Ruben Agamirzyan Director, teacher, People's Artist of the USSR Date of Birth: 20.12.1922

1. Early Life and Education
2. World War II and Theater Career
3. Collaborations and Artistic Success
4. Chief Director at the Komissarzhevskaya Theater
5. International Recognition and Legacy

Early Life and Education

Ruben Agamirzian was born in Tiflis (present-day Tbilisi, Georgia) in 1922. In 1940, he enrolled in the studio of the Tbilisi Russian Drama Theater named after A. S. Griboyedov. The following year, he transferred to the film studio school in Tbilisi.

World War II and Theater Career

Agamirzian served in the Great Patriotic War. After the war, from 1946 to 1948, he worked as an actor and director at the Russian Drama Theater of the Moldavian SSR in Chisinau. From 1948 to 1952, he studied directing at the Leningrad Theater Institute named after A. N. Ostrovsky under the guidance of L. S. Vivien.

Collaborations and Artistic Success

From 1953 to 1961, Agamirzian directed at the Leningrad Drama Theater named after A. S. Pushkin, where he collaborated with renowned directors Georgy Kozintsev and Georgy Tovstonogov on productions of "Hamlet" and "Optimistic Tragedy," respectively. In 1961, he joined the BDT Theater named after M. Gorky, where he became known for his production of Nodar Dumbadze's "I, Grandmother, Iliko, and Illarion."

Chief Director at the Komissarzhevskaya Theater

In 1966, Agamirzian was appointed chief director of the Leningrad Theater named after V. F. Komissarzhevskaya, where he directed 51 productions over the next 25 years. Notable works included "Mocking My Happiness" by L. A. Malyugin, "Forget Herostratus!" by G. Gorin, Alexey Tolstoy's trilogy "Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich," "Death of Ivan the Terrible," and "Tsar Boris," as well as "Holy of Holies" by I. P. Drutse and M. A. Bulgakov's "Days of the Turbins." He received the USSR State Prize in 1984 for his staging of Tolstoy's trilogy.

International Recognition and Legacy

In addition to his work in Leningrad, Agamirzian directed productions in Moscow, Minsk, Prague, Budapest, Helsinki, and other cities, totaling over 100 productions. He also taught at the Leningrad Institute of Theatre, Music, and Cinematography (now the Academy of Theatre Arts) from 1953 to 1985, becoming a professor in 1975. Among his notable students were actress Alisa Freundlich and director Yuri Rodionov. Agamirzian passed away in Saint Petersburg in 1991 and is buried in the Literatorskie Mostki cemetery.