Mykola Fedorovych Yakovchenko (April 20 (May 3), 1900, Pryluky — September 11, 1974, Kyiv) was an outstanding Soviet Ukrainian theater and film actor who played character roles. He was named a People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR in 1970. He was born in Pryluky (now Chernihiv Oblast, Ukraine, then Poltava Governorate, Russian Empire) into the family of an assistant manager of the Astrakhan fishing industry. His mother had four other children besides him. His family had its origins in the Don Cossacks — the family moved to the Poltava province from Rostov-on-Don and had a patriarchal structure, where a penchant for art was not particularly encouraged. In 1912, he enrolled in the Second Prilutsk Higher Primary School named after Kislov. In 1916, he enrolled in the city Jewish gymnasium, where he became interested in amateur art, performing his first roles in the gymnasium theater. At the same time, he thoroughly studied the Greek language. During the revolutionary events, he went to the front. His grandson, Mykola Bohonko-Yakovchenko, said, "It is not known for certain on whose side he fought — for the Reds or the Whites. According to documents, he spent the entire war on a Red Army medical train. However, over time, he became enthusiastic about talking about General Shkuro's cavalry; he once obtained two well-hidden St. George's Crosses." In 1918, he made his debut on the amateur stage in Pryluky. From the amateur group, he moved to the troupe of Pylyp Khmara's theater, which was Russian at the time, and from 1919 — Ukrainian, then Soviet. At this time, he played in plays by Leonid Andreyev — Tyukha in Savva and Second Lieutenant Grigory Mironov in Days of Our Lives. From 1920 to 1927, he worked in theaters in Lubny, Pryluky, Simferopol, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Dnipro, and Kharkiv. From 1927, he was an actor at the Frank Ukrainian Academic Theater in Kyiv (with breaks).

Filmography

• 1973Cheerful Frogscreamers — Watchman
• 1973Here We Live
• 1973The Grandfather of the Left Winger — Trokhym Ivanovych Besarab
• 1972Trust — посетитель в приемной
• 1972Zakhar Berkut — Tukholets
• 1971Adventures of Tarapunka and Shtepsel
• 1971Lada from the Berendeyev Country — король
• 1971Party Secretary — godfather
• 1971Where are you, Knights? — Kovalchuk's Neighbour
• 1970That Very Night
• Varka's Land — дед Евген
• 1969Malevolent Fate — Matchmaker
• 1969Димка-велогонщик — заведующий тиром
• 1968The Kyiv Direction
• 1967Viy — Spirid
• 1965Star of the Ballet — watchman
• 1965The Month of May — komendant obshchezhitiya
• 1964A Dream
• 1964Lushka
• 1964Pharaohs
• 1963A Great Road Ahead — peasant on a cart
• 1963Gas Station Queen
• 1961Carrot Head
• 1961Chasing Two Hares — Prokip Sirko
• 1961Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka — Пацюк (озв. Яков Беленький)
• 1960Save Our Souls
• 1959The First Lad
• 1958The Kyiv Resident — Горовенко - рабочий завода «Арсенал»
• 1958Years of Young
• 1957Coordinates Unknown
• 1955Maksim Perepelitsa — Kondrat Perepelitsa
• 1955Nesterka
• 1954Earth
• 1953Martyn Borulya
• 1952In The Ukrainian Steppe
• 1952Stolen Happiness — Reeve

Appearances as themselves (1)

• 2003The Great Actor M. F. Yakovchenko — Self (archive footage)