In the make-up of sad Pierrot: a biography of the singer and poet Alexander Vertinsky

Oleksandr Vertinsky was a Ukrainian and Soviet film actor, poet, composer, and singer. A well-known cultural figure in the first half of the 20th century. Father of actresses Anastasia and Mariana Vertinsky.

Childhood

Alexander Vertinsky was born in the family of a small official. Nikolai Petrovich, his father, came from a family of railway employees, worked as a private attorney and was a bit involved in journalism. Yevheniia Skolatska, the future singer’s mother, was not officially married to Vertinsky’s father. The man adopted his children born in a civil marriage.

Oleksandr lost his parents at an early age. When the younger Oleksandr was three years old, his mother died. Two years later, his father also died of a transient tuberculosis. His sister and brother were taken in by his mother’s sister to different families. Communication was prevented in every possible way.

Songs and poems

Alexander Vertinsky performed mainly in the miniature theatre of Maria Alexandrovna Artsybusheva. He also had his own show, Pierrot’s Songs. The artist also regularly performed his poems, which he set to music, more often than any of his own works: ‘Little Creole’ (dedicated to Vira Kholodna), “Minute”, “Crystal Memorial Service”, “I’m Laughing at Myself Today”, “Douglas the Dog”, “Legless”, “Purple Negro”, ‘Your Fingers Smell Like Incense’, “Grey-eyed Girl”, “Backstage”, “About Six Mirrors”, Jamais, “Smoke Without Fire”, “The Ball of the Lord”, “I’m a Little Ballerina” (in collaboration with N. Grushko). Grushko), ‘Cocaine Girl’ (lyrics by V. Agatov).

Oleksandr Mykolaiovych also performed his songs at the Petrovsky Theatre, in the Zharptytsia cabaret, and in miniature theatres. The critics responded quickly to his huge success.

Alexander Nikolayevich’s special style attracted the audience. His stage mask was just such a feature. He performed in the make-up of the sad Pierrot from mid-1915 to the end of 1917.

The artist spent a long time in different countries. In particular, he had to perform in France, the USA, and China.

In exile, he created many of his best songs. In particular, these are ‘Tin Heart’, ‘Yellow Angel’, ‘Pani Irena’, ‘Wreath’, ‘Palestinian Tango’, ‘Song about My Wife’, ‘In the Moldavian Steppe’, ‘In the Blue and Faraway Ocean’, ‘Marlene’, ‘To Irina Strozzi’, ‘Madame, the Leaves are Falling’, ‘Jimmy’, ‘Ballad of the Grey Lady’, ‘Sarasate Concert’, ‘Spanish-Suiza’, ‘The Mad Charmer’, ‘Tango Magnolia’, ‘Days Run Out’, ‘Piccolo Bambino’, ‘Femme raffinee’, ‘Christmas’. He also liked to quote books and works.

Vertinsky was known among emigrants. The texts of his compositions were autobiographical. His incredible artistic talent and unique performance style contributed to his success: from the first minutes of communication with the audience, he understood what kind of people he was going to perform for.

In memory

Alexander Vertinsky died on 21 May 1957 in the Astoria Hotel in Leningrad. He was 68 years old. The artist was buried in Moscow at Novodevichy Cemetery.

In March 2019, a monument to him was unveiled on St Andrew’s Descent in Kyiv.

In the same month, Ukrposhta put into circulation the postage stamp Oleksandr Vertynskyi. 1889-1957 stamp with a face value of 8.00 hryvnias (130,000 copies). Vasyl Vasylenko designed the stamp.