Afanasiev, Viktor [Afanas'jev], b 2 January 1917 in Aktiubinsk, Kazakhstan, d 4 June 1987 in Kharkiv. Organizer and director of puppet theaters. Afanasiev began his career in 1934 in the puppet theater of the Kharkiv Pioneer Palace. In 1937–40 he organized and worked as the artistic director of the Altai and Karaganda puppet theaters. From 1952 he has been the principal director of the Kharkiv Puppet Theater. Afanasiev has directed Horbokonyk (The Flying Horse), adapted from P. Yershov, in 1953; Zaporozhets’ za Dunaiem (Zaporozhian Cossack beyond the Danube), by Semen Hulak-Artemovsky, in 1956; Ukraïns’kyi vertep (Ukrainian Christmas Puppet Show) in 1976; and other shows.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 1 (1984).]