En name	Kazan
Ru name	Казань
Loc name1	Казан, Qazan
Loc lang1	Tatar
Coordinates	55°47′″N49°10′″N
Map label position	right
Holiday	August 30
Holiday ref
Federal subject	Republic of Tatarstan
Federal subject ref
Capital of	Republic of Tatarstan
Capital of ref
Inhabloc cat	City
Inhabloc cat ref
Inhabloc type	City of republic significance
Inhabloc type ref
Urban okrug jur	Kazan Urban Okrug
Leader title	Mayor
Leader title ref
Leader name	Ilsur Metshin
Leader name ref
Representative body	City Duma
Representative body ref
Area km2	425.3
Area km2 ref
Pop 2010census	1143600
Pop 2010census rank	8th
Pop 2010census ref
Pop 2002census	1105289
Pop 2002census rank	8th
Pop 2002census ref
Established date	~1005
Established date ref
Postal codes	420xxx
Postal codes ref
Dialing codes	843
Dialing codes ref
Website	http://www.kzn.ru/
Date	April 2010 }}

Kazan (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. With a population of 1,143,600 (2010 Census preliminary results), it is the eighth most populous city in Russia. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in European Russia. In April 2009, the Russian Patent Office granted Kazan the right to brand itself as the "Third Capital" of Russia. In 2009 it was chosen as the "sports capital of Russia". The Kazan Kremlin is a World Heritage Site.

History

Etymology

The origin of the name Kazan is uncertain. The most accepted legends derive it from the Bulgarian (and also modern Tatar) word ''qazan'', which means 'boiler' or 'cauldron'.

Middle Ages

There is a long-running dispute as to whether Kazan was founded by the Volga Bulgars in the early Middle Ages or by the Tatars of the Golden Horde in the mid-15th century, as written records before the latter period are sparse. If there was a Bulgar city on the site, estimates of the date of its foundation range from the early 11th century to the late 13th century (see Iske Qazan). It was a border post between Volga Bulgaria and two Finnic tribes, the (Mari and the Udmurt). Another vexatious question is where the citadel was built originally. Archaeological explorations have produced evidence of urban settlement in three parts of the modern city: in the Kremlin; in Bişbalta at the site of the modern Zilantaw monastery; and near the Qaban lake. The oldest of these seems to be the Kremlin.

If Kazan existed in the 11th and 12th centuries, it could have been a stop on a Volga trade route from Scandinavia to Iran. It was a trade center, and possibly a major city for Bulgar settlers in the Kazan region, although their capital was further south at the city of Bolğar.

After the Mongols devastated the Bolğar and Bilär areas in the 13th century, migrants resettled Kazan. Kazan became a center of a duchy which was a dependency of the Golden Horde. Two centuries later, in the 1430s, Hordian Tatars (such as Ghiasetdin of Kazan) usurped power from its Bolghar dynasty.

Some Tatars also went to Lithuania, brought by Vytautas the Great.

In 1438, after the destruction of the Golden Horde, Kazan became the capital of the powerful Khanate of Kazan. The city bazaar, ''Taş Ayaq'' (''Stone Leg'')' became the most important trade center in the region, especially for furniture. The citadel and Bolaq channel were reconstructed, giving the city a strong defensive capacity. The Russians managed to occupy the city briefly several times.

Russian Tsardom times

As a result of the Siege of Kazan (1552) Russia under Ivan the Terrible conquered the city for good and the majority of the population was massacred. During the governorship of Alexander Gorbatyi-Shuisky, most of the khanates's Tatar residents were killed or forcibly Christianized. Mosques and palaces were ruined. The surviving Tatar population was moved to a place away from the city and this place was forcibly settled by Russian farmers and soldiers. Tatars in the Russian service were settled in the Tatar Bistäse settlement near the city's wall. Later Tatar merchants and handicraft masters also settled there. During this period, Kazan was largely destroyed as a result of several great fires. After one of them in 1579, the icon ''Our Lady of Kazan'' was discovered in the city. In the early 17th century, at the beginning of the Time of Troubles in Russia, the Tsardom of Kazan declared independence with the help of the Russian population, but this independence was suppressed by Kuzma Minin in 1612.

Russian Empire times

In 1708, the Tsardom of Kazan was abolished, and Kazan became the center of a ''guberniya''. After Peter the Great's visit, the city became a center of shipbuilding for the Caspian fleet. The major Russian poet Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin was born in Kazan in 1743, the son of a poor country squire of Tatar ancestry though himself having a thoroughly Russian identity. Kazan was largely destroyed in 1774 as a result of the Pugachev revolt, a revolt by border troops and peasants led by the Don Cossack ataman (captain) Yemelyan Pugachev, but was rebuilt soon afterwards, during the reign of Catherine the Great. Catherine also decreed that mosques could again be built in Kazan, the first being Marjani Mosque. In the beginning of the 19th century Kazan State University and printing press were founded by Alexander I. It became an important center for Oriental Studies in Russia. The Qur'an was first printed in Kazan in 1801. Kazan became an industrial center and peasants migrated there to join its industrial workforce. In 1875, a horse tramway appeared; 1899 saw the installation of a tramway. After the Russian Revolution of 1905, Tatars were allowed to revive Kazan as a Tatar cultural center. The first Tatar theater and the first Tatar newspaper appeared.

Soviet period

In 1917 Kazan became one of the revolution centers. In 1918, Kazan was a capital of the Idel-Ural State, which was suppressed by the Bolshevist government. In the Kazan Operation of August 1918, it was briefly occupied by Czechoslovak Legions. In 1920 (after the October Revolution), Kazan became the center of Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. In the 1920s and 1930s, most of the city's mosques and churches were destroyed, as occurred elsewhere in the USSR. During World War II, many industrial plants and factories to the west were relocated in Kazan, making the city a center of the military industry, producing tanks and planes. After the war Kazan consolidated as an industrial and scientific center. In 1979, the city's population reached one million.

Modern times

In the late 1980s and in the 1990s, after the dissolution of the USSR, Kazan again became the center of Tatar culture, and separatist tendencies intensified. With the return of the capitalism era Kazan became one the most important centers of the Russian Federation. The city came up from 10th to 6th position in population ranking of Russian cities. In the late 2000s the city earnt the right to host both the 2013 Summer Universiade and 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Millennium of Kazan

Since 2000, the city has been undergoing a total renovation. The historical center, including its Kremlin, has been rebuilt. Kazan celebrated its millennium in 2005, after a city-organised historical commission settled on 1005 as the official year of the city's founding. During the millennium celebrations, one of the largest mosque in Russia, Qolsharif, was dedicated in the Kazan Kremlin, the holiest copy of Our Lady of Kazan was returned to the city, the "Millennium Bridge" was inaugurated that year, and Kazan Metro began operation.

Demographics

[[File:Kazan church edit1.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''All Religions Temple''. A building and cultural center built by the local artist Ildar Khanov]]

Ethnicity and religion

The city's population consists almost entirely composed of either Russians (about 48.8 percent) or Tatars (about 47.5 percent). The remainder consists of Chuvash, Ukrainians, Azeri, and Jews. Major religions in Kazan city are Sunni Islam and Eastern Orthodoxy. Minor religions are Catholicism, Protestantism, Judaism, Krishnaism, and the Bahá'í Faith.

Languages

Tatar and Russian languages are widely spoken in the city. Russian is understood by practically all the population, apart from some older Tatars. Tatar is widely spoken mainly by Tatars.

Population

Population:

!Year	!Population
1550	50,000
1557	7,000
1800	40,000
1830	43,900
1839	51,600
1859	60,600
1862	63,100
1883	140,000
1897	130,000
1917	206,600
1926	179,000
1939	398,000
1959	667,000
1979	989,000
1989	1,094,378 (census)
1997	1,076,000
2000	1,089,500
2002	1,105,289 (census)
2008	1,120,200
2009	1,130,717
2010	1,143,600 (census)

Climate

Kazan has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification ''Dfb'') with long cold winters and warm, often hot dry summers. The warmest month is July with daily mean temperature near , coldest - January .

Central Kazan

Kremlin

The city has a beautiful citadel (Russian: кремль, tr. kreml', or sometimes Tatar: ''kirman''), which was declared the World Heritage Site in 2000. Major monuments in the kremlin are the 5-domed 6-columned Annunciation Cathedral (1561–62) and the mysterious leaning ''Soyembika Tower'', named after the last queen of Kazan and regarded as the city's most conspicuous landmark.

Also of interest are the towers and walls, erected in the 16th and 17th centuries but later reconstructed; the ''Qol-Şarif mosque'', which is already rebuilt inside the citadel; remains of the Saviour Monastery (its splendid 16th-century cathedral having been demolished by the Bolsheviks) with the Spasskaya Tower; and the ''Governor's House'' (1843–53), designed by Konstantin Thon, now the Palace of the President of Tatarstan.

Next door, the ornate baroque Sts-Peter-and-Paul's Cathedral on Qawi Nacmi Street and Marcani mosque on Qayum Nasiri Street date back to the 18th century.

Bistä or Posad

Central Kazan is divided into two districts by the Bolaq canal and Lake Qaban. The first district (Qazan Bistäse or Kazanskiy Posad), historically Russian, is situated on the hill, the second (İske Tatar Bistäse or Staro-Tatarskaya Sloboda), historically Tatar, is situated between the Bolaq and the Volga. Mosques, such as ''Nurullah'', ''Soltan'', ''Bornay'', ''Apanay'', ''Äcem'', ''Märcani'', ''İske Taş'', ''Zäñgär'' are in the Tatar district. Churches, such as ''Blagoveschenskaya'', ''Varvarinskaya'', ''Nikol'skaya'', ''Tikhvinskaya'', are mostly in the Russian part of the city. The main city-centre streets are ''Bauman'', ''Kremlyovskaya'', ''Dzerzhinsky'', ''Tuqay'', ''Puşkin'', ''Butlerov'', ''Gorkiy'', ''Karl Marx'' and ''Märcani''.

An old legend says that in 1552, before the Russian invasion, wealthy Tatars (''baylar'') hid gold and silver in Lake Qaban.

Wooden Kazan

In the beginning of 1990s most of Central Kazan was covered by wooden buildings, usually consisting of two floors. There was a historical environment of Kazan citizens, but not the best place to live in. During the Republican programme "The liquidation of ramshackle apartments" most of them (unlike other Russian cities), especially in Central Kazan, where the land is not cheap, were destroyed and their population was moved to new areas at the suburb of the city (Azino, Azino-2, Quartal 39). Nearly 100,000 citizens resettled by this programme.

Other major buildings

Another significant building in central Kazan is the former "Smolentzev and Shmelev" tea house and hotel, now the Shalyapin Palace Hotel. It is located at 7/80 Universitetskaya Street, at the corner of Universitetskaya and Bauman. A major landmark of late-19th and early-20th century commercial architecture, it consists of two portions. The original portion, built for a merchant named Usmanov in the 1860s, was bought by the inter-related families of Efim Smolentzev and Pavel and Nikolai Shmelev in 1899. They operated a store selling, among other things, tea. In 1910, the Smolentevs and Shmelevs constructed another portion, designed by architect Vasili Trifonov, and operated a hotel there. After the Russian Revolution, the building eventually became the Hotel Soviet and after 2000 it was heavily renovated to reopen as the Shalyapin Palace Hotel.

Cityscape

Education and science

Primary and secondary education

Primary and secondary education system of Kazan includes:

282 nurseries, most of which are municipal

178 schools, 2 of which are private

28 vocational technical schools

15 colleges

10 special colleges

There are also 49 music schools, 10 fine-arts schools and 43 sports schools.

Higher education

There are 44 institutes of higher education in Kazan, including 19 branches of universities from other cities. More than 140 000 students are educated in the city. Kazan Federal University (founded in 1804) is third oldest university in Russia after Saint Petersburg State University (1724) and Moscow State University (1755). In 2009 KFU got Federal status as main university of Volga Region. Some other prominent universities are:

Kazan State Technical University - founded in 1932. In 2009 it got status of National university;

Kazan State Medical University - founded in 1814 as a department within Kazan State University;

Kazan State Technological University - founded in 1919 on the base of pre-existing vocational school;

Kazan State Conservatory - founded in 1945;

Science

City is one of the biggest scientific centres of Russia. Kazan formed a big number of scientific areas and schools (mathematical, chemical, medical, linguistic, geological, geobotanical, etc.). It is subject of special pride: the creation of non-Euclidean geometry (Nikolai Lobachevsky), the discovery of the chemical element ruthenium (Claus), the theory about the structure of organic compounds (Aleksandr Butlerov), the discovery of the electron paramagnetic resonance (Yevgeny Zavoisky) and acoustic paramagnetic resonance (Altshuler) and many others. City hosts:

Kazan Science Centre of Russian Academy of Sciences, since 1945. It includes 5 academical institutions.

Tatarstan Academy of Sciences, since 1991. It includes 7 local departments with 13 academical institutions (also, 21 organisations are under the guidance of TAS) and one branch in Ulyanovsk.

