"For almost three-quarters of a century Yuri Lyubimov was the embodiment of Soviet and Russian theatre: first as an actor, then as a pioneering director and a beacon for liberal dissent under Communism, finally as rehabilitated and venerated cultural elder statesman – a symbol of how, throughout his country's history, the arts and artists have had an importance far beyond their mere cultural merit. Born into a middle class family in the provincial city of Yaroslavl on the eve of the revolution, Lyubimov fell in love with theatre at an early age. He was only 20 when he made his acting debut at the Vakhtangov, the most innovative Moscow theatre of the day, before war broke out in 1941 and he was drafted into the Red Army. His talents kept him from the front line; instead he served, improbably, as a compere for the choir and dance ensemble of the NKVD, Stalin's dreaded state security organisation that was the forerunner of the KGB." http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/yuri-lyubimov-actor-and-director-who-served-as-a-beacon-of-dissent-in-the-soviet-union-before-becoming-a-venerable-elder-statesman-9780849.html
