Pavel Svobodin was an outstanding Russian stage actor and writer, and a prominent artist of the Alexandrinsky Theatre. Born in 1850 in Saint Petersburg, he graduated from the Saint Petersburg Theatre School in 1871. Even as a student, he attracted the audience's attention with his performance as the boy Grisha in Victor Dyachenko's play "The Tutor". After graduation, he joined the troupe of the Alexandrinsky Theatre, where he served until 1877. However, due to a conflict with the head of the repertoire department, Pavel Svobodin was forced to leave the capital. For the next seven years, he performed successfully in provincial theaters and later in Moscow at Anna Brenko's Pushkin Theatre (later known as the Korsh Theatre). In 1884, Pavel Svobodin returned to the Alexandrinsky Theatre, where he remained for the rest of his life. His repertoire mostly consisted of comic and character roles. Among his most vivid stage images were Pribytkov in "The Last Sacrifice" by Alexander Ostrovsky, Repetilov in "Woe from Wit" by Alexander Griboyedov, Orgon in "Tartuffe" by Moliere, Muromsky in "Krechinsky's Wedding" by Alexander Sukhovo-Kobylin, Plyushkin in "Dead Souls" by Nikolai Gogol, and Zvezdintsev in "The Fruits of Enlightenment" by Leo Tolstoy. In addition to his stage career, Svobodin was actively involved in literary work: his short stories, poems, and plays were published in magazines. From 1889 until his death, he was a close friend of Anton Chekhov. The Bakhrushin Theatre Museum's online collection features letters from Pavel Svobodin, including those to Ivan Vsevolozhsky, director of the Imperial Theatres, and Fyodor Kumanin, publisher of the magazine "Artist".