Ivan Akimovich Sushchenko
Russian 1930 -

Ivan Akimovich Sushchenko was born in 1930 in the Cossack village of Olguinskaya. As a child, he developed a talent for drawing. During World War II, the German army bombed a refugee train on which Sushchenko and his relatives were riding. He was separated from his family and taken in by a Russian military unit. When Sushchenko was eventually reunited with his mother, one of the soldiers -- an artist -- gave the boy a parting gift of a sketch box with oil paints. In 1949, Sushchenko entered art school, and later graduated from the Moscow State Art College. He spent a period of time visiting other countries, where he further developed his talent. His favorite mediums include watercolor, pastel and colored ink. Sushchenko's emphasis on detail and realism allows him to excel in postage stamp design. Some of his most popular designs include a series of stamps depicting the Winter Olympic Games at Lake Placid and the Summer Olympic Games at Moscow. Sushchenko is a member of the Union of Artists and the Union of Journalists of the USSR.