Coin Ukraine 2019 #06 Panas Saksahanskyi

Description

Panas Saksahanskyi

The commemorative coin is dedicated to Panas Saksahanskyi (Tobilevych), the famous Ukrainian actor, stage director, playwright, teacher, and one of the great figures of Ukrainian popular theater. Over his career, Panas Saksahanskyi created a whole range of comic and dramatic characters that became classic examples of acting technique and skill. These are the characters of Kopach (One Hundred by I. Karpenko-Karyi), Holokhvostyi (Chasing Two Hares by M. Starytskyi), Karas (Cossack Beyond the Danube by S. Hulak-Artemovskyi), Voznyi and Vybornyi (Natalka Poltavka by I. Kotliarevskyi), and many more. Panas Saksahanskyi is famous not only as an actor but also as a gifted stage director, who invented the system of preparing for a role. He is the author of comedies Hypocrites (1908) and Shantrapa (1913).

Obverse: Ukraine’s small coat of arms is to the right, below it is a vertical legend that reads УКРАЇНА (Ukraine); a stylized composition is in the center: against a smooth background is Saksahanskyi’s favorite rocking chair with a hat on it, to its left is a smooth outline of the actor holding a mask in his hand, to the right are theater drapes; at the bottom is the legend 2019/2 ГРИВНІ (2019/2 hryvnias) and the mint mark of the NBU’s Banknote Printing and Minting Works.

Reverse: a stylized composition that symbolizes the actor’s words: “Everyone wants to pretend to be a different person. I know it well, that’s why I wouldn’t create my own portrait… Few of us can face the bitterness and sweetness of life, its light and dark side, without getting biased towards our own emotions…” (Panas Saksahanskyi): a smooth outline of the actor holding a mask that symbolizes his talent of impersonation; theater drapes are to the left; to the right are the years of his life 1859/1940 and the semicircular legend ПАНАС САКСАГАНСЬКИЙ (Panas Saksahanskyi).