Government and administration

Administrative division

Kazan is divided into seven districts:

!No.	!District	!Population	!Area (km²)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Mayor

Mayor is the head of the city. İlsur Metşin has been the mayor of Kazan since November 17, 2005

City Duma

Kazan City Duma is a representative body of the city, elected every four years.

Executive committee

Executive committee is a municipal body of the executive organs. Committee's head is Alexey Pesoshin.

Tatarstan government

Kazan hosts Tatarstan President's residence and administration (in Kremlin), Tatarstan's Cabinet of Ministers and Council of State (on Freedom square).

Economy

Kazan is one of the largest industrial and financial centres of Russia, and a leading city of the Volga economic region in construction and accumulated investment. City's Gross Regional Product had reached 306 bln roubles (~$10 bln) in 2010.

Total banking capital of Kazan banks is third in Russia. The main industries of the city are: mechanical engineering, chemical, petrochemical, light and food industries. An innovative economy is represented by the largest IT-park in Russia which is one of the largest of its kind amongst Eastern Europe science parks. Kazan ranks 174th (highest in Russia) in Mercer’s Worldwide Quality of Living Survey.

Transport

Kazan International Airport

Kazan International Airport is located 26 kilometers from the city centre. It is a hub for Tatarstan Airlines and Kazan Air Enterprise and hosts 11 air companies. Airport is connected with city by bus route #97. There is also the Kazan Borisoglebskoye airfield, home to Kazan Aircraft Production Association, a major aircraft factory.

Railways

Kazan is connected with Moscow, Ulyanovsk, Yoshkar-Ola and Yekaterinburg by railways.

Main railway station "Kazan passazhirsky" is located in the city centre and includes main building (built in 1896), commuter trains terminal, ticket office building and some other technical buildings. Station serves 36 intercity trains and more than 8 million passengers per annum.

There is a second terminal in the northern part of city, it serves only one intercity train. Reconstruction of the Northern terminal has been frozen.

Kazan city has also 19 platforms for commuter trains

Riverside station

Station serves intercity ships and commuter boats. Pneumocushion boats are used in winter time. Daily passenger turnover reaches 6 thousands.

Bus station

There are two bus stations in Kazan — Central and Southern. Bus routes connect Kazan with all districts of Tatarstan, Samara, Ufa, Tolyatti, Orenburg, Ulyanovsk, Cheboksary, Sterlitamak, Buzuluk, Baki and Aktobe. It is planned to build new stations in the East, West and North districts instead of Central for relieving city centre.

Highways

There are federal highway connections to Moscow and Ufa (E-22), Orenburg (R-239), Ul'yanovsk (R-241) and Igra (R-242). There are also R-175 federal highway and «Northern Europe — Western China» (in construction) route near the city.

There are five bridges across the Kazanka (Qazansu) river in the city, and one bridge connecting Kazan with the opposite bank of the Volga.

Public transit

A single-line Kazan Metro, the north-southeast Central Line, opened on 27 August 2005. The Kazan Metro has seven stations, but there are plans to extend the line in both directions and is due to cross the Kazanka river with the stations "Dekabristov", "Moskovskaya", "Aviastroitel`naya" in 2012. Single trip costs 13-15 rub.

The Kazan tram system was founded in 1899. 8 routes use of lines and 197 tramcars. Single trip costs 10-12 rub. Rolling stock: LM-99, 71-608, 71-605. The Kazan trolleybus system was founded in 1948. of lines are used for 14 routes. Single trip costs 13-15 rub. Vehicles: ZIU-682, Trolza-5275-05 "Optima", VMZ-5298.01-50 "Avangard".

The Kazan bus system was totally renovated in 2007. 91 routes have an aggregate length of 1981 km. All 1444 buses are colored red. Single trip costs 16-18 rub. Buses are produced by "Golden Dragon", "Higer", "NefAZ", "MAZ", "Yutong", "Hyundai", "Bogdan"

Sports

Men's teams:

Ice hockey (KHL) - Ak Bars Kazan (2-time KHL champions; 4-time champion; 2007 IIHF European Champions Cup & 2008 IIHF Continental Cup winner)

Football (Russian Premier League) - FC Rubin Kazan (2-time champion)

Basketball (Russian Basketball Super League) - UNICS Kazan (2-time Cup holder; 2004 FIBA Europe League winner; 2011 Eurocup winner)

Volleyball (Russian Superleague) - VC Zenit Kazan (3-time champion; 2008 CEV Champions League winner)

Water polo (Higher League) - Sintez (2007 champion; 2005 Cup holder; 2007 LEN Cup winner)

Bandy (Higher League) - Dynamo (2009 Russian Cup holder, 2009 FIB Champions Cup winner, 2010 Bandy World Cup winner)

Rugby (Russian League) - Strela (6-time champion)

Field hockey (Russian League) - Dinamo (5-time champion)

Team handball - KAI-Zilant (dissolved in 2008);

Futsal - Privolzhanin (dissolved in 2004);

Famous athletes

Viktor Kolotov - football player

Ruslan Nigmatullin - football player

Denis Arkhipov - hockey player

Svetlana Demina - sport shooter

Infrastructure

Central stadium - olympic stadium, capacity 30,133. Home ground for FC «Rubin». Also, new football arena with capacity 45,000 is under construction and has to be ready in 2012-2013.

TatNeft Arena - indoor sporting arena, capacity 10,000. Home to HSC «Aq Bars»

Basket-Hall - indoor sporting arena, capacity 7,000 (large hall) and 1,500 (small hall). Home to BC «UNICS»

«Rubin» stadium, capacity 10,000. Home to FC «Rubin-2»

Volleyball centre, capacity 4,600. Home to VC «Zenit» and WVC «Dynamo-Kazan»

Field Hockey centre, capacity 2,700.

«Raketa» and «Trudoviye Rezervi» ice stadiums

Important events

Kazan is the host city for the 2013 Summer Universiade, 2015 World Aquatics Championships, 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and 2018 FIFA World Cup.

2011 European Weightlifting Championships

2005 and 2011 Bandy World Championships

2010 finswimming European championship

2008 ice hockey juniors world championship

2008 boxing students world championship

2007 field hockey Europe championship

International relations

Branch Offices of Embassies

Branch Office of the Embassy of Belarus

Consulates

Two consulates general are found in Kazan. Consulate-General of Iran. Consulate-General of Turkey.

Visa centers

Italian Visa Center in Kazan. Joint Visa Application Center of European Union for:

Twin towns — Sister cities

Kazan is twinned with: Al Qalyubiyah (Egypt), since 2001 Al Minufiyah (Egypt), since 1997 Antalya (Turkey), since 2003 Astana (Kazakhstan), since 2004 Braunschweig (Germany), since 1988 College Station, Texas (USA), since 1990 Donetsk (Ukraine), since 2002 Eskişehir (Turkey), since 1997 Hangzhou (People's Republic of China), since 2002 Istanbul (Turkey), since 2002 Tabriz (Iran), since 2009

Kazan has also partner relations with the following cities and regions:

Almaty (Kazakhstan), since 1996 Arkhangelsk (Russia), since 1999 Astrakhan (Russia), since 1997 Baku (Azerbaijan), since 2003 Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), since 1998 Chelyabinsk (Russia), since 2002 Evpatoria (Ukraine), since 1998 Ivanovo (Russia), since 1997 Jūrmala (Latvia), since 2002 Kabul (Afghanistan), since 2005 Krasnoyarsk (Russia), since 2001 Nizhny Novgorod (Russia), since 1997 Oryol (Russia), since 2010 Orenburg (Russia), since 2001 Samara (Russia), since 1998 Saratov (Russia), since 1999 Shumen Province (Bulgaria), since 2003 Tashkent (Uzbekistan), since 1998 Ufa (Russia), since 1999 Ulan-Ude (Russia), since 2003 Ulyanovsk (Russia), since 1998 Urbino (Italy), since 2001 Volgograd (Russia), since 2005 Yaroslavl (Russia), since 2003 Yoshkar-Ola (Russia), since 2002

International organisations membership

Organization of World Heritage Cities

United Cities and Local Governments

Twin Cities International Association

Historic Cities International Association

General Conference of Mayors for Peace

Kazan has an Alliance française centre.

Kazan has an American Corner.

See also

People from Kazan

References

Notes

Sources

External links

Kazan city tourist portal The City of Kazan Kazan millenium Universiade Kazan 2013

Kazan 1000 years old

The history of Islamic religion in Kazan

Kazan - Global Stroll

Images of the Kazan Kremlin and famous Mosque Interactive Google Maps Kazan Kremlin

http://www.kazan-memory.uni-tuebingen.de/indexee.html - Student project about Kazan's history (central aspects: memory, religion)

map of Kazan

The architecture of Kazan (in rus)

Russia - Republic of Tatarstan - Kazan - photo galleries

Category:Populated places on the Volga Category:Populated places established in the 11th century

af:Kazan ar:قازان az:Kazan ba:Ҡаҙан (ҡала) be:Горад Казань br:Kazan bg:Казан (Русия) ca:Kazan cv:Хусан cs:Kazaň cy:Kazan’ da:Kazan de:Kasan et:Kaasan el:Καζάν myv:Казань ош es:Kazán eo:Kazan eu:Kazan fa:قازان fr:Kazan ko:카잔 hy:Կազան hr:Kazan id:Kazan ia:Kazan os:Хъазан it:Kazan' he:קאזאן kl:Kazan ka:ყაზანი kk:Қазан (қала) kv:Казан koi:Козань lbe:Къазан (Аьрасат) la:Casanum lv:Kazaņa lt:Kazanė hu:Kazány mk:Казањ arz:كازان ms:Kazan nl:Kazan (stad) ja:カザン no:Kazan nn:Kazan mhr:Озаҥ uz:Qozon pnb:قازان pl:Kazań pt:Cazã crh:Qazan ro:Kazan qu:Kazan ru:Казань sah:Казан sco:Kazan sq:Kazani scn:Kazan' simple:Kazan sk:Kazaň cu:Каꙁанъ sl:Kazan sr:Казањ fi:Kazan sv:Kazan tl:Kazan tt:Казан tr:Kazan, Tataristan tk:Kazan udm:Кузон uk:Казань ug:قازان vi:Kazan vo:Kazan war:Kazan zh:喀山

Coordinates	55°47′″N49°10′″N
name	Elia Kazan
birth name	Elias Kazanjoglou (Greek: Ἠλίας Καζαντζόγλου)
birth date	September 07, 1909
birth place	Constantinople, Ottoman Empire
death date	September 28, 2003
death place	New York City, New York, USA
influenced	Martin Scorsese, John Cassavetes, Francis Ford Coppola
years active	1934–76
occupation	Director, actor, producer, screenwriter and novelist
spouse	Molly Day Thacher (1932–63; her death)Barbara Loden (1967–80; her death)Frances Rudge (1982–2003; his death)) }}

Elia Kazan (; 1909–2003) was an American director and actor, described by the ''New York Times'' as "one of the most honored and influential directors in Broadway and Hollywood history". Born in Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, to Greek parents originally from Kayseri in Anatolia, the family emigrated to New York when he was four. After two years studying acting at Yale, he acted professionally for eight years before becoming a stage and film director. Kazan co-founded the Group Theater in 1932 and the Actors Studio in 1947. With Lee Strasberg, he introduced Method acting to the American stage and cinema as a new form of self-expression and psychological "realism". Having been an actor himself, he brought sensitivity and understanding of the acting process and was later considered the ideal "actor's director". Kazan acted in only a few films, including City for Conquest (1940) alongside James Cagney. He also produced movies and wrote screenplays and novels.

Kazan introduced a new generation of unknown young actors to the movie audiences, including Marlon Brando and James Dean. Most noted for drawing out the best dramatic performances from his actors, he directed 21 actors to Oscar nominations, resulting in nine wins. He became "one of the consummate filmmakers of the 20th century", after directing a continual string of successful films, including, ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' (1951), ''On the Waterfront'' (1954), and ''East of Eden'' (1955). During his career, he won two Oscars as Best Director and received an Honorary Oscar, won three Tony Awards, and four Golden Globes. Among the other new actors he introduced to movie audiences were Warren Beatty, Carroll Baker, Julie Harris, Andy Griffith, Lee Remick, Rip Torn, Eli Wallach, Eva Marie Saint, Martin Balsam, Fred Gwynne, and Pat Hingle. He also elicited some of the best performances in the careers of actors like Natalie Wood and James Dunn. Producer George Stevens, Jr., concludes that Kazan's films and new actors have "changed American moviemaking".

Most of his films were concerned with personal or social issues of special concern to him. Kazan writes, "I don't move unless I have some empathy with the basic theme. In some way the channel of the film should also be in my own life." His first such "issue" film was ''Gentleman's Agreement'' (1947), with Gregory Peck, which dealt with subtle anti-Semitism in America. It received 8 Oscar nominations and 3 wins, including Kazan's first for Best Director. It was followed by ''Pinky'', one of the first films to address racial prejudice against Blacks. In 1954, he directed ''On the Waterfront'', a film about union corruption in New York, which some consider "one of the greatest films in the history of international cinema." A major film earlier in his career was ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' (1951), an adaptation of the stage play, which he had also directed. It received 12 Oscar nominations, winning 4, and was Marlon Brando's breakthrough role. In 1955, he directed John Steinbeck's ''East of Eden'', which introduced James Dean to movie audiences, making him an overnight star.

