Daniil, who is now forty-two years old.
When he was left first without a father, and then without a mother, his grandparents took Daniel in with them. He, like his famous ancestors, connected his life with cinema - Daniil is engaged in computer film editing.
Grandson of Svetlana Sergeevna Daniil
Svetlana Sergeevna and Anatoly Mikhailovich do not forget about the grandchildren of their youngest son, worrying every time when his next marriage collapsed.
Last September, the Mukaseev couple had another grandson - Ekaterina Gamova gave birth to their first child with Mikhail.
“There’s a new addition to our family. Our Katyusha gave birth to a hero! We are happy!” Svetlana Sergeevna shared her joy.
Directing
The first work directed by Svetlana Sergeevna was the film adaptation of “Fulfillment of Desires” based on the book by V. Kaverin. This was followed by “The Wedding”, “Dulcinea of Toboso”, “The Matchmaking of a Hussar”... “The Circus Princess” gained the greatest popularity.
But, of course, the most beloved films that came out of the brilliant directorial hand of Svetlana Sergeevna were the trilogy about the adventures of cadets of the navigation school.
"Midshipmen" was a true masterpiece, bringing together a brilliant cast. Most of the artists who took part in the films became stars and idols of millions.
Sergei Zhigunov, Dmitry Kharatyan and Vladimir Shevelkov in the film “Midshipmen, forward!”, 1987
After these films, Druzhinina became seriously interested in the history of the Russian state and shot several famous films, included in one cycle called “Secrets of Palace Coups.”
Needless to say, these films are included in the golden fund of Russian cinema.
Personal life
Svetlana met her love while playing volleyball with classmates from the directing department against students from the camera department. He and Anatoly Mukasey were captains of their teams.
Svetlana Druzhinina and Anatoly Mukasey.
Having met once, Mukasey and Druzhinina never parted. And Svetlana Sergeevna created her brilliant paintings together with her husband, one of the best Soviet cameramen.
This marriage produced two sons - Tolya and Misha. But Anatoly Jr. died tragically, without having time to realize his creative ambitions as an artist. The guy had problems with drugs, and he died voluntarily (threw himself out of a window).
Few people know that Druzhinina initially tried her son Anatoly for the role of Nikita Olenev in Midshipmen. However, he did not see himself in this role and refused.
Druzhinin and her husband took in raising their grandson Daniil, the son of the deceased Anatoly, who was left an orphan when his mother followed his father.
Anatoly Mukasey Jr. (left), Yuri Moroz and Sergei Zhigunov at the audition for the film “Forward, Midshipmen.” Source: celebrity.moscow
Unfortunately, now their relationship with their now adult grandson has gone wrong. Danya did not live up to the hopes of his famous grandparents, having never decided on his life purpose.
Instead of becoming independent, Daniil began to go on various talk shows, presenting his family in an unsightly light. The famous grandmother considered this a betrayal and practically erased her grandson from her life.
Although there are rumors that Druzhinina may reconsider her attitude towards Daniil, but for this he must take the first step.
Svetlana Druzhinina with her husband Anatoly (left), son Mikhail (right) and grandchildren. Source: uznayvse.ru
Strong marriage
The marriage of Druzhinina and Mukasey has been considered one of the strongest in the creative community for many years.
The couple had two sons - Anatoly, named after his father, and Mikhail.
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In 1978, the eldest, Tolya, a promising artist, died tragically. For the parents it was a difficult ordeal, a huge pain. They immersed themselves in creativity in order to distract themselves a little. A little later, they took into the family their grandson Daniel, whose mother died shortly after the death of her husband (Anatoly).
Now Danya spends a lot of time abroad, in India, implementing her creative plans. One day he decided to communicate with his relatives minimally, because he was convinced that they were too protective of him. At the beginning of 2019, the program “The Stars Aligned” was released, the main character of which was Daniil. From that moment on, his relationship with his grandmother warmed up.
