Mihai Volontir
Stage actor from Bălți who became known across the Soviet Union as Budulai
1934-2015
Photo: Avereanu, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Mihai Volontir was a Moldovan stage and film actor who became famous throughout the Soviet Union as Budulai, the wise Roma man in the film Țiganul (1979). He stayed loyal to the theatre in Bălți for almost sixty years. In 1984 he was named a People's Artist of the USSR.
Link with MoldovaMihai Volontir was born in Glinjeni in 1934 and acted at the Vasile Alecsandri Theatre in Bălți from 1957 until his death in 2015.
Volontir was born on 9 March 1934 in Glinjeni, a village in what is now Șoldănești district in northern Moldova. From 1952 to 1955 he attended the teacher training college in Orhei. In 1957 he joined the Vasile Alecsandri Theatre in Bălți, where he made his debut as a coachman in Chirița în Iași. He stayed there for the rest of his life, appearing in more than 120 productions and also directing.
His film debut came in 1967 at the Moldova-Film studio, in Se caută un paznic. It was followed by films including Dimitrie Cantemir (1973), Povestea lui Făt-Frumos (1977) and the Soviet film In the Zone of Special Attention (1978). His big breakthrough was the role of Budulai, a wise and solitary Roma man, in Țiganul (1979). He played the role again in 1984 in Întoarcerea lui Budulai, and for a huge Soviet audience he simply remained Budulai from then on.
The link with Moldova
Volontir was also politically active. As a member of the first Moldovan parliament (1990-1994), he voted for the Declaration of Independence on 27 August 1991. He was made an honorary citizen of Bălți (2000) and Chișinău (2014) and received the Order of the Republic in 2009. After his death on 15 September 2015, the day of his funeral became a day of national mourning.
Where you will find him
He was buried with military honours in the Central Cemetery on Strada Armenească in Chișinău. The government backed Bălți's plan to give him a bust on the Alley of Classics of national culture, and in 2019 approved the transfer of state property to Glinjeni so that a memorial house could be set up there.
Key facts
- 1934: born in Glinjeni
- 1957: joined the Vasile Alecsandri Theatre in Bălți
- 1979: role of Budulai in Țiganul
- 1984: People's Artist of the USSR
- 1991: as an MP, votes for the Declaration of Independence