A turning point in Kazan's career came with his testimony as a "friendly witness" before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1952, which cost him the respect of many liberal friends and colleagues, such as playwright Arthur Miller. Kazan later explains that he took "only the more tolerable of two alternatives that were either way painful and wrong". Overall, Kazan influenced the films of the 1950s and '60s by his run of provocative, issue-driven subjects, and acting. Moreover, his personal brand of cinema—employing real locations over sets, unknowns over stars, and realism over convenient genres—proved influential to a whole generation of independent filmmakers in the 1960s. Among those he influenced were Sidney Lumet, John Cassavetes, Arthur Penn, Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, and Stanley Kubrick, who, in 1957, said that Kazan was "without question, the best director we have in America, [and] capable of performing miracles with the actors he uses."

Film author Ian Freer concludes that "If his achievements are tainted by political controversy, the debt Hollywood—and actors everywhere—owes him is enormous." In 2010, Martin Scorsese co-directed the documentary film, ''A Letter to Elia'', as a personal tribute to Kazan, whom he credits as the inspiration for his becoming a filmmaker.

Early life

Elia Kazan was born in the Phanar district of Constantinople (present-day Istanbul), the capital of the Ottoman Empire, to Greek parents originally from Kayseri in Anatolia. His parents, George and Athena Kazanjoglou, (née Shishmanoglou,) emigrated to the United States when he was four years old. He was named after his paternal grandfather, Elia Kazanjoglou. His maternal grandfather was Isaak Shishmanoglou. He had a brother, Avraam Kazan, who was born in Berlin, and later became a psychiatrist.

As a young boy, he was remembered as being shy, and his college classmates described him as more of a loner. Much of his early life was portrayed in his autobiographical book, ''America America'', which he made into a film in 1963. In it, he describes his family as "alienated" from both their parents' Greek Orthodox values and from those of mainstream America. His mother's family were cotton merchants who imported cotton from England, and sold it wholesale. His father became a rug merchant after emigrating to the United States, and expected that his son would go into the family business.

After attending public schools in New York, he enrolled at Williams College in Massachusetts, where he helped pay his way by waiting tables and washing dishes, although he still graduated cum laude. He also worked as a bartender at various fraternities, but never joined one. While a student at Williams, he earned the nickname "Gadg," for gadget, because, he said, "I was small, compact, and handy to have around."

Kazan discusses his family's Turkish and staunchly Greek ethnic/cultural background with film critic Michel Ciment: :''The Anatolian Greeks are a completely terrorised people. My father's family comes from the interior of Asia Minor, from a city called Kayseri, and they never forgot they were part of a minority. They were surrounded with periodic slaughters – or riots: the Turks would suddenly have a crisis and massacre a lot of Armenians, or they'd run wild and kill a lot of Greeks. The Greeks stayed in their houses. The fronts of the houses were almost barricaded, the windows shut with wooden shutters. One of the first memories I have is of sleeping in my grandmother's bed and my grandmother telling me stories about the massacre of the Armenians, and how she and my grandfather hid Armenians in the cellar of their home.''

;''America America'' In his book and later film by the same title, America America, he tells how, and why, his family left Turkey and moved to America. Kazan notes that much of it came from stories that he heard as a young boy. He says during an interview that "it's all true: the wealth of the family was put on the back of a donkey, and my uncle, really still a boy, went to Constantinople ... to gradually bring the family there to escape the oppressive circumstances... It's also true that he lost the money on the way, and when he got there he swept rugs in a little store."

Kazan notes some of the controversial aspects of what he put in the film. He writes, "I used to say to myself when I was making the film that America was a dream of total freedom in all areas." To make his point, the character who portrays Kazan's uncle Avraam, kisses the ground when he gets through customs, while the Statue of Liberty and the American flag are in the background. Kazan had considered whether that kind of scene might be too much for American audiences:

:''I hesitated about that for a long time. A lot of people, who don't understand how desperate people can get, advised me to cut it. When I am accused of being excessive by the critics, they're talking about moments like that. But I wouldn't take it out for the world. It actually happened. Believe me, if a Turk could get out of Turkey and come here, even now, he would kiss the ground. To oppressed people, America is still a dream.''

Before undertaking the film, Kazan wanted to confirm many of the details about his family's background. At one point, he sat his parents down and recorded their answers to his questions. He remembers eventually asking his father a "deeper question: 'Why America? What were you hoping for?'" His mother gave him the answer, however: "A.E. brought us here." Kazan states that "A.E. was my uncle Avraam Elia, the one who left the Anatolian village with the donkey. At twenty-eight, somehow—this was the wonder—he made his way to New York. He sent home money and in time brought my father over. Father sent for my mother and my baby brother and me when I was four.''

Kazan writes of the movie, "It's my favorite of all the films I've made; the first film that was entirely mine."

Stage career

Group Theater

In 1932, after spending two years at the Yale University School of Drama, he moved to New York to become a professional stage actor. His first opportunity came with a small group of actors engaged in presenting plays containing “social commentary”. They were called the Group Theater, which showcased many lesser known plays of with deep social or political messages. After struggling to be accepted by them, he discovered his first strong sense of self in America within the "family of the Group Theater, and more loosely in the radical social and cultural movements of the time," writes film author Joanna E. Rapf.

In Kazan's autobiography, Kazan writes of the "lasting impact on him of the Group," noting in particular, Lee Strasberg and Harold Clurman as "father figures", along with his close friendship with playwright Clifford Odets. Kazan, during an interview with Michel Ciment, describes the Group: :'' The Group was the best thing professionally that ever happened to me. I met two wonderful men. Lee Strasberg and Harold Clurman, both of whom were around thirty years old. They were magnetic, fearless leaders. During the summer I was an apprentice, they were entertaining in a Jewish summer camp... At the end of the summer they said to me: "You may have talent for something, but it's certainly not acting."

Kazan, in his autobiography, also describes Strasberg as a vital leader of the group:

:''He carried with him the aura of a prophet, a magician, a witch doctor, a psychoanalyst, and a feared father of a Jewish home.... [H]e was the force that held the thirty-odd members of the theatre together, and made them permanent.''

Kazan's first national success came as New York theatrical director. Although initially he worked as an actor on stage, and told early in his acting career that he had no acting ability, he surprised many critics by becoming one of the Group’s most capable actors. In 1935 he played the role of a strike-leading taxi driver in a drama by Clifford Odets, ''Waiting for Lefty'', and his performance was called "dynamic," leading some to describe him as the "proletarian thunderbolt."

Among the themes that would run through all of his work were "personal alienation and an outrage over social injustice", writes film critic William Baer. Other critics have likewise noted his "strong commitment to the social and social psychological – rather than the purely political – implications of drama".

By the mid-1930s, when he was 26, he began directing a number of the Group Theater's plays. In 1942 he achieved his first notable success by directing a Pulitzer prize-winning play by Thornton Wilder, ''The Skin of Our Teeth'', starring Montgomery Clift and Tallulah Bankhead. He then went on to direct stage productions of ''All My Sons'' and ''Death of a Salesman,'' both written by Arthur Miller, and then directed ''Streetcar Named Desire'', written by Tennessee Williams. Kazan's wife, Molly Thacher, the reader for the Group, discovered Williams and awarded him a "prize that launched his career."

The Group Theater's summer rehearsal headquarters was at Pine Brook Country Club, located in the countryside of Nichols, Connecticut, during the 1930s and early 1940s. Along with Kazan were numerous other artists: Harry Morgan, John Garfield, Luise Rainer, Frances Farmer, Will Geer, Howard Da Silva, Clifford Odets, Lee J. Cobb and Irwin Shaw.

Actors Studio

In 1947, he founded the Actors Studio, a non-profit workshop, with actors Robert Lewis and Cheryl Crawford. It soon became famous for promoting "Method," a style of theater and acting involving "total immersion of actor into character," writes film author Ian Freer. According to Rapf, "the Studio rode the bandwagon of method fashionability, and Kazan was its clear star and attraction." Within a short time, as word spread, "everyone wanted to be at the Studio – not least because of the chance of being in a Kazan production in one medium or another."

Among its first students were Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, Julie Harris, Eli Wallach, Karl Malden, Patricia Neal, Mildred Dunnock, James Whitmore, and Maureen Stapleton. In 1951, Lee Strasberg became its director, and it remained a non-profit enterprise, eventually considered "the nation's most prestigious acting school," according to film historian James Lipton.

Student James Dean, in a letter home to his parents, writes that Actors Studio was "the greatest school of the theater [and] the best thing that can happen to an actor". Playwright Tennessee Williams said of its actors: "They act from the inside out. They communicate emotions they really feel. They give you a sense of life." Contemporary directors like Sidney Lumet, a former student, have intentionally used actors such as Al Pacino, a former student skilled in "Method".

Kazan directed one of the Studio's brightest young talents, Marlon Brando, in the Tennessee Williams play ''A Streetcar Named Desire''. He cast him again in the film version in 1951, which made Brando a star and won 4 Oscars, and was nominated for 12.

Among the other Broadway plays he directed were "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", "Sweet Bird of Youth", "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs" and "Tea and Sympathy", This led some, such as theater critic Eric Bentley, to write that "the work of Elia Kazan means more to the American theater than that of any current writer." Film critic David Richard Jones adds that Kazan, during the 1940s and 1950s, was one of America's foremost Stanislavskians, and "influenced thousands of contemporaries" in the theatre, film, and the Actors Studio that he helped found.

Film career

thumb|Directing ''Panic in the Streets'' (1950)At the height of his stage success, Kazan then turned to Hollywood where he soon demonstrated equal skill as director of motion pictures. He first directed two short films, but his first feature film was ''A Tree Grows in Brooklyn'' (1945), one his first attempts to film dramas focused on contemporary concerns, which became his forte. Two years later he directed ''Gentleman's Agreement'', where he tackled a seldom-discussed topic in America, antisemitism, for which he won his first Oscar as Best Director. In 1949 he again dealt with controversial subject when he directed ''Pinky'', which dealt with issues of racism in America, and was nominated for 3 Academy Awards.

In 1947, he directed the courtroom drama ''Boomerang!'', and in 1950 he directed ''Panic in the Streets'', starring Richard Widmark, in a thriller shot on the streets of New Orleans. In the that film, Kazan experimented with a documentary style of cinematography, which succeeded in "energizing" the action scenes. He won the Venice Film Festival, International Award as director, and the film also won two Academy Awards. Kazan had requested that Zero Mostel also act in the film, despite Mostel being "blacklisted" as a result of HUAC testimony a few years earlier. Kazan writes of his decision: :''Each director has a favorite in his cast, ... my favorite this time was Zero Mostel... I thought him an exraordinary artist and a delightful companion, one of the funniest and most original men I'd ever met... I constantly sought his company... He was one of the three people whom I rescued from the "industry's" blacklist... For a long time, Zero had not been able to get work in films, but I got him in my film.''

Marlon Brando

In 1951, after introducing and directing one of the Actors Studio's brightest young talents, Marlon Brando, in the stage version, he went on to cast him in film version of the play, ''A Streetcar Named Desire'', which made Brando a star and won 4 Oscars, being nominated for 12. The film popularized Method acting with Brando's role as the earthy and unmannered Stanley Kowalski opposite the classical dignity of British actress, Vivien Leigh, as his sister-in-law. Despite the plaudits, the film was considered a step back cinematically with the feel of filmed theater, however Kazan did at first use a more open setting but then felt compelled to revert to the stage atmosphere to remain true to the script. He explains: :''On "Streetcar" we worked very hard to open it up, and then went back to the play because we'd lost all the compression. In the play, these people were trapped in a room with each other. What I actually did was to make the set smaller. As the story progressed ... the set got smaller and smaller."

Brando's role as a virtually unknown actor at age 27, would "catapult him to stardom." His next film was ''Viva Zapata!'' (1952) which also starred Marlon Brando playing the role of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata. The film added real atmosphere with the use of location shots and strong character accents. Kazan called this his "first real film" because of those factors.

In 1954 he again used Brando as co-star in ''On the Waterfront''. As a continuation of the socially relevant themes that he developed in New York, the film exposed corruption within New York’s longshoreman’s union. It too was nominated for 12 Academy Awards, but won 8, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor, for Marlon Brando. To some critics, Brando gives the "best performance in American film history," playing an ex-boxer, Terry Malloy, who is persuaded by a priest to inform on corrupt unions. Surprisingly, Brando writes that he was actually disappointed with his acting upon first watching the screening:

:''On the day Gadg showed me the completed picture, I was so depressed by my performance I got up and left the screening room. I thought I was a huge failure. I was simply embarrassed for myself. ... I am indebted to him for all that I learned. He was a wonderful teacher.''

