# Karandash

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{{Short description|Soviet clown}}
{{family name hatnote|Nikolayevich|Rumyantsev|lang=Eastern Slavic}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Karandash
| native_name_lang   = ru
| native_name        = {{nobold|Карандаш}}
| image              = 200px
| alt                = 
| caption            = Karandash in 1939
| birth_name         = Mikhail Nikolayevich Rumyantsev
| birth_date         = {{OldStyleDateDY|10 December|1901|27 November}}
| birth_place        = [Saint Petersburg](/source/Saint_Petersburg), Russian Empire<!-- DO NOT LINK, see [MOS:GEOLINK](/source/MOS%3AGEOLINK) for further guidance -->
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1983|3|31|1901|12|10|df=yes}}
| death_place        = [Moscow](/source/Moscow), Russian SFSR,<!-- DO NOT LINK, see [MOS:GEOLINK](/source/MOS%3AGEOLINK) for further guidance --> Soviet Union<!-- DO NOT LINK, see [MOS:GEOLINK](/source/MOS%3AGEOLINK) for further guidance -->
| nationality        = <!-- use only when necessary per [WP:INFONAT](/source/WP%3AINFONAT) -->
| other_names        = 
| occupation         = [Clown](/source/Clown)
}}

thumb|right|Signature of Karandash

'''Mikhail Nikolayevich Rumyantsev'''{{efn|name=spelling|{{langx|ru|Михаил Николаевич Румянцев|{{transliteration|ru|Mikhail Nikolayevich Rumyantsev}}}}}} ({{OldStyleDateDY|10 December|1901|27 November}}{{snd}}31 March 1983), better known under his [stage name](/source/stage_name) '''Karandash'''{{efn|{{langx|ru|Карандаш|{{transliteration|ru|Karandash}}}}, which means ''pencil''}} was a famous [Soviet](/source/Soviet_Union) [clown](/source/clown).<ref name="Italian bio">[http://www.delteatro.it/dizionario_dello_spettacolo_del_900/k/karandash.php Biography in Italian] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070829091741/http://www.delteatro.it/dizionario_dello_spettacolo_del_900/k/karandash.php |date=2007-08-29 }}, retrieved 27 April 2007.</ref><ref name="Russian bio">[http://www.peoples.ru/art/circus/clown/karandash/index.html Biography in Russian], retrieved 27 April 2007.</ref> He was a [People's Artist of the USSR](/source/People's_Artist_of_the_USSR) and a [Hero of Socialist Labour](/source/Hero_of_Socialist_Labour), and was the teacher of the famous Russian clowns [Oleg Popov](/source/Oleg_Popov) and [Yuri Nikulin](/source/Yuri_Nikulin).<ref name="Gomel">[http://www.gomel-region.by/en/bottom_menu/news/society?ns_id=4903 Monument to legendary clown Karandash to open in Gomel June 1, 2006] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928010616/http://www.gomel-region.by/en/bottom_menu/news/society?ns_id=4903 |date=September 28, 2007 }}, Official site of [Gomel Oblast](/source/Gomel_Oblast), retrieved 27 April 2007.</ref><ref>[http://www.clownsoftheworld.com/russian.htm History of clowns in Russia], retrieved 27 April 2007.</ref>

==Family life==
Rumyantsev was born in [Saint Petersburg](/source/Saint_Petersburg), and had two younger siblings, brother Kostya and sister Lena.<ref name="Russian bio"/> His mother died when he was six.

Rumyantsev had at least two daughters.<ref name="Gomel"/>

==Career as clown==
thumb|1989 stamp commemorating Karandash
Starting his career in the circus arena as the imitator of [Charlie Chaplin](/source/Charlie_Chaplin), Mikhail Rumyantsev then abandoned it for, or rather, transformed that part into his would-be renowned image of Karandash always accompanied with his hallmark [Scottish Terrier](/source/Scottish_Terrier) named ''Klyaksa'' (which means ''blot'').

He enjoyed immense popularity with the Soviet audience and often gathered full houses all over the country. He had courage to ridicule such topics as religion, alcohol, fascism and even the Soviet regime.{{sfn|Stites|1992|p=80}}

Rumyantsev taught his profession to both [Oleg Popov](/source/Oleg_Popov) and [Yuri Nikulin](/source/Yuri_Nikulin).<ref>[http://www.russia-ic.com/culture_art/theatre/335/ Biography of Yuri Nikulin], retrieved on 27 April 2007.</ref>

During [World War II](/source/World_War_II), Rumyantsev toured on frontiers and mocked [fascist forces](/source/Axis_powers) to raise soldiers’ morale.<ref name="Nikulin">Official site of Nikulin's circus. {{Cite web |url=http://www.circusnikulin.ru/_en/ours/ |title=РњРѕСЃРєРѕРІСЃРєРёР№ Цирк РЅР° ЦвеС'РЅРѕРј Р'ульваре |access-date=27 April 2007 |archive-date=10 February 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070210073218/http://www.circusnikulin.ru/_en/ours/ |url-status=dead }}, retrieved on 27 April 2007.</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2019-12-10 |title=118 лет Карандашу: Главархив Москвы рассказывает о творчестве известного советского клоуна |work=Сайт Москвы |trans-title=118 Anniversary of Karandash: Archives on Famous Soviet Clown |url=https://www.mos.ru/news/item/66643073/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814210143/https://www.mos.ru/news/item/66643073/ |archive-date=2020-08-14 |access-date=2023-11-04 |publisher=The official portal of the Moscow Mayor and Moscow Government |language=ru}}</ref>

In 1960, he toured [South America](/source/South_America) with the [Moscow Circus on Tsvetnoy Boulevard](/source/Moscow_Circus_on_Tsvetnoy_Boulevard).<ref name="Nikulin"/><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110524063540/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,869446,00.html?promoid=googlep Reddest show on Earth], ''[Time](/source/Time_(magazine))'', 4 April 1960, retrieved on 27 April 2007.</ref>

Altogether, Karandash had worked in the circus for 55 years, the last time he appeared in the arena was just two weeks prior to his death.

The {{ill|Moscow Circus School|ru|Государственное училище циркового и эстрадного искусства}} was named after him.<ref>[http://www3.pgz.economy.gov.ru/trade/view/organization/general.html?id=102170964 Governmental Russian site about the school] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001020038/http://www3.pgz.economy.gov.ru/trade/view/organization/general.html?id=102170964 |date=2011-10-01 }}, retrieved 30 April 2007.</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

== Literature ==
*{{cite book
 |last= Stites
 |first=Richard
 |year=1992
 |title=Russian Popular Culture: Entertainment and Society Since 1900
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mGY_dmShGCAC&q=nikulin
 |location=Cambridge
 |publisher=Cambridge University Press
 |page= 80
 |isbn=0-521-36986-X
 }} 

==External links==
*{{in lang|en}} [http://www.russia-ic.com/culture_art/theatre/679/ Karandash the Clown, Symbol of Epoch on Circus Arena (Biography)]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karandash}}
Category:1901 births
Category:1983 deaths
Category:20th-century Russian male actors
Category:Entertainers from Saint Petersburg
Category:Male actors from Saint Petersburg
Category:Heroes of Socialist Labour
Category:Honored Artists of the RSFSR
Category:People's Artists of the RSFSR
Category:People's Artists of the USSR
Category:Recipients of the Order of Lenin
Category:Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour
Category:Russian clowns
Category:Russian male film actors
Category:Soviet clowns
Category:Soviet male film actors
Category:Burials at Kuntsevo Cemetery

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Karandash](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karandash) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karandash?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.