A book with a handwritten address and autograph by director Anatoly Efros in 1975.

Anatoly Efros is a Soviet theater and film director and teacher. Honored Artist of the RSFSR. Efros was already recognized as a classic director during his lifetime and was put on a par with Stanislavsky, Vakhtangov, Meyerhold, Tairov. Each new production became a sensation for the theatrical public. He also opened the Russian theater to a foreign audience: he staged Chekhov and Bulgakov in Japan and the USA. Since the mid-1970s, he gained a reputation as a disgraced director: he was accused of distorting classics, some performances were banned, finding socio-political overtones in them.

Efros is also known as a film director. He shot "Noisy Day", "Leap Year", "Two in the Steppe", "Boris Godunov. Scenes from the tragedy", "Romeo and Juliet" and other paintings. The film "On Thursday and never again" became one of the best films of the Soviet art house. He also wrote scripts and made TV shows. In addition, he taught at GITIS and wrote several books on theatrical art.