Akaki Vasadze

Akaki Vasadze
აკაკი ვასაძე
Born(1899-08-06)6 August 1899
Kutaisi, Kutaisi Governorate, Russian Empire
Died23 March 1978(1978-03-23) (aged 78)
Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, Soviet Union
Resting place
Didube Pantheon, Tbilisi
OccupationsActor, theatre director
Years active1916–1978

Akaki Aleksis dze Vasadze (Georgian: აკაკი ალექსის ძე ვასაძე; 6 August 1899 – 23 March 1978) was a Georgian stage actor, theatre director and acting teacher. A leading actor of the Rustaveli Theatre in Tbilisi, where he also served as artistic director, he was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1936 and was a three-time recipient of the Stalin Prize. He also appeared in films from the 1920s onward.[1]

Early life

Vasadze was born on 6 August 1899 in Kutaisi, then part of the Kutaisi Governorate of the Russian Empire.[1] He began working in the theatre in Kutaisi in 1916, and in 1920 graduated from the Tbilisi drama studio of Giorgi Jabadari.[1][2]

Theatre career

From 1920 to 1958 Vasadze was an actor of the Rustaveli Theatre in Tbilisi, and from 1935 to 1955 he was also its artistic director.[1] He subsequently served as artistic director of the Lado Meskhishvili Theatre in Kutaisi from 1958 to 1968, and from 1969 worked as an actor and director at the State Drama Theatre in Rustavi.[1] He worked as a stage director from 1926.[2]

Among his stage roles were Mengo in Lope de Vega's Fuenteovejuna, Franz Moor in Schiller's The Robbers, Iago in Shakespeare's Othello, and the title role in King Lear.[1][2] Several of his performances and productions were honoured with State (Stalin) Prizes, including the title role in Kombrig Kikvidze (1942), Vasily Shuisky in The Great Sovereign (1946), and his staging of Sunken Stones (1951).[1]

Film

Vasadze appeared in films from 1923.[1] His screen roles included Shah Abbas in Mikheil Chiaureli's Giorgi Saakadze (1943), a village elder in Tengiz Abuladze's Magdana's Donkey (1955), and Farsman the Persian in The Right Hand of the Grand Master (1970).[1]

Teaching

Vasadze taught acting from 1926, initially at the drama studio attached to the Rustaveli Theatre and, from 1939, at the Shota Rustaveli State Theatre Institute in Tbilisi, where he became a professor in 1947.[1][2]

Awards and honours

[1][2]

Death and legacy

Vasadze died in Tbilisi on 23 March 1978 and was buried at the Didube Pantheon.[1][13] A house-museum dedicated to him is located in Tbilisi.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Vasadze Akaki". Georgian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 ვასაძე აკაკი [Vasadze Akaki]. Georgian Biographical Dictionary (in Georgian). National Parliamentary Library of Georgia. Retrieved 6 June 2026.
  3. ↑ "О 10-ЛЕТИИ ТЕАТРА ИМ. РУСТАВЕЛИ" (PDF). Zarya Vostoka (in Russian). No. 138. 15 June 1934. p. 1.
  4. ↑ "О ПРИСВОЕНИИ ЗВАНИЯ НАРОДНОГО АРТИСТА СОЮЗА ССР" (PDF). Zarya Vostoka (in Russian). No. 210. 8 September 1936. p. 1.
  5. ↑ "Постановление Совета Народных Комиссаров Союза ССР О присуждении Сталинских премий за выдающиеся работы в области искусства и литературы за 1941 год" (PDF). Izvestiya (in Russian). No. 86. 12 April 1942. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 February 2024.
  6. ↑ "В СОВЕТЕ МИНИСТРОВ СОЮЗА CCP О ПРИСУЖДЕНИИ СТАЛИНСКИХ ПРЕМИЙ ЗА ВЫДАЮЩИЕСЯ РАБОТЫ В ОБЛАСТИ ИСКУССТВА И ЛИТЕРАТУРЫ ЗА 1945 ГОД" (PDF). Sovetskoe iskusstvo (in Russian). No. 27. 28 June 1946. p. 1.
  7. ↑ "В Совете Министров Союза ССР О присуждении Сталинских премий за выдающиеся работы в области науки, изобретательства, литературы и искусства за 1950 год" (PDF). Sovetskoe iskusstvo (in Russian). No. 22. 17 March 1951. p. 2.
  8. ↑ "От Комитета по Государственным премиям Грузинской ССР имени Шота Руставели" (PDF). Zarya Vostoka (in Russian). No. 47. 25 February 1975. p. 3.
  9. ↑ "Указ Президиума Верховного Совета СССР О награждении орденами и медалями колхозников, колхозниц, работников сельского хозяйства, промышленности, науки, культуры и искусства Грузинской ССР" (PDF). Zarya Vostoka (in Russian). No. 44. 26 February 1946. p. 2.
  10. ↑ "Указ Президиума Верховного Совета СССР О награждении орденами и медалями артистов театров Грузинской ССР" (PDF). Zarya Vostoka (in Russian). No. 253. 12 November 1950. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 May 2024.
  11. ↑ "О награждении передовых рабочих и работниц, колхозников и колхозниц, инженеров и агрономов, представителей трудовой интеллигенции, партийно-советских работников, командиров и красноармейцев воинских частей СССР Грузии" (PDF). Zarya Vostoka (in Russian). No. 68. 23 March 1936. p. 1.
  12. ↑ "Указ Президиума Верховного Совета СССР О награждении орденами и медалями СССР работников искусства и литературы Грузинской ССР" (PDF). Zarya Vostoka (in Russian). No. 92. 19 April 1958. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 January 2026.
  13. ↑ "აკაკი ვასაძე" (PDF). Komunisti (in Georgian). 28 March 1978. p. 3.

Further reading

  • Bukhnikashvili, G. (1960). Akaki Vasadze (in Georgian). Tbilisi.
  • Encyclopedia "Georgia". Vol. 3. Tbilisi. 2014. p. 190 (in Georgian).
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