The National Museum of Mari El Republic houses a copy of the tour poster of the famous Mari actor and poet Yvan Kyrla. The actor rose to fame after his role as a homeless man Mustafa in the film “Road to Life”.
Yvan Kyrla (real name — Kirill Ivanov) was born in 1909 to a poor family of Mari peasants. His father died early, and his mother had to raise three children alone. To feed his family, Kirill Ivanov got a job as a shepherd and farmhand, sometimes even begged in the streets. When he graduated from high school, the Mari Autonomous Region’s Komsomol sent him to the working faculty of Kazan University.
As a student, Ivanov was fond of poetry: he learned by heart the poems of Sergey Yesenin and Vladimir Mayakovsky and participated in art evenings. In the fall of 1929, teachers at Kazan University referred him to the acting department of the State Technical School of Cinematography.
Kirill Ivanov chose to call himself in the Mari manner — Yvan Kyrla, that is, “Kirill, son of Ivan”, and this became his stage name.
In 1931, Kyrla was invited as an extra to the filming of “Road to Life”. However, director Nikolay Ekk was so impressed by the play of the young Mari actor that he decided to give him one of the leading roles — the waif Mustafa. Apart from Yvan Kyrla, the film featured Nikolay Batalov, Rina Zelenaya, Mikhail Zharov, and Georgy Zhzhonov.
Shooting the film “Road to Life” took about two years. At the same time, Yvan Kyrla continued to study at the technical school. In 1934 he starred in another film, “The Vicar of the Buddha”, where he played the Dalai Lama. In early 1937, the actor returned to Yoshkar-Ola and joined the Mari State Drama Theater.
Yvan Kyrla was also known as a poet. He published several poetry collections in the Mari language, which were later translated into Russian, Hungarian and Chuvash.
Nothing is known for certain about the last years of Yvan Kyrla’s life. Mikhail Zharov, an actor, said that there were rumors that he died at the front. The official records show that he died in the Urals in July 1943, at the age of 34.
On November 2, 2009, a monument to Yvan Kyrla in the image of Mustafa from the movie “Road to Life” was erected on Station Square in Yoshkar-Ola.
Yvan Kyrla (real name — Kirill Ivanov) was born in 1909 to a poor family of Mari peasants. His father died early, and his mother had to raise three children alone. To feed his family, Kirill Ivanov got a job as a shepherd and farmhand, sometimes even begged in the streets. When he graduated from high school, the Mari Autonomous Region’s Komsomol sent him to the working faculty of Kazan University.
As a student, Ivanov was fond of poetry: he learned by heart the poems of Sergey Yesenin and Vladimir Mayakovsky and participated in art evenings. In the fall of 1929, teachers at Kazan University referred him to the acting department of the State Technical School of Cinematography.
Kirill Ivanov chose to call himself in the Mari manner — Yvan Kyrla, that is, “Kirill, son of Ivan”, and this became his stage name.
In 1931, Kyrla was invited as an extra to the filming of “Road to Life”. However, director Nikolay Ekk was so impressed by the play of the young Mari actor that he decided to give him one of the leading roles — the waif Mustafa. Apart from Yvan Kyrla, the film featured Nikolay Batalov, Rina Zelenaya, Mikhail Zharov, and Georgy Zhzhonov.
Shooting the film “Road to Life” took about two years. At the same time, Yvan Kyrla continued to study at the technical school. In 1934 he starred in another film, “The Vicar of the Buddha”, where he played the Dalai Lama. In early 1937, the actor returned to Yoshkar-Ola and joined the Mari State Drama Theater.
Yvan Kyrla was also known as a poet. He published several poetry collections in the Mari language, which were later translated into Russian, Hungarian and Chuvash.
Nothing is known for certain about the last years of Yvan Kyrla’s life. Mikhail Zharov, an actor, said that there were rumors that he died at the front. The official records show that he died in the Urals in July 1943, at the age of 34.
On November 2, 2009, a monument to Yvan Kyrla in the image of Mustafa from the movie “Road to Life” was erected on Station Square in Yoshkar-Ola.
