lit a candle 3h ago88 years old, and 44 of them running that one theatre. Read about him years ago in a piece on Soviet era cultural institutions, never forgot the detail about the film projector van. Condolences to his family.
Their story
Nikolai Biryulya was a Russian theatre manager who led the Novosibirsk Regional Puppet Theatre for almost half a century. He became its director in 1972, stayed in the post until 2016 and then served as its artistic director. He died in Novosibirsk on 13 November 2026, aged 88. He was…
Nikolai Biryulya was a Russian theatre manager who led the Novosibirsk Regional Puppet Theatre for almost half a century. He became its director in 1972, stayed in the post until 2016 and then served as its artistic director. He died in Novosibirsk on 13 November 2026, aged 88.
He was born on 25 October 1938 in the village of Vozdvizhensky in the Chulym district of Novosibirsk Oblast. His working life began in rural Siberia as the motor operator of a travelling film projector. After army service he trained at a school for film projectionists, then at a cultural education college, and finally graduated from the directing faculty of the Moscow State Institute of Culture. It was an unusual route into the arts: he began with a rural film van and went on to devote the rest of his working life to the theatre.
Returning to Siberia, he worked as a methodologist and deputy director of the Novosibirsk Regional House of Folk Art. In 1972 he was appointed director of the regional puppet theatre. Under his leadership the company widened its repertoire and its touring, and its programme Fairy Tales of the Peoples of the World, which introduced young audiences to the cultures of other countries, was later taken up by other Russian puppet theatres. Between 1995 and 2002 he organised performances in the United States, Japan and Thailand. He was also active in his profession beyond the theatre, joining the Union of Theatre Workers in 1978 and later serving on the audit commissions of its national body and its Novosibirsk branch.
His biggest project was a home for the theatre. After more than ten years of construction, its new building on Lenin Street opened in 1999 and became one of the best known cultural venues in Novosibirsk. He was named an Honoured Worker of Culture of the RSFSR in 1985 and received the Order of Friendship in 2003.
In 2016 he left the director's post of his own accord and was appointed artistic director, a role he held for about five more years. In 2024 he was made an Honorary Citizen of Novosibirsk. His death was announced by the theatre and by the city's mayor, Maxim Kudryavtsev, who said he had devoted his whole life to children and the magical world of theatre.
Biography adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) and news reports (NGS.ru, Sib.fm, Om1, Tsargrad, KP). Wikipedia ↗
In their own words
“For almost half a century Nikolai Afanasyevich headed the Novosibirsk Regional Puppet Theatre. Having received a brilliant education at the Moscow State Institute of Culture, he returned to his native Siberian land and devoted his whole life to children and the magical world of theatre.”
Maxim Kudryavtsev, Mayor of Novosibirsk, announcing his death on 13 November 2026 (translated from Russian)
Photos
1Nikolai Biryulya
by People Forever
