Former captain of the KVN team from Odessa, Valery Khait, passed away on Saturday, February 1, at the age of 85. This was reported by the World Club of Odessans on their Facebook page, as conveyed by Tengrinews.kz.
The details regarding the time and place of the farewell to the humorist will be announced later. The cause of the artist's death has not been specified.
Valery Khait. Photo: zn.ua
Valery Khait was born on March 19, 1939, in the Vinnytsia region of the Ukrainian SSR. He graduated from the Odessa Engineering and Construction Institute and served as the captain of the KVN team from Odessa ("Odessa Trubochisty") from 1966 to 1970, which became the champion of the All-Union KVN in 1967.
Khait was also the artistic director of the champion KVN teams from Odessa: "Business People" (winners in 1972) and "Odessa Gentlemen" (1987). He was a co-author of the idea and one of the organizers of the Odessa Humorinas from 1973 to 1976 and from 1988 to 1995.
The humorist wrote poetry and prose, and also served as the editor of the Odessa humorous magazine "Fontan." In 2006, he was awarded the "Golden Ostap" prize in the category of "Most Humorous Printed Publication." He also held the position of vice-president of the World Club of Odessans.
Khait is survived by two sons: Rostislav, an actor and one of the creators of "Quartet I," and Yevgeny (who passed away in January 2024), an actor from the "Gentlemen Show" and a screenwriter for the show "Naked and Funny."