;Eva Marie Saint

The film was also the screen debut for Eva Marie Saint, who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role. Saint recalls that Kazan selected her for the role after he had her do an improvisational skit with Brando playing the other character. She had no idea that he was looking to fill any particular film part, however, but remembers that Kazan set up the scenario with Brando which brought out surprising emotions: :''I ended up crying. Crying and laughing ... I mean there was such an attraction there ... That smile of his... He was very tender and funny ... And Kazan, in his genius, saw the chemistry there.''

The film made use of extensive on-location street scenes and waterfront shots, and included a notable score by composer Leonard Bernstein. British film critic Ian Freer notes that despite Kazan naming Communist party members to the House Committee on Un-American Activities two years earlier, "the film is ambivalent about the act of informing."

Karl Malden

Actor Karl Malden became an early student at the Group Theater in 1937, where he first began acting under Kazan's direction. Kazan would play a "prominent role in Malden's stage and film career", including convincing him to change his name from Mladen Sekulovich. He played a drunken sailor in Kazan's "Truckline Cafe," which also included a young Marlon Brando. In 1947, he co-starred in the stage play "All My Sons," written by Arthur Miller, with Kazan directing, and began being recognized as a serious actor.

However, his first major stage success was his role as an awkward suitor of Jessica Tandy in "A Streetcar Named Desire," which also helped make Brando a star on stage. After two years in the role, he played the same part in the 1951 film version, this time playing opposite Vivian Leigh, where he won his first Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Kazan next directed him in ''On the Waterfront'' (1954), where he was also nominated as Best Supporting Actor for his role as a sympathetic priest. In 1956, Kazan directed him in a starring role in ''Baby Doll'', alongside Carroll Baker and Eli Wallach, a controversial story written by Tennessee Williams, and he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor.

Malden remained friends with Kazan despite his unpopular appearance at the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1952. Many mutual "friends who turned on Kazan also refused to speak to Malden." He furthered his support in 1999, when, as a member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, he proposed that they give Kazan an honorary Oscar for "lifetime achievement". Malden's proposal was bold, as film festivals, critics associations, and the American Film Institute, had already refused to bestow similar honors because of Kazan's testimony given nearly 50 years earlier. Malden recalled giving his proposal:

:''When I got up to talk, I suspected that there would be big fight, but no one debated it at all... I said that I'm nominating a dear friend, and as far as I'm concerned, there's no place for politics in any art form. An award like this is about your body of work, and when it comes to a body of work, Elia Kazan deserves to be honored.''

According to the ''Los Angeles Times'', when Malden finished speaking, "he was greeted by a rousing burst of applause."

James Dean

After the success of ''On the Waterfront'' he went on to direct the screen adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel, ''East of Eden'' in 1955. As director, Kazan again used another unknown actor, James Dean. Kazan had seen Dean on stage in New York and after an audition gave him the starring role along with an exclusive contract with Warner Bros. Dean flew back to Los Angeles with Kazan in 1954, the first time he had ever flown in a plane, bringing his clothes in a brown paper bag. The film's success introduced James Dean to the world and established him as a popular actor. He went on to star in ''Rebel Without a Cause'' (1955), directed by Kazan's friend, Nicholas Ray, and then ''Giant'', (dir. George Stevens, 1956)

Author Douglas Rathgeb describes the difficulties Kazan had in turning Dean into a new star, noting how Dean was a controversial figure at Warner Bros. from the time he arrived. There were rumors that he "kept a loaded gun in his studio trailer; that he drove his motorcycle dangerously down studio streets or sound stages; that he had bizarre and unsavory friends." As a result, Kazan was forced to "baby-sit the young actor in side-by-side trailers," so he wouldn't run away during production. Co-star Julie Harris worked overtime to quell Dean's panic attacks. In general, Dean was oblivious to Hollywood's methods, and Rathgeb notes that "his radical style did not mesh with Hollywood's corporate gears."

Dean himself was amazed at his own performance on screen when he later viewed a rough cut of the film. Kazan had invited director Nicholas Ray to a private showing, with Dean, as Ray was looking for someone to play the lead in ''Rebel Without a Cause''. Ray watched Dean's powerful acting on the screen; but it didn't seem possible that it was the same person in the room. Ray felt Dean was shy and totally withdrawn as he sat there hunched over. "Dean himself did not seem to believe it," notes Rathgeb. "He watched himself with an odd, almost adolescent fascination, as if he were admiring someone else."

The film also made good use of on-location and outdoor scenes, along with an effective use of early widescreen format, making the film one of Kazan's most accomplished works. James Dean died the following year, at the age of 24, in an accident with his sports car outside of Los Angeles. He had only made three films, and the only completed film he ever saw was ''East of Eden''.

Warren Beatty

In 1961, he introduced Warren Beatty in his first screen appearance with a starring role in ''Splendor in the Grass'' (1961), with Natalie Wood; the film was nominated for two Oscars and won one. Author Peter Biskind points out that Kazan "was the first in a string of major directors Beatty sought out, mentors or father figures from whom he wanted to learn." Biskind notes also that they "were wildly dissimilar—mentor vs. protege, director vs. actor, immigrant outsider vs. native son. Kazan was armed with the confidence born of age and success, while Beatty was virtually aflame with the arrogance of youth." Kazan recalls his impressions of Beatty:

:''Warren — it was obvious the first time I saw him — wanted it all and wanted it his way. Why not? He had the energy, a very keen intelligence, and more chutzpah than any Jew I've ever known. Even more than me. Bright as they come, intrepid, and with that thing all women secretly respect: complete confidence in his sexual powers, confidence so great that he never had to advertise himself, even by hints.''

Biskind describes an episode during the first week of shooting, where Beatty was angered at something Kazan said: "The star lashed out at the spot where he knew Kazan was most vulnerable, the director's friendly testimony before the HUAC. He snapped, 'Lemme ask you something — why did you name all those names?'"

Beatty himself recalled the episode: "In some patricidal attempt to stand up to the great Kazan, I arrogantly and stupidly challenged him on it." Biskind describes how "Kazan grabbed his arm, asking, 'What did you say?' and dragged him off to a tiny dressing room ... whereupon the director proceeded to justify himself for two hours." Beatty, years later, during a Kennedy Center tribute to Kazan, stated to the audience that Kazan "had given him the most important break in his career."

Natalie Wood

Beatty's costar, Natalie Wood, was in a transition period in her career, having mostly been cast in roles as a child or teenager, and she was now hoping to be cast in adult roles. Biographer Suzanne Finstad notes that a "turning point" in her life as an actress was upon seeing the film ''A Streetcar Named Desire'': "She was transformed, in awe of Kazan and of Vivien Leigh's performance... [who] became a role model for Natalie." In 1961, after a "series of bad films, her career was already in decline," notes Rathgeb. Kazan himself writes that the "sages" of the film community declared her as "washed up" as an actress, although he still wanted to interview her for his next film:

:''When I saw her, I detected behind the well-mannered 'young wife' front a desperate twinkle in her eyes... I talked with her more quietly then and more personally. I wanted to find out what human material was there, what her inner life was... Then she told me she was being psychoanalyzed. That did it. Poor R.J., I said to myself. I liked Bob Wagner, I still do.''

Kazan cast her as the female lead in ''Splendor in the Grass'', and her career rebounded. Finstad feels that despite Wood never receiving training in Method acting techniques, "working with Kazan brought her to the greatest emotional heights of her career. The experience was exhilarating but wrenching for Natalie, who faced her demons on ''Splendor.''" She adds that a scene in the film, as a result of "Kazan's wizardry ... produced a hysteria in Natalie that may be her most powerful moment as an actress."

Actor Gary Lockwood, who also acted in the film, felt that "Kazan and Natalie were a terrific marriage, because you had this beautiful girl, and you had somebody that could get things out of her." Kazan's favorite scene in the movie was the last one, when Wood goes back to see her lost first love, Bud (Beatty). "It's terribly touching to me. I still like it when I see it," writes Kazan.

Screenwriters

Another aspect that contributed to the power and intensity of his films was his close collaboration with writers. On Broadway, he worked with Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, and William Inge; in film, he worked again with Willams (''A Streetcar Named Desire'' and ''Baby Doll''), Inge (''Splendor in the Grass''), Budd Schulberg (''On the Waterfront'' and ''A Face in the Crowd''), John Steinbeck (''Viva Zapata!''), and Harold Pinter (''The Last Tycoon''). As an instrumental figure in the careers of many of the best writers of his time, "he always treated them and their work with the utmost respect." In 2009, a previously unproduced screenplay by Williams, ''The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond'', was released as a film. Williams wrote the screenplay specifically for Kazan to direct during the 1950s.

Williams became one of Kazan's closest and most loyal friends, and Kazan often pulled Williams out of "creative slumps" by redirecing his focus with new ideas. In 1959, in a letter to Kazan, he writes, “Some day you will know how much I value the great things you did with my work, how you lifted it above its measure by your great gift.”

Among Kazan's other films were ''Panic in the Streets'' (1950), (1955), ''Baby Doll'' (1956), ''Wild River'' (1960), and ''The Last Tycoon'' (1976). In between his directing work he wrote four best-selling novels, including ''America, America'', and ''The Arrangement'', in both of which he tells the story of his Greek immigrant ancestors. They were later made into films.

Directing style

Preference for unknown actors

Kazan strove for "cinematic realism," a quality he often achieved by discovering and working with unknown actors, many of whom treated him as their mentor, which gave him the flexibility to depict "social reality with both accuracy and vivid intensity." He also felt that casting the right actors accounted for 90% of a movie's ultimate success or failure. As a result of his efforts, he also gave actors such as Lee Remick, Jo Van Fleet, Warren Beatty, James Dean, and Jack Palance, their first major movie roles. He explained to director and producer George Stevens, Jr. that he felt that "big stars are barely trained or not very well trained. They also have bad habits... they're not pliable anymore." Kazan also describes how and why he gets to know his actors on a personal level:

:''Now what I try to do is get to know them very well. I take them to dinner. I talk to them. I meet their wives. I find out what the hell the human material is that I'm dealing with, so that by the time I take an unknown he's not an unknown to me.''

Kazan goes on to describe how he got to understand James Dean, as an example:

:''When I met him he said, "I'll take you for a ride on my motorbike... It was his way of communicating with me, saying "I hope you like me," ... I thought he was an extreme grotesque of a boy, a twisted boy. As I got to know his father, as I got to know about his family, I learned that he had been, in fact, twisted by the denial of love ... I went to Jack Warner and told him I wanted to use an absolutely unknown boy. Jack was a crapshooter of the first order, and said, "Go ahead."''

Topics of personal and social realism

Kazan chooses his subjects to express personal and social events that he is familiar with. He describes his thought process before taking on a project:

:''I don't move unless I have some empathy with the basic theme. In some way the channel of the film should also be in my own life. I start with an instinct. With "East of Eden" ... it's really the story of my father and me, and I didn't realize it for a long time... In some subtle or not-so-subtle way, every film is autobiographical. A thing in my life is expressed by the essence of the film. Then I know it experientally, not just mentally. I've got to feel that it's in some way about me, some way about my struggles, some way about my pain, my hopes.''

Film historian Joanna E. Rapf notes that among the methods Kazan used in his work with actors, was his initial focus on "reality", although his style was not defined as "naturalistic." She adds: "He respects his script, but casts and directs with a particular eye for expressive action and the use of emblematic objects." Kazan himself states that "unless the character is somewhere in the actor himself, you shouldn't cast him."

In his later years he changed his mind about some of the philosophy behind the Group Theater, in that he no longer felt that the theater was a "collective art," as he once believed:

:''To be successful it should express the vision, the conviction, and the insistent presence of one person."

Film author Peter Biskind described Kazan's career as "fully committed to art and politics, with the politics feeding the work." Kazan, however, has downplayed that impression:

:''I don't think basically I'm a political animal. I think I'm a self-centered animal... I think what I was concerned about all my life was to say something artistically that was uniquely my own.''

Nonetheless, there have been clear messages in some of his films that involved politics in various ways. In 1954, he directed ''On the Waterfront'', written by screenwriter Budd Schulberg, which was a film about union corruption in New York. Some critics consider it "one of the greatest films in the history of international cinema." Another political film was ''A Face in the Crowd'' (1957). His protagonist, played by Andy Griffith (in his film debut,) is not a politician, yet his career suddenly becomes deeply involved in politics. According to film author Harry Keyishian, Kazan and screenwriter Budd Schulberg were using the film to warn audiences about the dangerous potential of the new medium of television. Kazan explains that he and Schulberg were trying to warn "of the power TV would have in the political life of the nation." Kazan states, "Listen to what the candidate says; don't be taken in by his charm or his trust-inspiring personality. Don't buy the advertisement; buy what's in the package."

Use of "Method" acting

As a product of the Group Theater and Actors Studio, he was most noted for his use of "Method" actors, especially Brando and Dean. During an interview in 1988, Kazan said, "I did whatever was necessary to get a good performance ''including'' so-called Method acting. I made them run around the set, I scolded them, I inspired jealousy in their girlfriends... The director is a ''desperate beast!'' ... You don't deal with actors as dolls. You deal with them as people who are poets to a certain degree." Actor Robert De Niro called him a "master of a new kind of psychological and behavioral faith in acting."

