Mikhail Semenovich Shchepkin (1788-18bZ|) is a great actor and one of the founders of the Russian acting school. His biography is amazing: a serf from the Kursk province, who will perform in the imperial theater, be friends with Pushkin, Gogol, Turgenev, Nekrasov and other masters of Russian literature. However, his autobiography is no less striking. The witty, lively and funny life story of the theater genius would not have existed without the efforts of Alexander Pushkin. On May 17, 1836, the poet gave the actor a notebook, entitled it “Notes of the actor Shchepkin” and wrote the first lines: “I was born in the Kursk province of Oboyansky district in the village of Krasnoye, on the Penka River.” Now we can reliably, from the first person, find out what happened next: about parents, landowners, ransom, cities and outbacks, and most importantly - about the secrets of acting. The publishing layout of the book is saved in PDF A4 format.