On the 22nd of April 2015 the Russian voice of Eve Online, Gennadi Vengerov, passed away after months of battling lung cancer. The announcement was made on Gennadi Vengerov’s facebook page:
While not very well known outside of the Russian community, he was a prolific actor and voice artist, with 140 films, 18 roles in Theater, and appearances in many TV Series and countless voiceover parts in a career that spanned 36 years. These films included the 2001 World War II epic Enemy At The Gate.
He had also lent his vocal talent to a number of Eve Online Trailers
CCP Droog reflects on his time working with Gennadi in this reddit post saying:
Working directly with Gennadi was part of my job at CCP, and over the course of these years I never had a reason to doubt that he was the best choice we could have possibly made. I don’t think Gennadi ever had a chance to play EVE, but he had a lot of respect for internet spaceships, and we were never “just a video game” to him. You could see it in the way he applied himself to our projects, re-recording and polishing his lines to utmost perfection; there must have been a connection between his stage persona and New Eden’s characteristic doom and gloom that he was able to exploit and enjoy, and this very connection made his magic work on everyone — even those of you who don’t know a word of Russian.
CCP Spitfire follows up on these comments with his own:
I have had the honour of working with Gennadi on some of these trailers, and he was, without a doubt, one of the most passionate and professional people in the industry. His voiceovers were incredible, and I am still amazed at the amount of appreciation they got from non-Russian speakers.
But he was also a great person who got a real kick out of working on this weird and wonderful sci-fi world we all love.
Fly safe Gennadi, you will be missed.
Before Gennadi passed away he was able to leave a message to his family and friends on facebook which roughly translates as:
Dear colleagues and close friends.
Count my life has gone on the past few months or even weeks. The fact of the matter is that from the end of September 2014 years my life was divided into “before” and “after” diagnosis “lung cancer with metastasis to the bone”. The best treatment at the best German Hospitals has nothing for this very aggressive form of cancer I have … One of the cancer has moved me to a wheelchair too …
Yesterday was the first acute attack of breathlessness, thought all …
So, even if I will be able to see the summer-it would be wonder …
Therefore, it is better to write a couple of warm farewell words early, while I’m not a vegetable, steeped in dreams-the world of pain morphines…My friends and lifetime-quit-it is a pity, of course, but for some reason is not particularly insulting-I lived on the gap: 140 paintings, thousands of documentary, corporate and advertising films give the feeling of creatively filled with being … like my friendship, camaraderie, my family and friends-my wonderful family.
Film always breaks at the most interesting place …I embrace,
Your Gennady
The replies and comments on Facebook have reached many thousands, as Russia loses one of its cultural icons. Those who have worked with him at CCP, and those of us he has influenced in the EVE community, I am sure we speak for us all when we say, Fly Safe Gennadi you will be missed. o7