Kazan was aware of the limited range of his directing abilities: :''I don't have great range. I am no good with music or spectacles. The classics are beyond me... I am a mediocre director except when a play or film touches a part of my life's experience... I do have courage, even some daring. I am able to talk to actors... to arouse them to better work. I have strong, even violent feelings, and they are assets."

He explains that he tries to inspire his actors to offer ideas:

:''When I talk to the actors they begin to give me ideas, and I grab them because the ideas they give me turn them on. I want the breath of life from them rather than the mechanical fulfillment of the movement which I asked for... I love actors. I used to be an actor for eight years, so I do appreciate their job.''

Kazan, however, held strong ideas about the scenes, and would try to merge an actor's suggestions and inner feelings with his own. Despite the strong eroticism created in ''Baby Doll'', for example, he set limits. Before shooting a seduction scene between Eli Wallach and Carroll Baker, he privately asked Wallach, "Do you think you actually go through with seducing that girl?" Wallach writes, "I hadn't thought about that question before, but I answered ... 'No.'" Kazan replies, "Good idea, play it that way." Kazan, many years later, explained his rationale for scenes in that film:

:''What is erotic about sex to me is the seduction, not the act... The scene on the swings (Eli Wallach and Carroll Baker) in ''Baby Doll'' is my exact idea of what eroticism in films should be.''

Being an "actor's director"

Joanna Rapf adds that Kazan was most admired for his close work with actors, noting that director Nicholas Ray considered him "the best actor's director the United States has ever produced." Film historian Foster Hirsch explains that "he created virtually a new acting style, which was the style of the Method... [that] allowed for the actors to create great depth of psychological realism."

Among the actors who describe Kazan as an important influence in their career were Patricia Neal, who co-starred with Andy Griffith in ''A Face in the Crowd'' (1957): "He was very good. He was an actor and he knew how we acted. He would come and talk to you privately. I liked him a lot." Anthony Franciosa, a supporting actor in the film, explains how Kazan encouraged his actors:

:''He would always say, 'Let me see what you can do. Let me see it. Don't talk to me about it.' You felt that you had a man who was completely on your side — no qualms about anything you did. He gave you a tremendous sense of confidence... He never made me feel as though I was acting for the camera. Many times, I never even knew where the camera was.''

However, in order to get quality acting from Andy Griffith, in his first screen appearance, and achieve what Schickel calls "an astonishing movie debut," Kazan would often take surprising measures. In one important and highly emotional scene, for example, Kazan had to give Griffith fair warning: "I may have to use extraordinary means to make you do this. I may have to get out of line. I don't know any other way of getting an extraordinary performance out of an actor."

Actress Terry Moore calls Kazan her "best friend," and notes that "he made you feel better than you thought you could be. I never had another director that ever touched him. I was spoiled for life." "He would find out if your life was like the character," says Carroll Baker, star of ''Baby Doll'', "he was the best director with actors."

Kazan's need to remain close to his actors continued up to his last film, ''The Last Tycoon'' (1976). He remembers that Robert De Niro, the star of the film, "would do almost anything to succeed," and even cut his weight down from 170 to 128 pounds for the role. Kazan adds that De Niro "is one of a select number of actors I've directed who work hard at their trade, and the only one who asked to rehearse on Sundays. Most of the others play tennis. Bobby and I would go over the scenes to be shot."

The powerful dramatic roles Kazan brought out from many of his actors was due, partly, to his ability to recognize their personal character traits. Although he didn't know De Niro before this film, for example, Kazan later writes, "Bobby is more meticulous ... he's very imaginative. He's very precise. He figures everything out both inside and outside. He has good emotion. He's a character actor: everything he does he calculates. In a good way, but he calculates." Kazan developed and used those personality traits for his character in the film. Although the film did poorly at the box office, some reviewers praised De Niro's acting. Film critic Marie Brenner writes that "for De Niro, it is a role that surpasses even his brilliant and daring portrayal of Vito Corleone in ''The Godfather, part II'', ... [his] performance deserves to be compared with the very finest."

Marlon Brando, in his autobiography, goes into detail about the influence Kazan had on his acting: :''I have worked with many movie directors – some good, some fair, some terrible. Kazan was the best actors' director by far of any I've worked for... the only one who ever really stimulated me, got into a part with me and virtually acted it with me... he chose good actors, encouraged them to improvise, and then improvised on the improvisation... He gave his cast freedom and ... was always emotionally involved in the process and his instincts were perfect... I've never seen a director who became as deeply and emotionally involved in a scene as Gadg... he got so wrought up that he started chewing on his hat.''

:''He was an arch-manipulator of actors' feelings, and he was extraordinarily talented; perhaps we will never see his like again.''

HUAC testimony

Kazan remained controversial in some circles until his death for testimony he gave before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) in 1952, a period that many, such as journalist Michael Mills, feel was "the most controversial period in Hollywood history." When he was in his mid 20s, during the "Depression" years 1934 to 1936, he had been a member of the American Communist Party in New York, for a year and a half.

In April 1952, the Committee called on Kazan, under oath, to identify Communists from that period 16 years earlier. Kazan initially refused to provide names, but eventually named eight former Group Theater members who he said had been Communists: Clifford Odets, J. Edward Bromberg, Lewis Leverett, Morris Carnovsky, Phoebe Brand, Tony Kraber, Ted Wellman, and Paula Miller, who later married Lee Strasberg. He testified that Odets quit the party at the same time that he did. All the persons named were already known to HUAC, however. The move cost Kazan many friends within the film industry, including playwright Arthur Miller.

Kazan would later write in his autobiography of the "warrior pleasure at withstanding his 'enemies.' When Kazan received an Honorary Academy Award in 1999, the audience was noticeably divided in their reaction, with some including Nick Nolte, refusing to applaud, and many others, such as actor Warren Beatty and producer George Stevens, Jr. standing and applauding. Stevens speculates on why he, Beatty, and many others in the audience chose to stand and applaud:

:''I never discussed it with Warren, but I believe we were both standing for same reason—out of regard for the creativity, the stamina and the many fierce battles and lonely nights that had gone into the man's twenty motion pictures.''

''Los Angeles Times'' film critic Kenneth Turan, agreed, writing "The only criterion for an award like this is the work". Kazan was already "denied accolades" from the American Film Institute, and other film critics associations. According to Mills, "It’s time for the Academy to recognize this genius," adding that "We applauded when the great Chaplin finally had his hour."

In later interviews, Kazan explained some of the early events that made him decide to become a friendly witness, most notably in relation to the Group Theater, which he called his first "family," and the "best thing professionally" that ever happened to him:

:''The Group Theatre said that we shouldn't be committed to any fixed political program set by other people outside the organisation. I was behaving treacherously to the Group when I met downtown at CP [Communist Party] headquarters, to decide among the Communists what we should do in the Group, and then come back and present a united front, pretending we had not been in caucus...'' :''I was tried by the Party and that was one of the reasons I became so embittered later. The trial was on the issue of my refusal to follow instructions, that we should strike in the Group Theatre, and insist that the membership have control of its organisation. I said it was an artistic organisation, and I backed up Clurman and Strasberg who were not Communists... The trial left an indelible impression on me... Everybody else voted against me and they stigmatised me and condemned my acts and attitude. They were asking for confession and self-humbling. I went home that night and told my wife "I am resigning." But for years after I resigned, I was still faithful to their way of thinking. I still believed in it. But not in the American Communists. I used to make a difference and think: "These people here are damned fools but in Russia they have got the real thing," until I learned about the Hitler-Stalin pact, and gave up on the USSR.

Mills notes that prior to becoming a "friendly witness," Kazan discussed the issues with Miller: :''To defend a secrecy I don’t think right and to defend people who have already been named or soon would be by someone else... I hate the Communists and have for many years, and don’t feel right about giving up my career to defend them. I will give up my film career if it is in the interests of defending something I believe in, but not this.''

Miller put his arm around Kazan and retorted, "don’t worry about what I’ll think. Whatever you do is okay with me, because I know that your heart is in the right place."

In his memoirs, Kazan writes that his testimony meant that "the big shot had become the outsider." He also notes that it strengthened his friendship with another outsider, Tennessee Williams, with whom he collaborated on numerous plays and films. He called Williams "the most loyal and understanding friend I had through those black months."

Personal life

Elia Kazan was married three times. His first wife was playwright Molly Day Thacher. They were married from 1932 until her death in 1963; this marriage produced two daughters and two sons. His second marriage, to the actress Barbara Loden, lasted from 1969 until her death in 1980, and produced one son. Lastly, he was married to Frances Rudge from 1982 until his death in 2003, aged 94.

In 1978, the U.S. government paid for Kazan and his family to travel to Kazan's birthplace where many of his films were to be shown. During a speech in Athens, he discussed his films and his personal and business life in the U.S., along with the messages he tried to convey:

He also offered his opinions about the role of the U.S. as a world model for democracy:

Legacy

Kazan became known as an "actor's director" because he was able to elicit some of the best performances in the careers of many of his stars, such as Marlon Brando, Rod Steiger, Karl Malden, James Dean, Julie Harris, Carroll Baker, Eli Wallach and Natalie Wood. Under his direction, his actors received 21 Academy Award nominations and won nine Oscars. He won as Best Director for ''Gentleman's Agreement'' (1947) and for ''On the Waterfront'' (1954), which is considered "one of the greatest films in the history of international cinema." Both ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' (1951) and ''On the Waterfront'' were nominated for twelve Academy Awards, respectively winning four and eight.

Kazan never lost his identification with the oppressed people he remembered from the depths of the Great Depression. With his many years with the Group Theater and Actors Studio in New York City and later triumphs on Broadway, he became famous "for the power and intensity of his actors' performances." He was the pivotal figure in launching the film careers of Marlon Brando, James Dean, Julie Harris, Eva Marie Saint, Warren Beatty, Lee Remick, Karl Malden, and many others. Seven of Kazan's films won a total of 20 Academy Awards. Dustin Hoffman commented that he "doubted whether he, Robert De Niro, or Al Pacino, would have become actors without Mr. Kazan's influence."

Upon his death, at the age of 94, the ''New York Times'' described him as "one of the most honored and influential directors in Broadway and Hollywood history." His stage direction of ''Death of a Salesman'' and ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is considered a "high point of world theater" in the 20th century. Although he became a "legendary director on Broadway", he made an equally impressive transition into one of the major filmmakers of his time. Critic William Baer notes that throughout his career "he constantly rose to the challenge of his own aspirations", adding that "he was a pioneer and visionary who greatly affected the history of both stage and cinema". Certain of his film-related material and personal papers are contained in the Wesleyan University Cinema Archives to which scholars and media experts from around the world may have full access.

His controversial stand during his testimony in front of the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1952, became the low point in his career, although he remained convinced that he made the right decision to give the names of Communist Party members. He stated in an interview in 1976:

:''I would rather do what I did than crawl in front of a ritualistic Left and lie the way those other comrades did, and betray my own soul. I didn't betray it. I made a difficult decision.

During his career, Kazan won both Tony and Oscar Awards for excellence on stage and screen. In 1982, President Ronald Reagan presented him with the Kennedy Center honors award, a national tribute for life achievement in the arts. At the ceremony, screenwriter Budd Schulberg, who wrote ''On the Waterfront'', thanks his lifelong friend saying, “Elia Kazan has touched us all with his capacity to honor not only the heroic man, but the hero in every man.” In an interview with the American Film Institute in 1976, Kazan spoke of his love of the cinema: "I think it's the most wonderful art in the world."

In 1999, when he was 90 years old, Kazan received an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement. During the ceremony, he was accompanied by Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro. Many in Hollywood felt that enough time had passed that it was appropriate to finally recognize Kazan's great artistic accomplishments, although others did not and would not applaud. Kazan appreciated the award:

:''I want to thank the Academy for its courage, its generosity. Thank you all very much. Now I can just slip away.''

In his autobiography, ''A Life'', he sums up the influence of filmmaking on his life: :''I realize now that work was my drug. It held me together. It kept me high. When I wasn't working, I didn't know who I was or what I was supposed to do. This is general in the film world. You are so absorbed in making a film, you can't think of anything else. It's your identity, and when it's done you are nobody.''

Martin Scorsese has directed a film documentary, ''A Letter to Elia'' (2010), considered to be an "intensely personal and deeply moving tribute" to Kazan. Scorsese was "captivated" by Kazan's films as a young man, and the documentary mirrors his own life story while he also credits Kazan as the inspiration for his becoming a filmmaker.

Awards

;Academy Awards

1948: Best Director – ''Gentleman's Agreement''

1955: Best Director – ''On the Waterfront''

1999: Academy Honorary Award – Lifetime Achievement

;;Nominations

1964: Best Picture – ''America, America''

1964: Best Adapted Screenplay – ''America, America''

1964: Best Director – ''America, America''

1956: Best Director – ''East of Eden''

1952: Best Director – ''A Streetcar Named Desire''

;Tony Awards

1959: Best Direction – ''J.B.''

