SHORT BIOGRAPHY
 
August 8, 1898 
Born in the city of Nikolaev to a petty bourgeois family from Kherson;
Birth name was Abraham; father was Shmuel Elev Shaikhet, mother was Rachel
1912
Completed an elementary school of four years in Nikolaev
1916-1918
Worked as an apprentice to a mechanic at the Nikolaev ship-building factory named “Naval”
1918-1922
Served in the Red Army as a soldier, fought during the Civil War in Ukraine
1922
Demobilized from the Red Army, returned to Nikolaev, but found neither his family nor work; in the summer came to Moscow, found a job as a retoucher at a private photo shop called “Rembrandt” on Sretenka Street.
1923
Published his first photographs in magazines Ekran Rabochei Gazeti (Screen of Working-Class Paper) and Krasnaya Niva (Red Field); married Grachii Kacharan
1924
Received permanent work as a photo-correspondent in the magazine Moscow Proletariat; in the fall published first photographs in the magazine Ogonyok
1925
Accepted for a permanent position in Ogonyok
1926
Participated in the organization of Association of Photographers at the Moscow Press Center and was one of the founders of the magazine Soviet Photo; during the first exhibition of photo reportage, one of his photographs was awarded the First Place.
June 24, 1927
Arrested on false allegation by the secret police OGPU (The State Political Directorate, forerunner of KGB) and was taken to Butyrskaya Prison; valuable photographs were confiscated from his private archive
December 12, 1927
Released from prison under pledge to report to investigation; rehabilitated only on July 12, 2006 posthumous
1928
Participated in the famous exhibition “10 Years of Soviet Photography,” Moscow; received a Diploma of the 1st degree for his achievement in photography
1930
Started actively working for magazine USSR in Construction; participated in the Ogonyok magazine exhibition.
Summer 1931
One of the founders of the Union of Russian Proletariat Photographers (ROPF)
1931
Created a famous photo-reportage “24 Hours in the Life of the Fillippov Family” for the German journal AIZ (together with two other photographers Max Alpert and S. Tules under supervision of L. Mezhericher); participated in the exhibition of Ogonyok photo reporters, received an honorable certificate
1935
Participated in the “Exhibition of Masters of Soviet Photography” receiving a Diploma of 1st Degree
1936
Participated in the first All-Ukrainian exhibition of photo art in Kiev receiving a Diploma of 1st Degree.
1937-1938
Took part at the First Major All-Union Exhibition of Soviet photography, Moscow- Leningrad- Kiev, received a Diploma of 1st Degree
1938
After the arrest of Ogonyok’s editor-in-chief M. Koltsov, Shaikhet got fired from the magazine; both USSR in Construction and Soviet Photo magazines rejected his photographs; went to work for Illustrated Newspaper
1941-1945
Photo-correspondent for Front Illustrierte (new name of Illustrated Newspaper) and Pravda among other periodicals
1946
Demobilized from the army, continued to work for the Red Army newspaper (former Front Illustrierte)
1946-1959
Cooperated with various periodicals, publishing house Muzgiz, and later became a staff member of the magazine Family and School; illustrated books and participated in various exhibitions
March 1959 – Wife’s death
November 18, 1959
Shaikhet passed away from the fourth heart attack during a shoot for the magazine Young Technician on Gorky Street; buried at the Armenian Cemetary in Moscow