 Pyotr Chardynin was born Pyotr Ivanovich Krasavtsev on 10 February 1873 in Simbirsk, Russian Empire (now Ulyanovsk, Russia).In 1890 he was admitted to the Drama School of Moscow Philharmonic Society, where he studied under Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko from 1891.After graduating he adopted stage name of Chardynin and started both acting and directing career in provincial Russian theatres in Belgorod, Orekhovo-Zuevo, Uralsk, and Vologda.