Evgeny Knyazev was born on 9 August 1955, near Yasnaya Polyana (Tula Region). The only brother of three sisters, he was given lots of love and attention. This happy time formed his personality, his strong moral principles and his noble and easy-going nature. He would impart such qualities to many of his stage characters later on. His personal integrity and the clarity of his attitude to life also came from his childhood. His mother, Zoya Ivanovna, was a housewife. Her major regret in life was not being able to afford to buy a piano for Evgeny. His father, Vladimir Ivanovich, a shy and modest man, who looked like the French actor Jean Gabin, was a miner.

  Knyazev was dreaming about the stage since his childhood, but his path to it wasn’t easy. He tried to enroll at the Shchukin Drama College in Moscow after finishing his secondary school in 1972, but he failed the admission then because he was considered too young. Eventually, he went to the Mining Institute. However, his true nature prevailed, and from the third year on, Knyazev started taking parts in amateur performances. During his work experience as a student in Leningrad, he tried his luck by applying to Ruben Agamirzyan’s class at the LGITMiK (Leningrad State Institute for Theatre, Music and Cinema).

But he couldn’t just quit the Mining Institute without getting a diploma. After his graduation in 1978, he tried the Shchukin again. This time he was admitted. The switch from science and technology to drama sketches wasn’t easy for Knyazev, but he studied hard nevertheless. His tutors helped him to overcome the hard bits. Lyudmila Vladimirovna Stavskaya, his course tutor, was successful in developing his abilities and teaching him to trust his own talent.

  The Shchukin College became his home base. During the day, he would work pat time in the dressing room with his close friend Evgeny Dvorzhezky, visit exhibitions and theatres after work and read a lot. He tried to take from life as much as he could. Many years later, in 2003, Knyazev became head of the Shchukin Theatre Institute.

 In 1982, the young graduate joined the famous troupe of Evgeny Simonov, director of the Moscow Vakhtangov Theatre. His first success came with playing the part of Gaetan in the play “The Rose and the Cross”. Simonov identified correctly  the  young  actor’s  type  –  a romantic