Alexey Alexandrovich Stakhovich (russian: Алексей Александрович Стахович; 2 February 1856 – 10 March 1919) was a high-ranking Imperial Russian

Chevalier Guard Regiment The Chevalier Guard Regiment (russian: Кавалергардский полк, Kavalergardskiy polk) was a Russian heavy cavalry guard regiment, created in 1800 by the reformation of the Chevalier Guard corps, itself created in 1764 by Catherin ...

officer who in the early 1900s became a popular

stage actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lite ...

, associated with

Moscow Art Theatre The Moscow Art Theatre (or MAT; russian: Московский Художественный академический театр (МХАТ), ''Moskovskiy Hudojestvenny Akademicheskiy Teatr'' (МHАТ)) was a theatre company in Moscow. It was f ...

Biography

Born in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

to a well-off noble

Oryol Oryol ( rus, Орёл, p=ɐˈrʲɵl, lit. ''eagle''), also transliterated as Orel or Oriol, is a city and the administrative center of Oryol Oblast situated on the Oka River, approximately south-southwest of Moscow. It is part of the Central Fed ...

-based family with strong artistic traditions (his grandfather was a published playwright, father admired

Italian opera Italian opera is both the art of opera in Italy and opera in the Italian language. Opera was born in Italy around the year 1600 and Italian opera has continued to play a dominant role in the history of the form until the present day. Many famous ...

and French comedy), Stakhovich made a successful career in the military and was a one-time

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...

for

Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia (''Сергей Александрович''; 11 May 1857 – 17 February 1905) was the fifth son and seventh child of Emperor Alexander II of Russia. He was an influential figure during the reigns of h ...

. Retired from the service in 1907 as a

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

, he became a co-manager of the

which he had been a co-owner of, since 1902. His 1911 stage debut as Prince Abrezkov in ''

The Living Corpse ''The Living Corpse'' (russian: Живой труп, italic=yes, link=no) is a Russian play by Leo Tolstoy. Although written around 1900, it was only published shortly after his death—Tolstoy had never considered the work finished. An immediate ...

'' caused sensation and since then his stage appearances never failed to agitate the public, even if the critics were ambivalent about his artistic range. He started to appear in films in 1915 and two years later joined the

Russian Provisional Government The Russian Provisional Government ( rus, Временное правительство России, Vremennoye pravitel'stvo Rossii) was a provisional government of the Russian Republic, announced two days before and established immediately ...

as the head of its Theatre Commission. Stakhovich, who taught 'high class manners' in the MAT school, "...was a gifted man who deeply understood art, but hardly a strong actor... a mere raw material, for he started too late, grasping instantly those technical methods he understood best," argued Prince

Sergey Volkonsky Prince Sergei Grigorievich Volkonsky (Серге́й Григорьевич Волко́нский; 19 December 1788 – 10 December 1865)Gregorian calendar. His birth and death dates in the Julian calendar were 8 December 1788 and 28 November 186 ...

. "Stakhovich was not an actor, rather a mannikin of aristocrat. His best part was that of Stepan Verkhovensky in ''Nikolai Stavrogin'' ased on ''Besy'' by Dostoyevsky">Besy.html" ;"title="ased on ''Besy">ased on ''Besy'' by Dostoyevsky], where he was just himself," theatre historian Vadim Shverubovich opined. On 10 March 1919, outraged by the atrocities committed by the Bolsheviks, Bolshevist regime and suffering from severe depression,Biography of Stakhovich
at the Moscow Art Theatre site Stakhovich committed suicide by hanging.

Marina Tsvetayeva Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva (russian: Марина Ивановна Цветаева, p=mɐˈrʲinə ɪˈvanəvnə tsvʲɪˈtaɪvə; 31 August 1941) was a Russian poet. Her work is considered among some of the greatest in twentieth century Russia ...

described the effect this had upon the artistic circles of Moscow (and left an expressive portrait of the man) in her essay "The Death of Stakhovich".Смерть Стаховича
by Marina Tsvetayeva He is interred in Novodevichye Cemetery in Moscow.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stakhovich, Alexey Male actors from the Russian Empire Military personnel from Saint Petersburg 1856 births 1919 suicides Suicides by hanging in Russia Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery Male actors from Saint Petersburg