Leonid Yengibarov: a clown with an autumn in his soul

He was not recognized for a long time. And when Leonid Yengibarov, whose biography will be presented to your attention, suddenly passed away, the world suddenly realized what talent was lost forever. He died very young - at the age of 37 his heart exploded. And after that, the “clown with sad eyes” turned into a legend.

From boxer to mime

People often come into creative professions, having overcome many obstacles, having mastered other types of activities and withstanding the rejection of others. Leonid Yengibarov was no exception. After all, his career lasted only 13 years, during which he turned from a man without a name into a world star.

And it all began trite: having finished school in 1952, he became a student at the Institute of Fisheries. But, the truth, he studied there for only six months and transferred to the Institute of Physical Education. The fact is that while still at school, the fragile and weak Lenya enrolled in the boxing section and suddenly began to make great strides in this sport.

By the way, his reprisal “Boxing” paints a great picture of this situation. In it, in the ring, a flimsy and insecure guy, waving his arms funny and stupidly, defeats a healthy athlete. And let him be dragged from the ring by the arms - he is a winner anyway!

Finding a place in circus art

In the mid-50s, Leonid Yengibarov already achieved significant success in boxing, becoming a master of sports, and, by the way, this served as a kind of preface to his future fate, because he would later have to take a hit many times .

In 1955, a clownery department was opened at the circus school, and Yengibarov decided to go there. There he very quickly realized that this was his element, his vocation. Therefore, having been assigned to the troupe of the Armenian circus collective in Yerevan, he plunged headlong in search of himself, his place in the arena.

To some extent, he was lucky, because even at the school, Yengibarov met the director Yuri Belov, with whom he later worked all his creative life. It was Yuri Pavlovich who prompted the future celebrity to an unlike the image of a slightly sad “thinking clown” - “a clown with soul in the fall”, as his contemporaries called him.

Clown with autumn in the shower

True, it should be said that at first this image was difficult for the audience to perceive - it too went beyond the usual framework of a fun and carefree carpet, mixing the audience between the numbers, while the stage workers dragged the props. Contrary to all the canons, the circus presented to the puzzled visitors a subtle and intelligent mime, not only laughing, but making you think and even feel sad. Leonid Yengibarov (you can see the photo of the great artist in the article) turned his numbers into something akin to the lyrical confession of a very lonely and defenseless person in this world.

The rich inner world of a great artist can be judged even by his words, which journalists now like to quote: “It is especially difficult to stand on one hand, because at that time the whole globe is in it!”

Yes, for a long time the young artist was not taken seriously, even advising to change the role. But the image of a thinking clown was too close to Leonid’s heart, and he didn’t want to back away from him, believing that at some point a moment of understanding and success would come.

Time for success

And that time has come. In 1961, the Yerevan circus went on tour to Moscow, where after the first performances, a rumor about an unusual clown swept through the city. They began to go to Yengibarov as a solo program. The success was amazing: the girls gave him flowers, and the audience applauded while standing, and it all looked like he was not a clown, but a ballet soloist.

The popularity was growing. In 1962, the film “The Path to the Arena” (dir. L. Isahakyan and G. Malyan) was released, where Leonid Yengibarov himself appeared as the main character. The artist’s personal life and the difficulties he faced on the path to fame were depicted realistically and touchingly, which, by the way, made the clown even more famous.

And in 1964 in Prague - at the international competition of clowns - he received the first prize. For a recently unknown artist, it was a stunning success!

He is too freedom-loving!

The first victory was followed by others. Now Leonid was offered attractive contracts in foreign circuses, but Soviet officials were adamant. Leonid Yengibarov was too uncontrollable and freedom-loving, so an unequivocal verdict was issued against him: “Do not let out!” The management was afraid that one day the artist simply would not return from his overseas tour.

And at home, the artist was not easy: to circumvent the endless heavy censorship, he even had to write one in the script and play another on the stage. Someone turned a blind eye to this, but, of course, there were those to whom the fame of the artist did not give rest, and denunciations were written on him.

All this, as well as heavy loads (Leonid Yengibarov with his ensemble gave 3 performances a day!) Wore his heart out. And in 1972, in the hot stuffy summer, when peat bogs were burning near Moscow, and there was a thick smog in the city, the heart of the mime could not stand it.

It is interesting that on the day of his funeral, heavy rain suddenly started - obviously, even nature mourned the departure of the sad clown. Thousands of people stood in the rain, waiting for the line to say goodbye, and entered the hall where the requiem was taking place, with wet faces ...