Nikolai Litus

{{Short description|Ukrainian film director (1925–2022)}} {{Infobox person | name = Nikolai Litus | image = Литус Николай.jpg | caption = Litus in 2021 | native_name = Літус Микола | native_name_lang = uk | birth_name = Nikolai Gnatovich Litus | birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1925|01|15}} | birth_place = Tsybuliv, Cherkasy Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union | death_date = {{death date and age|2022|02|21|1925|01|15|df=y}} | death_place = Kirovohrad Oblast, Ukraine | other_names = Mykola Litus, Mikola Lytus | occupation = Director | alma_mater = Kirov State University <br> Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography | awards = }}

'''Nikolai Gnatovich Litus''' (Ukrainian: Літус Микола Гнатович; 15 January 1925 – 21 February 2022) was a Ukrainian film director. He was a Merited Artist of Ukraine.<ref name="bio">{{cite news |title=Помер режисер «Королеви бензоколонки», уродженець Кіровоградщини Микола Літус |url=https://cbn.com.ua/2022/02/22/pomer-rezhyser-korolevy-benzokolonky-urodzhenets-kirovogradshhyny-mykola-litus/ |access-date=27 February 2022 |work=CBN News |date=22 February 2022 |language=uk}}</ref><ref name="kte" />

== Life and career == Born in Tsybuliv, a village in the Uman Raion district, after graduating from the Leningrad Infantry School he fought in the Eastern Front of World War II.<ref name="kte">{{cite web |title=Николай Литус - Биография |url=https://www.kino-teatr.ru/kino/director/sov/11934/bio/ |website=Кино-Театр.Ру |language=ru|access-date=27 February 2022}}</ref> After the war he graduated in history at the Kirov Pedagogical Institute (today Vyatka State University), and later studied directing at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography and worked as an assistant of Alexander Zarkhi.<ref name="kte" />

The feature film debut he co-directed with Shamsi Kiamov, ''Moi Drug Navrusov'' ("My Friend Navrusov") was censored and never screened because of its criticism of Soviet bureaucracy.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Vasudev |first1=Aruna |last2=Padgaonkar |first2=Latika |last3=Doraiswamy |first3=Rashmi |title=Being & Becoming, the Cinemas of Asia |date=2002 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0-333-93820-1 |page=27 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Donmez-Colin |first1=Gonul |title=Cinemas of the Other: A Personal Journey with Film-Makers from Iran and Turkey: 2nd Edition |date=2012 |publisher=Intellect Books |isbn=978-1-84150-765-1 |page=108 |language=en}}</ref> He later directed documentaries and some popular films for Dovzhenko Film Studios, notably the 1963 comedy ''Queen of the Gas Station''.<ref name="bio" /><ref name="kte" />

Beyond his cinema activity, between 1968 and 1983 Litus was lecturer at the Kyiv National I. K. Karpenko-Kary Theatre, Cinema and Television University.<ref name="kte" />

Litus died in Kirovohrad Oblast on 21 February 2022, at the age of 97.<ref name="bio">{{cite news |title=Помер режисер «Королеви бензоколонки», уродженець Кіровоградщини Микола Літус |url=https://cbn.com.ua/2022/02/22/pomer-rezhyser-korolevy-benzokolonky-urodzhenets-kirovogradshhyny-mykola-litus/ |access-date=27 February 2022 |work=CBN News |date=22 February 2022 |language=uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Лютнева втрата. Відійшов засвіти кінорежисер Микола ЛІТУС |url=http://www.ukrkino.com.ua/about/spilkanews/?id=15770 |access-date=27 February 2022 |publisher=Ukrkino}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb name|id=nm0514816}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Litus, Nikolai}} Category:1925 births Category:2022 deaths Category:Soviet film directors Category:Ukrainian film directors Category:People from Cherkasy Oblast Category:Soviet military personnel of World War II from Ukraine Category:Recipients of the Order of the Red Star Category:Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography alumni Category:Academic staff of Kyiv National I. K. Karpenko-Kary Theatre, Cinema and Television University Category:Recipients of the title of Merited Artist of Ukraine