SERGEI MIKHAILOVICH EISENSTEIN

January 23, 1898 to February 11, 1948

One of the towering figures in the history of cinematic art.  Among Russian-born Sergei Eisenstein's contributions to film is the development and use of film montage.  One sequence in particular which has been studied in nearly every college film class on planet Earth is the Odessa Steps sequence from his work Battleship Potempkin.  Under the communist thumb of Josef Stalin, Eisenstein was able to complete only seven films.  In addition to Potempkin, Alexander Nevsky, and Ivan the Terrible, Part I are often on critics' lists of the greatest films ever made.  Ivan the Terrible, Part II was banned in Russia and after suffering a near-fatal heart attack in 1946 Eisenstein's health began to deteriorate until his death in 1948.