1949: Best Director – ''Death of a Salesman''

1947: Best Direction – ''All My Sons''

;;Nominations

1956: Best Director – ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof''

1958: Best Play – ''The Dark at the Top of the Stairs ''

1958: Best Director – ''The Dark at the Top of the Stairs''

1960: Best Direction of a Play – ''Sweet Bird of Youth''

1965: Best Producer of a Play – ''Tartuffe

;Berlin Film Festival Awards; ;;Nominations 1953: Golden Bear – ''Man on a Tightrope'' 1960: Golden Bear – ''Wild River''

;Cannes Film Festival Awards

1955: Best Dramatic Film – ''East of Eden'' (1955)

;;Nominations

1952: Grand Prize of the Festival – ''Viva Zapata!''

1955: Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) – ''East of Eden''

1972: Palme d'Or – ''The Visitors''

;Venice Film Festival Awards

1950: International Award – ''Panic in the Streets''

1951: Special Jury Prize – ''A Streetcar Named Desire''

1954: Italian Film Critics Award – ''On the Waterfront''

1954: Leone d’Argento (Silver Lion) – ''On the Waterfront''

1955: OCIC Award – ''On the Waterfront''

;;Nominations

1948: Leone d'Oro (Golden Lion) – ''Gentleman's Agreement''

1950: Leone d'Oro – ''Panic in the Streets'' (1950)

1951: Leone d'Oro – ''A Streetcar Named Desire''

1954: Leone d'Oro – ''On the Waterfront''

Filmography

''City for Conquest'' (as actor only) ''A Tree Grows In Brooklyn (film) ''The Sea of Grass (film) 1 8 ''Pinky (1949 film) ''Panic in the Streets (film) ''A Streetcar Named Desire (1951 film) ''Viva Zapata!'' ''Man on a Tightrope'' ''On the Waterfront'' ''East of Eden (film) ''Baby Doll'' ''A Face in the Crowd (film) ''Wild River (film) ''Splendor in the Grass'' ''America, America'' ''The Arrangement (1969 film) ''The Visitors (1972 film) ''The Last Tycoon (film)

Year
1937	''People of the Cumberland''	|
1940	|			scenes
rowspan="2">1945	A Tree Grows in Brooklyn'' ||	2	1	scenes
''Watchtower Over Tomorrow''	|
rowspan="3"	1947	The Sea of Grass'' ||
''Boomerang (1947 film)	Boomerang!''	|
''Gentleman's Agreement''	|	3	trailer
1949	Pinky'' ||	3		trailer
1950	Panic in the Streets'' ||	1	1	scenes
1951	A Streetcar Named Desire'' ||	12	4	trailer
1952	|	5	1	trailer
1953	|		| scene ||
1954	|	12	8	trailer
1955	East of Eden'' ||	4	1	trailer
1956	|	4		trailer
1957	A Face in the Crowd'' ||			trailer
1960	Wild River'' ||			scene
1961	|	2	1	trailer
1963	|	4	1	scenes
1969	The Arrangement'' ||			trailer
1972	The Visitors'' ||				interview
1976	The Last Tycoon'' ||	1		scene

Bibliography

. Originally published 1973 by Secker and Warburg, London.

References

Further reading

External links

Videos

“The Life, Works, and Impact of Elia Kazan” video, 10 minutes

Receiving an Honorary Oscar video, 3 minutes

Kazan acting in rare clips from "City for Conquest" video, 9 minutes

Elia Kazan discussing ‘’On the Waterfront’’ video, 10 minutes

Christopher Plummer – Working with Elia Kazan video, 5 minutes

Articles

Method Man: Elia Kazan's Singular Career by John Lahr in The New Yorker (A Critic at Large)

Assessing Kazan: His Life and Choice (NYT Books of the Times)

Some notes on Kazan, HUAC, and the aftermath of his testimony including his April 13, 1952 statement in the New York Times

Literature on Elia Kazan

Category:Article Feedback Pilot Category:1909 births Category:2003 deaths Category:People from Kayseri Category:American film directors Category:American theatre directors Category:Academy Honorary Award recipients Category:Best Director Golden Globe winners Category:American people of Greek descent Category:Ottoman emigrants to the United States Category:Cappadocian Greeks Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Tony Award winners Category:Williams College alumni Category:Yale School of Drama alumni Category:American film actors Category:American screenwriters Category:American film producers Category:Academy Award winners Category:Best Director Academy Award winners

ar:إيليا كازان bn:এলিয়া কাজান bg:Елия Казан ca:Elia Kazan cs:Elia Kazan cy:Elia Kazan da:Elia Kazan de:Elia Kazan el:Ελία Καζάν es:Elia Kazan eo:Elia Kazan eu:Elia Kazan fa:الیا کازان fr:Elia Kazan ko:엘리아 카잔 hr:Elia Kazan id:Elia Kazan it:Elia Kazan he:איליה קאזאן ka:ელია კაზანი la:Elias Kazan hu:Elia Kazan ml:ഏലിയാ കസാൻ nl:Elia Kazan ja:エリア・カザン no:Elia Kazan pl:Elia Kazan pt:Elia Kazan ro:Elia Kazan ru:Элиа Казан sc:Elia Kazan sq:Elia Kazan ckb:ئیلیا کازان sr:Елија Казан fi:Elia Kazan sv:Elia Kazan tr:Elia Kazan uk:Еліа Казан ur:ایلیا کازان zh:伊利亚·卡赞

Coordinates	55°47′″N49°10′″N
name	Roman PavlyuchenkoРоман Павлюченко
fullname	Roman Anatolyevich Pavlyuchenko
height
birth date	December 15, 1981
birth place	Mostovskoy, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
currentclub	Tottenham Hotspur
clubnumber	9
position	Striker
years1	1998–1999
years2	2000–2002
years3	2003–2008
years4	2008–
clubs1	Dynamo Stavropol
clubs2	Rotor Volgograd
clubs3	Spartak Moscow
clubs4	Tottenham Hotspur
caps1	31
goals1	21
caps2	65
goals2	15
caps3	141
goals3	89
caps4	73
goals4	20
caps5	0
goals5	0
nationalyears1	2003–
nationalteam1	Russia
nationalcaps1	41
nationalgoals1	19
pcupdate	22 May 2011
ntupdate	19:44, 11 August 2011 (UTC) }}

Roman Anatolyevich Pavlyuchenko (; born 15 December 1981 in Mostovskoy) is an association footballer who currently plays as a centre forward for English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and for the Russian national team.

Club career

Spartak Moscow

Pavlyuchenko moved to Spartak Moscow in the spring of 2003. During his time at Spartak, Pavlyuchenko was the club's most prolific goalscorer, scoring 109 goals in 187 games. His goalscoring, together with his loyalty to the ''rhombik'' (the club's emblem), earned him much respect and appreciation from the "Army of Red-White Fans".

Tottenham Hotspur

In September 2008, Pavlyuchenko signed for Tottenham Hotspur for a reported fee of £14 million. Pavlyuchenko made his debut for the Spurs on 15 September against Aston Villa. He scored his first goal on 24 September 2008, in the 2–1 League Cup 3rd round win against Newcastle United. Pavlyuchenko went on to score his first league goal for the club in the 2–0 victory against Bolton Wanderers on 26 October 2008. He has scored in every English domestic cup competition game he has played in, except for the 2009 Football League Cup Final. In the 2009–10 season, Pavlyuchenko was fourth-choice striker for Tottenham, with Harry Redknapp preferring Robbie Keane, Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe to the Russian.

Pavlyuchenko came on as a substitute on 21 February against and scored his first league goal of the season, a close-range finish to make the score 2–0. He also added a second from a very tight angle during injury time to make it 3–0. He made only his second start of the season on three days later in the FA Cup fifth-round replay against and scored twice, a match Tottenham won 4–0. Redknapp has since gone on to say that the Russian striker has taken his opportunity and may well see further first team action. Pavlyuchenko continued his good form with another goal against Everton on the 28 February, and another two goals against Blackburn Rovers on 13 March. He also scored a goal in the quarter-final replay against Fulham at White Hart Lane on 24 March. On 17 August, he scored a vital away goal against BSC Young Boys in the Champions League play-off round first leg. Tottenham were losing 3–0 until a Sébastien Bassong header pulled it back to 3–1 and Pavlyuchenko later made it 3–2. In the second leg, ''Spurs'' won 4–0 at home, meaning that they would progress into the Champions League group stages. Pavlyuchenko's promising form in this tournament continued with two second-half penalty strikes against FC Twente in Tottenham's second group match, followed by a decisive third goal as Spurs beat cup holders Inter Milan on Matchday 4. On 4 November, Pavlyuchenko scored with a volley in a 4–2 defeat to . The following weekend, he scored again in a home win against . On 6 March 2011, he scored a goal against Wolves. He scored the first goal against West Bromwich Albion on 2–2 draw on April. Pavlyuchenko scored a goal in a London derby against Chelsea in a 1–1 draw. On 22 May, the final day of the season, Pavlyuchenko scored two stunning long-range goals in a 2–1 win against Birmingham City to ensure that Tottenham finished fifth in the Premier League and qualified for the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League. The win also relegated Birmingham to the Championship.

International career

In 2003, Pavlyuchenko was first called into the Russian national team and since 2005 has been consistently earning caps at the national level.

Euro 2008

Roman Pavlyuchenko was in the spotlight when he scored both goals in Russia's 2–1 victory in a crucial Euro 2008 qualification match against England. He was named in Guus Hiddink's 23-man squad for UEFA Euro 2008.

He scored a late consolation goal in Russia's loss to Spain in their opening match of the campaign and the first goal in Russia's third match of the tournament against Sweden to send Russia through at Sweden's expense. He was declared man of the match after the 1–0 game with Greece, although he did not score in the game, and then scored the first goal of the match in Russia's 3–1 quarter final victory over the Netherlands. After the tournament ended, he was named in the 23-man Team of the Tournament.

Pavlyuchenko scored his first international hat-trick on 4 June in the match against Armenia.

Career statistics

Club

{|border=1 align=center cellpadding=4 cellspacing=2 style="background: ivory; font-size: 100%; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; clear:center" |+ |- style="background:beige" !rowspan="2"|Club !rowspan="2"|Season !colspan="2"|League !colspan="2"|Domestic Cups !colspan="2"|Europe !colspan="2"|Total |- style="background:beige" !Games !Goals !Games !Goals !Games !Goals !Games !Goals |- |rowspan="3" align=center valign=center|Tottenham Hotspur |align="center"|2010–11 |align="center"|28 |align="center"|25 |align="center"|2 |align="center"|0 |align="center"|8 |align="center"|4 |align="center"|38 |align="center"|27 |- |align="center"|2009–10 |align="center"|16 |align="center"|5 |align="center"|8 |align="center"|5 |align="center"|0 |align="center"|0 |align="center"|24 |align="center"|10 |- |align="center"|2008–09 |align="center"|28 |align="center"|5 |align="center"|8 |align="center"|9 |align="center"|0 |align="center"|0 |align="center"|36 |align="center"|14 |- |- ! style="background:beige"|Club total ! style="background:beige" colspan="1" | ! style="background:beige"|73 ! style="background:beige"|20 ! style="background:beige"|18 ! style="background:beige"|14 ! style="background:beige"|8 ! style="background:beige"|4 ! style="background:beige"|99 ! style="background:beige"|38 |- |rowspan="6" align=center valign=center|Spartak Moscow |align="center"|2008 |align="center"|14 |align="center"|6 |align="center"|0 |align="center"|0 |align="center"|1 |align="center"|0 |align="center"|15 |align="center"|6 |- |align="center"|2007 |align="center"|22 |align="center"|14 |align="center"|1 |align="center"|0 |align="center"|8 |align="center"|7 |align="center"|31 |align="center"|21 |- |align="center"|2006 |align="center"|27 |align="center"|18 |align="center"|4 |align="center"|0 |align="center"|12 |align="center"|3 |align="center"|44 |align="center"|21 |- |align="center"|2005 |align="center"|25 |align="center"|21 |align="center"|5 |align="center"|1 |align="center"|0 |align="center"|0 |align="center"|30 |align="center"|22 |- |align="center"|2004 |align="center"|26 |align="center"|15 |align="center"|2 |align="center"|0 |align="center"|5 |align="center"|3 |align="center"|34 |align="center"|18 |- |align="center"|2003 |align="center"|27 |align="center"|15 |align="center"|6 |align="center"|5 |align="center"|2 |align="center"|1 |align="center"|35 |align="center"|21 |- ! style="background:beige"|Club total ! style="background:beige" colspan="1" | ! style="background:beige"|141 ! style="background:beige"|89 ! style="background:beige"|18 ! style="background:beige"|6 ! style="background:beige"|28 ! style="background:beige"|14 ! style="background:beige"|187 ! style="background:beige"|109 |- |rowspan="3" align=center valign=center|Rotor Volgograd |align="center"|2002 |align="center"|21 |align="center"|4 |align="center"|1 |align="center"|0 |align="center"|0 |align="center"|0 |align="center"|21 |align="center"|4 |- |align="center"|2001 |align="center"|28 |align="center"|5 |align="center"|0 |align="center"|0 |align="center"|0 |align="center"|0 |align="center"|28 |align="center"|5 |- |align="center"|2000 |align="center"|16 |align="center"|5 |align="center"|1 |align="center"|1 |align="center"|0 |align="center"|0 |align="center"|17 |align="center"|6 |- ! style="background:beige"|Club Total ! style="background:beige" colspan="1" | ! style="background:beige"|65 ! style="background:beige"|14 ! style="background:beige"|2 ! style="background:beige"|1 ! style="background:beige"|0 ! style="background:beige"|0 ! style="background:beige"|67 ! style="background:beige"|15 |- |rowspan="1" align=center valign=center|Dynamo Stavropol |align="center"|1999 |align="center"|31 |align="center"|21 |align="center"|3 |align="center"|1 |align="center"|0 |align="center"|0 |align="center"|34 |align="center"|22 |- ! style="background:beige"|Club total ! style="background:beige" colspan="1" | ! style="background:beige"|31 ! style="background:beige"|21 ! style="background:beige"|3 ! style="background:beige"|1 ! style="background:beige"|0 ! style="background:beige"|0 ! style="background:beige"|34 ! style="background:beige"|22 |- ! style="background:lemonchiffon"|Career totals ! style="background:lemonchiffon" colspan="1" | ! style="background:lemonchiffon"|305 ! style="background:lemonchiffon"|140 ! style="background:lemonchiffon"|42 ! style="background:lemonchiffon"|22 ! style="background:lemonchiffon"|34 ! style="background:lemonchiffon"|18 ! style="background:lemonchiffon"|381 ! style="background:lemonchiffon"|265 |- |}

