Mikhail Zhvanetsky died at age 86

Earlier in October, Zhvanetsky closed his program and stopped performing on stage. As his representative Oleg Stashkevich commented then, there is nothing surprising in the fact that the artist refused the stage, no. He is already at that rather old age when it becomes impossible to perform. Stashkevich confirmed the death of the artist to RBC.

Zhvanetsky was awarded the title of People's Artist of Russia and Ukraine. In 1994 he was awarded the Order of Friendship of Peoples, in 2001 he was awarded the President of the Russian Federation Prize in the field of literature and art, and in 2009 and 2019 - the Orders of Merit to the Fatherland, III and IV degrees.

He was born in March 1934 in Odessa. Graduated from the Odessa Institute of Marine Engineers. While still a student, he began to write the first miniatures and monologues. In 1963, during a tour of the Leningrad Theater of Miniatures in Odessa, Zhvanetsky met the head of this theater, Arkady Raikin, who decided to include Zhvanetsky's productions in the theater's repertoire. From that time on, Zhvanetsky became the head of the literary section of this theater.

In 1972, Zhvanetsky worked as a production director for Rosconcert, and from 1974 he wrote works for Lenconcert. He published his first collection Time of Large Displacements in 1977. Since then, several more collections of the Russian satirist have been published. In 1988, when Zhvanetsky was already living in Moscow, he worked as artistic director at the Moscow Theater of Miniatures.

Zhvanetsky gave recitals, where he read out his miniatures and satirical reprises on topical topics. In the 2000s, he hosted programs on television "Simple Things", "On duty in the country". Last year, Zhvanetsky announced that he was taking a sabbatical and would no longer host the program "On duty in the Country".