Ivan Semyonovich Efimov

Place: St. Petersburg

Born: 1878

Death: 1959

Biography:

Ivan Efimov was a Russian sculptor born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1878. He was one of the members of the art association ‘The Four Arts’, which existed in Moscow and Leningrad in 1924-1931. Along with his wife, Nina Simonovich-Efimova, the couple founded the tradition of Soviet puppet theater. Since 1958 he has been an Honorary member of UNIMA (International Puppetry Association). In addition to puppet design, Efimov was noted for his book illustration and sculpture. He created pieces for the Central Museum of Ethnology, the North River Terminal, several metro and railway stations and the Grand Kremlin Palace. Internationally his sculptures were awarded gold medals in 1937 at the Paris World Exhibition and a silver medal at the World Exhibition in Brussels, and in Russia he was honored as both an Artist of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) and the People’s Artist of the RSFSR. He died in 1959.