Mikhail Druyan(1911-2000)

Mikhail Druyan is Soviet and Russian cinematographer of animated films. Member of the Great Patriotic War. He shot over three hundred films, many of which have become classics of animation. Honored Worker of Culture of the Russian Federation (1975). Mikhail Druya was born in Kharkov. As a teenager, he arrived in Moscow without any means of livelihood. He was a homeless child. Since 1932 he worked as an assistant operator in the animation workshop at the studio "Voentekhfilm". His first noticeable work was the animated captions for the musical comedy of Grigoriy Aleksandrov - Moscow Laughs (1934). In 1936, having passed the selection committee, which was headed by director Ivan Ivanov-Vano, Mikhail became the operator of the studio Soyuzmultfilm. In 1941, as a volunteer Druyan went to the front, fought as part of the Special Motorized Rifle Brigade. Demobilized, in December 1945 he returned to the studio Soyuzmultfilm. In 1975 he was awarded the title of Honored Worker of Culture of the Russian Federation. In 1996, after suffering a stroke, he was unable to continue working and was forced to leave the animation.