When Sergei N. Durylin, a remarkable Russian scholar, published the first biography of the famous black American actor Ira Aldridge in 1940, it caused shockwaves in the literary and wider world. Concentrating on his Shakespearean performances in Russia from 1858 - 1866, Durylin combed through old newspapers, actors' memoirs and eyewitness reports to see how audiences responded to such a revolutionary performer. The result was a vivid account of the profound impact Aldridge made on Russian theatergoers who had never before seen a black actor so accomplished in the arts.
