Shtoffer Yakov Zinovievich
Theater artist. Honored Artist of the Kyrgyz SSR. The name of Y. Shtoffer is associated with the formation of Kyrgyz theatrical and decorative art. A well-known Moscow theater artist, he came to Kyrgyzstan to prepare for the Decade of Kyrgyz Art in Moscow and stayed here until 1946. Before Y. Shtoffer's arrival in the 1920s and 1930s, there were no professional theater artists in Kyrgyzstan.
Y. Shtoffer significantly raised the culture of stage design and is rightly considered the founder of Kyrgyz professional theatrical and decorative art. He began his activities in the republic in 1938 as an artist of the Kyrgyz Musical Drama Theater (which was renamed the Opera and Ballet Theater five years later). Under Y. Shtoffer's leadership, the theater's stage was reconstructed and equipped. He designed the theater's first productions — the musical drama "Altyn Kyz" by V. Vlasov and V. Fere (1939), the opera "Aychurek" by V. Vlasov, A. Maldybaev, V. Fere (1939), and the opera "Toktogul" by V. Vlasov and V. Fere (1940).
These performances, with sets designed by Y. Shtoffer, were showcased during the Decade of Kyrgyz Art and Literature in Moscow.
In 1940, Y. Shtoffer was one of the creators of the first Kyrgyz national ballet "Anar" by V. Vlasov and V. Fere. In 1941, with the participation of Y. Shtoffer, the opera "Patriots" by V. Vlasov, A. Maldybaev, V. Fere was staged. In 1942, the premiere of the first classical work on the Kyrgyz stage took place — the opera "Eugene Onegin" by P. Tchaikovsky. Successfully performed on the stage of the Kyrgyz theater were the opera "Kokul" by M. Raukhverger (1942) and the ballet "Cholpon" by M. Raukhverger (1944), both designed by Y. Shtoffer. While working on the design of Kyrgyz performances, Y. Shtoffer deeply immersed himself in the history and culture of the Kyrgyz people, studying nature, folklore, and the origins of the Kyrgyz national costume.