^{Statistics correct as of matches played 8 May 2011}

International goals

{|border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%;" |- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" align="center" !Goal !Date !Venue !Opponent !Score !Result !Competition {{Ig match |n=1 |d=8 October 2005 |st1=Lokomotiv Stadium|ci=Moscow|co=Russia |o=Luxembourg |sc=3 – 1 |fr=5–1 |comp=2006 World Cup qualification}} {{Ig match |n=2 |d=22 August 2007 |st1=Lokomotiv Stadium|ci=Moscow|co=Russia |o=Poland |sc=2 – 0 |fr=2–2 |comp=Friendly match}} {{Ig match |n=3 |d=17 October 2007 |st=Luzhniki Stadium|ci=Moscow|co=Russia |o=England |sc=1 – 1 |fr=2–1 |comp=UEFA Euro 2008 qualification}} {{Ig match |n=4 |d=17 October 2007 |st=Luzhniki Stadium|ci=Moscow|co=Russia |o=England |sc=2 – 1 |fr=2–1 |comp=UEFA Euro 2008 qualification}} {{Ig match |n=5 |d=28 May 2008 |st=Wacker Arena|ci1=Burghausen|co=Germany |o=Serbia |sc=2 – 1 |fr=2–1 |comp=Friendly match}} {{Ig match |n=6 |d=4 June 2008 |st=Wacker Arena|ci1=Burghausen|co=Germany |o=Lithuania |sc=3 – 1 |fr=4–1 |comp=Friendly match}} {{Ig match |n=7 |d=10 June 2008 |st=Tivoli-Neu|ci=Innsbruck|co=Austria |o=Spain |sc=3 – 1 |fr=4–1 |comp=Euro 2008}} {{Ig match |n=8 |d=18 June 2008 |st=Tivoli-Neu|ci=Innsbruck|co=Austria |o=Sweden |sc=1 – 0 |fr=2–0 |comp=Euro 2008}} {{Ig match |n=9 |d=21 June 2008 |st=St. Jakob-Park|ci=Basel|co=Switzerland |o=Netherlands |sc=0 – 1 |fr=1–3 |comp=Euro 2008}} {{Ig match |n=10 |d=10 September 2008 |st=Lokomotiv Stadium|ci=Moscow|co=Russia |o=Wales |sc=1 – 0 |fr=2–1 |comp=2010 World Cup qualification}} {{Ig match |n=11 |d=28 March 2009 |st=Luzhniki Stadium|ci=Moscow|co=Russia |o=Azerbaijan |sc=1 – 0 |fr=2–0 |comp=2010 World Cup qualification}} {{Ig match |n=12 |d=12 August 2009 |st=Lokomotiv Stadium|ci=Moscow|co=Russia |o=Argentina |sc=2 – 3 |fr=2–3 |comp=Friendly match}} {{Ig match |n=13 |d=5 September 2009 |st=Petrovsky Stadium|ci=Saint Petersburg|co=Russia |o=Liechtenstein |sc=2 – 0 |fr=3–0 |comp=2010 World Cup qualification}} {{Ig match |n=14 |d=5 September 2009 |st=Petrovsky Stadium|ci=Saint Petersburg|co=Russia |o=Liechtenstein |sc=3 – 0 |fr=3–0 |comp=2010 World Cup qualification}} {{Ig match |n=15 |d=9 September 2009 |st=Millennium Stadium|ci=Cardiff|co=Wales |o=Wales |sc=1 – 3 |fr=1–3 |comp=2010 World Cup qualification}} {{Ig match |n=16 |d=29 March 2011 |st=Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium|ci=Doha|co=Qatar |o=Qatar |sc=1 – 1 |fr=1–1 |comp=Friendly match}} {{Ig match |n=17 |d=4 June 2011 |st=Petrovsky Stadium|ci=Saint Petersburg|co=Russia |o=Armenia |sc=1 – 1 |fr=3–1 |comp=UEFA Euro 2012 qualification}} {{Ig match |n=18 |d=4 June 2011 |st=Petrovsky Stadium|ci=Saint Petersburg|co=Russia |o=Armenia |sc=2 – 1 |fr=3–1 |comp=UEFA Euro 2012 qualification}} {{Ig match |n=19 |d=4 June 2011 |st=Petrovsky Stadium|ci=Saint Petersburg|co=Russia |o=Armenia |sc=3 – 1 |fr=3–1 |comp=UEFA Euro 2012 qualification}}

Personal life

Pavlyuchenko is married to Larisa and has a young daughter named Kristina. In Russia, Pavlyuchenko is a local ''Duma'' (city council) deputy in Stavropol, representing the ruling Vladimir Putin-led United Russia party, although "because of my profession it won't be easy for me to take part directly in the workings of the city council – but I am ready to help with advice and with a concrete contribution to the development possibilities for exercise and sport".

Honours

Spartak Moscow

2003: Russian Cup

Tottenham Hotspur

2009: Carling Cup Runner-Up

Barclays Asia Trophy: 2009

International

Euro 2008 Team of the tournament

Individual

Tottenham Hotspur Player of the Month: November 2008, February 2010

2006: Russian Premier League's top goalscorer (18 goals in 27 matches)

2007: Russian Premier League's joint top goalscorer (14 goals in 22 matches)

References

;Bibliography

Marc Bennetts, 'Football Dynamo – Modern Russia and the People's Game,' Virgin Books, (15 May 2008), 0753513196

External links

Player page Premier League

Player Profile Tottenham Hotspur

Player profile

English Premier League profile

Category:1981 births Category:Living people Category:FC Dynamo Stavropol players Category:FC Rotor Volgograd players Category:Association football forwards Category:People from Krasnodar Krai Category:Russia international footballers Category:Russian footballers Category:Russian Premier League players Category:FC Spartak Moscow players Category:Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Category:UEFA Euro 2008 players Category:Expatriate footballers in England Category:Russian expatriate footballers Category:Premier League players

ar:رومان بافليوتشينكو bg:Роман Павлюченко ca:Roman Anatolèvitx Pavliutxenko cs:Roman Pavljučenko da:Roman Pavljutjenko de:Roman Anatoljewitsch Pawljutschenko et:Roman Pavljutšenko es:Román Pavliuchenko ext:Roman Pavlyuchenko fa:رومان پاولیچنکو fr:Roman Pavlioutchenko ga:Roman Pavlyuchenko ko:로만 파블류첸코 hr:Roman Pavljučenko id:Roman Pavlyuchenko it:Roman Pavljučenko he:רומן פבליוצ'נקו jv:Roman Pavlyuchenko lt:Romanas Pavliučenko hu:Roman Anatoljevics Pavljucsenko mk:Роман Павличенко mr:रोमन पावल्युचेंको ms:Roman Pavlyuchenko nl:Roman Pavlyuchenko ja:ロマン・パヴリュチェンコ no:Roman Pavljutsjenko pl:Roman Pawluczenko pt:Roman Pavlyuchenko ro:Roman Pavliucenko ru:Павлюченко, Роман Анатольевич sk:Roman Anatolievič Pavľučenko cu:Романъ Павлючєнко sl:Roman Pavljučenko sr:Роман Пављученко fi:Roman Pavljutšenko sv:Roman Pavljutjenko th:โรมัน พาฟลิวเชนโก้ tr:Roman Pavlyuçenko vi:Roman Anatolevich Pavlyuchenko zh:罗曼·帕夫柳琴科

Coordinates	55°47′″N49°10′″N
playername	Selim Benachour
fullname	Selim Benachour
dateofbirth	September 08, 1981
cityofbirth	Paris
countryofbirth	France
height
position	Attacking midfielder
currentclub	Marítimo
clubnumber	81
youthyears1	1995–2001 |youthclubs1 Paris Saint-Germain
years1	2001–2005 |clubs1 Paris Saint-Germain |caps1 28 |goals1 1
years2	2002 |clubs2 → Martigues (loan) |caps2 28 |goals2 1
years3	2003 |clubs3 → Troyes (loan) |caps3 9 |goals3 2
years4	2005–2006 |clubs4 Vitória Guimarães |caps4 25 |goals4 4
years5	2006–2008 |clubs5 Rubin Kazan |caps5 23 |goals5 3
years6	2008–2009 |clubs6 Al Qadsia |caps6 25 |goals6 3
years7	2009–2010 |clubs7 Málaga |caps7 22 |goals7 0
years8	2011–present |clubs8 Marítimo |caps8 6 |goals8 2
nationalyears1	2002– |nationalteam1 Tunisia |nationalcaps1 44 |nationalgoals1 2
pcupdate	5 April 2011
ntupdate	31 May 2010 (UTC) }}

Selim Benachour (; born Slim Ben-Achour, 8 September 1981 in Paris) is a Tunisian footballer, who was born in France. He is a midfielder who currently plays for the Primeira Liga side C.S. Marítimo. He had once played in Portugal with Vitoria SC, enjoying one successful season at the club. He is multilingual. He speaks fluently French, English, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic.

He is widely considered one of Tunisia's best players, an elegant playmaker with range of passing and great vision, and played for Tunisia's national squad in the 2002 World Cup. However, he was not included in the squad for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, in which Tunisia national football team were knocked out in the first round.

Sources suggest he turned down the chance to play for the France national football team in favor of the Tunisia national football team.

On 13 September 2010 he was not registered to play in La Liga and was released by the club, with one year still left on his contract.

On 21 January 2011, he signed a contract with the Marítimo until the end of the 2011-2012 season.

External links

Málaga CF Profile Interview-biography

References

Benachour, Selim Benachour, Selim Benachour, Selim Benachour, Selim Benachour, Selim Benachour, Selim Benachour, Selim Benachour, Selim Benachour, Selim Benachour, Selim Benachour, Selim Benachour, Selim Benachour, Selim Benachour, Selim Benachour, Selim Benachour, Selim Category:2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players Benachour, Selim Benachour, Selim Benachour, Selim Benachour, Selim Benachour, Selim Benachour, Selim Benachour, Selim Benachour, Selim

ar:سليم بن عاشور de:Selim Benachour es:Selim Benachour fr:Selim Benachour it:Selim Ben Achour ja:セリム・ベナシュール pl:Selim Ben Achour pt:Selim Benachour ru:Бен Ашур, Селим fi:Selim Benachour

Coordinates	55°47′″N49°10′″N
Name	Veselin Topalov
Birthname	Veselin Topalov(Веселин Топалов)
Country
Birth date	March 15, 1975
Birth place	Rousse, Bulgaria
Title	Grandmaster
Worldchampion	2005–2006 (FIDE)
Rating	2768(No. 6 in the September 2011 FIDE World Rankings)
Peakrating	2813 (October 2006, July 2009) }}

Veselin Topalov (pronounced ; ; born 15 March 1975), is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster. He currently has the sixth highest rating in the world, and was the challenger facing world champion Viswanathan Anand in the World Chess Championship 2010, losing the match 6½-5½.

Topalov became the FIDE World Chess Champion by winning the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005. He lost his title in the World Chess Championship 2006 match against Vladimir Kramnik.

Topalov won the 2005 Chess Oscar. He was ranked #1 in the world from April 2006 to January 2007, during which his Elo rating was 2813, which had been surpassed only by Garry Kasparov, and subsequently by Magnus Carlsen and Anand. He regained the world #1 ranking again in October 2008, and officially remained #1 until January 2010, when he fell to #2 behind Carlsen.

