One of the most effective ways of understanding the modern world is to study the most significant historical facts and prominent historical figures who left their mark on it. This is done not only by historians and political scientists, but also by artists of the word, since the sphere of fiction is the reflection of the life of society in artistic images.False Dmitry I is one of the most colorful, mysterious and to this day not fully explored figures of this period. The image of this extraordinary personality, in many respects anticipating the reforms of Peter the Great, initially attracted the attention of both European and Russian historians, writers, painters, composers, cinematographers and literary critics. Each of them, depending on the time of addressing him, as well as the political and ideological position of his contemporaries, portrayed him in different ways.