He was born 28 Dec 1915 in Minsk.
In 1948, Semion Rotnitsky graduated from the Repin Institute of arts in Repin, Boris Ioganson workshop.
Studied with Sergei Priselkov, Leonid Ovsyannikov, Alexander Karev, Efim Cheptsov, Michael Bernstein, Pavel Naumov, Alexander Zaytsev.
Participant of exhibitions since 1939.
Member of the Leningrad Union of artists since 1948.
He painted portraits, genre and thematic compositions, landscapes, still lifes.
Worked as a teacher and Director of the national art school in Kazan (1948-1960), higher school of industrial art named after V. I. Mukhina (1965-1983).
Honored art worker of the Tatar ASSR (1957).
Personal exhibitions in Leningrad (1985), St. Petersburg(1991, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004), Bloomington, Minneapolis, Scottsdale (USA, 1992).
Painter, member of artists Union of the USSR (1950), honored artist of the Tatar ASSR (1957), laureate of the prize of Governor of Saint-Petersburg (2000). In 1934-1937 he was a student of the preparatory courses at the Academy of arts, and in 1937-194 1. — the student of Academy of fine arts, studied in the Studio of Professor E. M. Cheptsov. In 1941-1945 he participated in the great Patriotic war in the Leningrad and Baltic fronts: militia, scout, gunner, artillery scout, senior evaluator resignature regiment. In 1946-1948 he studied at the Academy of arts, studied in the Studio of people's artist of the USSR Professor BV Johansson. In 1948-1960 — Director and senior lecturer at Kazan art school, and in 1960-1981 he was Professor at the Leningrad higher art-industrial school im. V. I. Mukhina. Participant of many regional, Republican, all-Union and international exhibitions. His works are in museums of Russia, USA, France, Germany, Finland, China and other countries. The author of the monumental canvases "Pskov" (1990), a series of portraits of the "Great sons of Russia" (A. S. Pushkin, N. I. Lobachevsky, L. N. Tolstoi, I. E. Repin, F. I. Chaliapin, A. M. Gorky). Awarded orders of the Patriotic war II degree, the red Star.
Thesis in the CVC - "Mayakovsky reading poetry Repin", rating mediocre. The training took place at the picturesque faculty, qualification of the artist painting.