He has been ranked number one a total of 27 months in his career, fourth all-time since the inception of the FIDE ranking lists in 1971 behind only Garry Kasparov, Anatoly Karpov, and Bobby Fischer.

Early career (1989–2005)

Topalov was born in Rousse, Bulgaria. His father taught him to play chess at the age of eight. Topalov had a difficult childhood, but he quickly established himself as a chess prodigy. At age 12, Topalov began working with Silvio Danailov, in a training/mentoring relationship that continues today. Danailov himself was a master who nurtured ambitions as a player. Once he saw Topalov, however, he sacrificed his own career. Canadian Grandmaster Kevin Spraggett wrote: "Danailov took Topalov to his apartment and told him ‘From now on, you live here and this will become your new home. I am not just your trainer, but I am also your mother and your father. I am your cook. I am the one who will wash your clothes. I am the one who will pay your bills and expenses to tournaments. All I want from you is to think only about chess!"

In 1989 he won the World Under-14 Championship in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, and in 1990 won the silver medal at the World Under-16 Championship in Singapore. He became a Grandmaster in 1992. Topalov has been the leader of the Bulgarian national team since 1994. At the 1994 Chess Olympiad in Moscow he led the Bulgarians to a fourth-place finish.

Over the next ten years Topalov won a number of tournaments, and ascended the world chess rankings. He played in Linares 1994 (6½/13), Linares 1995 (8/13), Amsterdam 1995. In 1996, he won Amsterdam (1st equal with Kasparov), Vienna (ahead of Karpov), Novgorod and Dos Hermanas (1st-2nd with Kramnik, ahead of Anand, Kasparov, Illescas, Kamsky, Gelfand, Ivanchuk, Shirov and J. Polgar). As early as 1996, he was being invited to "supergrandmaster" events for the world's élite such as Las Palmas (5/10), the first category 21 tournament, played in December 1996, with Kasparov, Anand, Kramnik and Karpov participating.

Topalov's loss to reigning Classical World Champion Garry Kasparov at the 1999 Corus chess tournament is generally hailed as one of the greatest games ever played. Kasparov later said, " He looked up. Perhaps there was a sign from above that Topalov would play a great game today. It takes two, you know, to do that."

In the knockout tournaments for the FIDE World Chess Championship, he reached the last 16 in 1999, the quarter-finals in 2000, the final 16 in 2001, and the semi-finals in the 2004 tournament. In 2002, he lost the final of the Dortmund Candidates Tournament (for the right to challenge for the rival Classical World Chess Championship) to Péter Lékó.

Topalov scored his first "super-tournament" success at Linares 2005, tying for first place with Garry Kasparov (though losing on tiebreak rules), and defeating Kasparov in the last round, in what was to be Kasparov's last tournament game before his retirement. He followed this up with a one point victory (+4 =5 −1) at the M-Tel Masters 2005 tournament, ahead of Viswanathan Anand, Vladimir Kramnik, Ruslan Ponomariov, Michael Adams, and Judit Polgár. The average rating of the participants was 2744, making this super-GM, double round-robin tournament the strongest in 2005.

FIDE World Chess Champion 2005

On the strength of his rating, Topalov was invited to the eight-player, double round-robin FIDE World Chess Championship in San Luis, Argentina, in September–October 2005. Scoring 6½/7 in the first cycle, Topalov had virtually clinched the tournament at the halfway mark, before drawing every game in the second cycle to win by 1½ points to become FIDE World Chess Champion. The average rating of the field in the championship was 2739, and Topalov's performance rating was 2890.

The unification of the FIDE World Title (held by Topalov) and the Classical Chess World Title (held by Vladimir Kramnik) was fervently encouraged by the chess community. On 16 April 2006, FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov announced that a reunification match between Kramnik and Topalov would be held in September–October 2006. Kramnik defeated Topalov to become the first undisputed champion in thirteen years.

Kramnik-Topalov match controversy

On 28 September 2006, Topalov's manager Silvio Danailov published a press release, casting suspicion on Kramnik's behaviour during the games. The Bulgarian team made a public statement that Kramnik visited his private bathroom (the only place without any audio or video surveillance) unreasonably often, about fifty times per game (a number that FIDE officials later claimed to be exaggerated) and made the most significant decisions in the game in the bathroom.

They also demanded that the organizers of the tournament allow journalists access to the surveillance video from Kramnik's room for games 1 through 4. The organizers made parts of the video available, explaining that other parts of it were missing due to technical issues. Danailov demanded to stop the use of private restrooms and bathrooms, and threatened to reconsider Topalov's participation in the match. The Appeals Committee that governed the match agreed, and ruled that the players' private restrooms should be closed and replaced with a shared one.

Kramnik refused to play game 5 and was forfeited. On 1 October, the restroom issue was resolved in Kramnik's favour and the Appeals Committee resigned and were replaced. The FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov decided that the current score of 3-2 should be preserved. He also indicated that this was not a compromise decision but his own. The match resumed on 2 October 2006.

On 1 October, the Association of Chess Professionals released a statement denouncing Danailov for publicly accusing his opponent without evidence, and calling for him to be investigated by the FIDE Ethics Committee. Topalov has also been similarly denounced by numerous top players, including former World Champions Anatoly Karpov, Boris Spassky, and Viswanathan Anand, grandmaster Viktor Korchnoi, former US Champions Lev Alburt and Yasser Seirawan, and others.

On 3 October, Topalov said in a press conference, "I believe that his (Kramnik's) play is fair, and my decision to continue the match proves it". However the next day the crisis escalated, with Topalov's manager strongly implying that Kramnik was receiving computer assistance.

On 14 December 2006, Topalov directly accused Kramnik of using computer assistance in their World Championship match. On 14 February 2007, Topalov's manager released pictures, purporting to show cables in the ceiling of a toilet used by Kramnik during the World Championship match in Elista. They were supposedly reported to the authorities, who Danailov claims suppressed the information. The Topalov team claims they were pressured by officials to keep their allegations quiet. On 29 July 2007, following a complaint by Kramnik's manager Carsten Hensel, the FIDE Ethics Commission sanctioned Topalov with "a severe reprimand" because of the accusations made in the interview of 14 December. According to the Ethics Commission, "these statements were clearly defamatory and damaged the honour of Mr. Vladimir Kramnik, harming his personal and professional reputation".

Career after the 2006 match

Soon after losing the world title, Topalov participated in the Essent Chess Tournament. He finished third of four players with only 2½ points from 6 games and a 2645 performance. He lost both games against Judit Polgár and one against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.

In May 2006, Topalov defended his M-Tel Masters title, coming first with 6½/10, a half point ahead of Gata Kamsky (who he beat 2-0). Topalov started the tournament somewhat hesitantly to later record four consecutive wins and decisively claim the title.

In January 2007, Topalov finished in joint first place (ahead of Kramnik, who finished 4th) at the Category 19 Corus Chess Tournament along with Levon Aronian and Teimour Radjabov.

Topalov won the 14th Ciudad Dos Hermanas rapid, 17–21 April 2008, defeating GM Francisco Vallejo Pons (Spain) 2½–1½ in the final match by winning the first game and drawing the rest. The first round matches of the four-player knockout tournament were won by Topalov over GM Judit Polgár (Hungary) 2½–1½ and Vallejo over GM Alexei Shirov (Spain) 3–1.

In September 2008, Topalov won the Bilbao 2008 tournament. He advanced to first in the world in the unofficial live ratings and in the official October 2008 ratings list.

2008–2010 World Championship cycle

By losing the 2006 reunification match, Topalov lost his chance to compete in the 2007 world championship tournament. Danailov expressed a desire for a rematch between Topalov and Kramnik, proposing a match in March 2007, though no such match took place.

The issue was settled in June 2007 when Topalov (as well as Kramnik) was granted special privileges in the 2008-09 championship cycle. Topalov was given direct entry to a "Challenger Match" against the winner of the Chess World Cup 2007.

The 2007 Chess World Cup was won by Gata Kamsky. The Challenger Match between Topalov and Kamsky took place in February 2009 in Hall 6 of NDK Sofia. Topalov won that match 4½-2½ and qualified to play against the current world champion Viswanathan Anand for the World Chess Champion title but Topalov lost the match 6½-5½.

2010

Topalov won the 2010 Linares chess tournament held from February 13 to 24 in Andalusia, Spain, defeating 2009 Chess World Cup champion Boris Gelfand in his final game.

As the runner-up in the World Chess Championship 2010, Topalov automatically qualified for the Candidates Tournament for the World Chess Championship 2012, where he was the top seed. However, he lost to newly crowned U.S. champion Gata Kamsky in the quarterfinals.

Notable tournament victories

Terrassa 1992

Budapest zt-B 1993

Polanica Zdroj 1995

Elenite 1995

Madrid 1996

Dos Hermanas 1996 (joint first with Kramnik)

Amsterdam 1996

Vienna 1996

Novgorod 1996

Leon 1996

Antwerp 1997

Madrid 1997

Monaco 2001

Dortmund 2001 (joint first with Kramnik)

NAO Chess Masters Cannes 2002 (joint first with Gelfand)

Benidorm 2003

Linares 2005 (joint first with Kasparov)

M-Tel Masters 2005 (a point ahead of Anand)

Corus 2006 (joint first with Anand)

M-Tel Masters 2006 (half a point ahead of Gata Kamsky)

Corus 2007 (joint first with Aronian and Radjabov)

M-Tel Masters 2007

Champions League Vitoria Gasteiz 2007 (a point and a half a head of Ponomariov)

Dos Hermanas 2008 (Rapid)

Villarrobledo 2008 (Rapid)

Bilbao 2008 (a point and a half ahead of Aronian, Ivanchuk, and Carlsen)

Pearl Spring 2008 (a point and a half ahead of Aronian)

Linares 2010 (a half point ahead of Grischuk)

World championship matches and qualifiers

FIDE World Chess Championship 1998 Second Round, Groningen, Topalov-Piket (½-1½)

FIDE WCC Knockout 1999 Fourth Round, Las Vegas, Topalov-Kramnik (1-3)

FIDE WCC Knockout 2000 Quarterfinals, New Delhi and Tehran, Topalov-Adams (½-1½)

FIDE WCC Knockout 2002 Fourth Round, Moscow, Topalov-Shirov (3-4)

Classical WCC Candidates Match 2002, Dortmund, Topalov-Leko (1½-2½)

FIDE WCC Knockout 2004 Semifinals, Tripoli, Topalov-Kasimdzhanov (2-4)

FIDE World Chess Championship 2005, San Luis, (a point and a half ahead of Anand and Svidler)

World Chess Championship 2006, Elista, Topalov-Kramnik (6-6, 1½-2½ rapid playoff)

WCC Candidates Match 2009, Sofia, Topalov-Kamsky (4½-2½)

World Chess Championship 2010, Sofia, Topalov-Anand (5½-6½)

WCC Candidates Match 2011 Quarterfinals, Kazan, Topalov-Kamsky (1½-2½)

Sample game

On the way to winning M-Tel Masters in 2005, Topalov defeated former FIDE World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov with the white pieces in a Queen's Indian defense. (Analysis by Rybka 1.2n.)

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Nc3 O-O 8.Rc1 c6 9.e4 d5 10.e5 Ne4 11.Bd3 Nxc3 12.Rxc3 c5 13.dxc5 bxc5 14.h4 h6 15.Bb1 f5? Needlessly weakening the position. Better is 15. ... Nd7 16. Bxh6!? f5 (16...gxh6? 17.Qc2 f5 18.exf6 Rxf6 19.Qh7+ Kf8 20.Ng5! mates in 8 moves) 17. Bf4 Qa5, which may have given black good chances for equality. 16.exf6 Bxf6 17.Qc2! d4 17. ... Bxc3? leads to defeat after 18. Qh7+ Kf7 19. Bxc3, with an overwhelming attack: for example, 19...d4 20. Qg6+ Ke7 21. Nxd4!. But Topalov found a way to break black's defenses in Ponomariov's chosen line, too. (See diagram) 18.Ng5!! hxg5 19.hxg5 dxc3 20.Bf4 Kf7 21.Qg6+ Ke7 22.gxf6+ Rxf6 23.Qxg7+ Rf7 24.Bg5+ Kd6 25.Qxf7 Qxg5 26.Rh7 Qe5+ 27.Kf1 Kc6 28.Qe8+ Kb6 29.Qd8+ Kc6 30.Be4+! 1-0 Black resigned, because if black took the white bishop with 30 ... Qxe4, then white mates with 31. Qc7+.

References

External links

OlimpBase

Interview with Veselin Topalov

Kamsky - Topalov to be played in Sofia

Edward Winter, List of Books About Anand, Kramnik and Topalov

Category:World chess champions Category:Chess grandmasters Category:Bulgarian chess players Category:World Youth Chess Champions Category:Chess Olympiad competitors Category:People from Ruse, Bulgaria Category:1975 births Category:Living people

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