Babken Nersisyan
Babken Nersisyan | |
|---|---|
Բաբկեն Ներսիսյան | |
 Nersisyan on a 2018 Armenian stamp | |
| Born | 18 July 1917 Tiflis, Tiflis Governorate, Russian Empire |
| Died | 14 February 1986 (aged 68) Yerevan, Armenian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1933–1986 |
Babken Poghosi Nersisyan (Armenian: Բաբկեն Ներսիսյան; Georgian: ბაბკენ ნერსესიანი; 18 July [O.S. 5 July] 1917 – 14 February 1986) was an Armenian stage and film actor. After beginning his career in the Armenian theatre in Tbilisi, he became a leading actor of the Sundukyan State Academic Theatre in Yerevan and was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1972.[1]
Early life
Nersisyan was born on 18 July 1917 in Tiflis to an Armenian family whose parents had moved there from Mush.[1] He began acting in 1933 in Tbilisi.[1]
Career
From 1934 Nersisyan worked at the Armenian theatre for young spectators in Tbilisi, and from 1944 to 1955 he was an actor of the Tbilisi Armenian Drama Theatre (now the Petros Adamian Tbilisi State Armenian Drama Theatre).[1] In 1956, on the invitation of the director Vardan Ajemyan, he moved to Armenia and joined the Sundukyan State Academic Theatre in Yerevan, where he remained until his death.[1]
He played character, comic and tragic roles, among them Pepo in Sundukyan's Pepo (which he also performed in Georgian at the Rustaveli Theatre) and Arbenin in Lermontov's Masquerade.[1] He was also a noted master of artistic recitation.[1] From 1957 he appeared in films, including the title role in Sayat-Nova (1960).[1]
Awards and honours
- Honoured Artist of the Georgian SSR (1955)[2]
- People's Artist of the Armenian SSR (1961)[3]
- People's Artist of the USSR (1972)[4]
- Order of the Red Banner of Labour[5]
Personal life and legacy
Nersisyan's son, Tigran Nersisyan, also became an actor.[1] He died in Yerevan on 14 February 1986 and was buried at the Tokhmakh Cemetery. For the centenary of his birth, a monument to him was unveiled in Yerevan in 2018, and Armenia issued a commemorative postage stamp in his honour.[6]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ბაბკენ ნერსესიანი [Babken Nersisyan]. Georgian Biographical Dictionary (in Georgian). National Parliamentary Library of Georgia. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
- ↑ "Указ о присвоении почетных званий работникам искусства Грузинской ССР" (PDF). Vedomosti Verkhovnogo Soveta Gruzinskoy Sovetskoy Sotsialisticheskoy Respubliki (in Russian). No. 1. April 1955.
- ↑ "НЕРСЕСЯН, Бабкен Погосович". Teatralnaya entsiklopediya (in Russian). Vol. 4. 1965. p. 47.
- ↑ "Указ Президиума Верховного Совета СССР О присвоении почетного звания народного артиста СССР Асрян A. A. и Нерсесяну Б. п." (PDF). Vedomosti Verkhovnogo Soveta SSSR (in Russian). 6 December 1972.
- ↑ "НЕРСЕСЯН Бабкен Погосович". Great Soviet Encyclopedia. Vol. 17 (3rd ed.). 1974.
- ↑ "Babken Nersisyan". Visit Yerevan. Yerevan Municipality. Retrieved 7 June 2026.
Further reading
- "ნერსესიანი ბაბკენ პოღოსის ძე" (PDF). Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia (in Georgian). Vol. 7. 1984. p. 394.