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Creator
Brodenov, Boris, 1896 or 1897-1960
Call number
*T-Mss 1996-030
Physical description
4.38 linear feet (1 box, 5 volumes)
Preferred Citation

Boris Brodenov papers, *T-Mss 1996-030. Billy Rose Theatre Division, The New York Public Library

Repository
Billy Rose Theatre Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.

Boris Brodenov (1895-1960) was an actor and radio announcer. The Boris Brodenov papers hold clippings, correspondence, photographs, programs, scripts, and scrapbooks documenting his career.

Biographical/historical information

Boris Brodenov (1895-1960) was an actor and radio announcer. He was born Maurice Braude in Minsk, Russia and fled to Czechoslovakia during the Bolshevik Revolution. He joined the L'Alliance Francaise productions in the Czech National Theatre while he was studying engineering at the Czech Instutite of Technology. There he met his wife Lida Brodenová (née Leopoldine Dokulils), an opera singer. Brodenov was Jewish, and the couple immigrated to the United States in 1940 to avoid persecution and changed their names to protect his family in Europe.

Brodenov settled in New York City and joined Vladimir Zelitsky's Theatre of Russian Drama, which produced Russian classical theatre from 1940 to the early 1950s. He was also a writer and announcer from 1946 to 1959 for the "Voice of America" radio show which was broadcast in Russia by the U.S. Department of State. Lida also performed on the radio; appeared in various operas in New York; and arranged benefit performances for war refugees. In 1954 Brodenov was transferred to the Washington, D.C. Voice of America office. In D.C., Brodenov joined the L. Marotte French Theatre and Lida staged small-scale performances of Russian operas. Brodenov died in 1960.

Scope and arrangement

The Boris Brodenov papers hold clippings, correspondence, photographs, programs, scripts, and scrapbooks documenting his career. Correspondence consists primarily of letters from Brodenov to his wife, as well a copy of a letter he wrote to the Ford Motor Company describing his affinity for the brand and detailing his work with automobiles in Czechoslovakia. There is one radio script (in Russian) for a 1955 "Voice of America" broadcast.

Programs are from productions of the L'Alliance Francaise and Theatre of Russian Drama. Many of the L'Alliance Francaise productions also feature his wife.

Photographs are both headshot and production photographs, primarily from Theatre of Russian Drama productions. There are three scrapbooks of photographs and programs related to the Theatre of Russian Drama dated 1942 to 1950. Other scrapbooks document Brodenov's performances with the L. Marotte French Theatre and a 1944 War Bonds rally featuring Lida Brodenová.

Arrangement

Alphabetical by file type.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Donated by Judith Fichler, 1996.

Processing information

Compiled by Lea Jordan, 2015

Using the collection

Location

Billy Rose Theatre Division
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498
Third Floor

Conditions Governing Use

The author/creator retains copyright of materials. For information on obtaining permission to publish, contact the Theatre Division at theatre@nypl.org.