A Life for the Tsar also known as "Ivan Susanin", is a patriotic-heroic tragic opera in four acts with an epilogue by Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (Russian Classical Music Composer). The historical basis of the plot involves Ivan Susanin, a patriotic hero of the early 17th century. Photo Shows: People's Artist of the USSR, M. Mikhailov as Susanin for the Bolshoi Theatre. Supplied By: SCRSS - Society for Co-operation in Russian & Soviet Studies.