David Cherkassky
David Yanovich Cherkassky (23 August 1931 – 30 October 2018) was a Soviet and Ukrainian animated film director and screenwriter. He worked at the Kievnaukfilm studio, creating The Adventures of Captain Wrongel, Doctor Aybolit, and Treasure Island.
Cherkassky was born into a Jewish family in Shpola, Ukrainian SSR. He studied at the Kiev Construction Engineering Institute. He once noted that Soviet parents expected the war and sometimes registered their children late to delay military drafts. In an interview he said he was born on 23 August 1932.
During World War II, he and his mother were evacuated to a village near Chkalov (today Orenburg). He later was a member of the Ukrainian gymnast team. From his 50s into his 80s, Cherkassky enjoyed alpine skiing. After Stalin’s death, he learned that his family originated from Shpola and that he had relatives in the United States. His father was a director of typography after the revolution and later served as an assistant to the People’s Commissar of Justice.
Cherkassky became an Academician of the Academy of Television (1997), a corresponding member of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine (1998), and a member of the National Unions of Cinematographers and Journalists of Ukraine. He received several honors: Merited Artist of Ukraine (1995), People’s Artist of Ukraine (2010), and the Order of Merit (second class) in 2002 and 2007. He was married to animator and director Natalya Marchenkova.
David Cherkassky died on 30 October 2018 and was buried in Berkovets Cemetery in Kyiv.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 23:16 (CET).