Pamphylia Tanailidi, often spelled as Panfilia Tanailidi ( az, Panfiliya Tanailidi, el, Παμφυλία Ταναϊλίδη; 1891, Bashkand – 15 October 1937,

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

) was an

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

i actress of

Pontic Greek Pontic Greek ( pnt, Ποντιακόν λαλίαν, or ; el, Ποντιακή διάλεκτος, ; tr, Rumca) is a variety of Modern Greek indigenous to the Pontus region on the southern shores of the Black Sea, northeastern Anatolia, ...

origin.

Life and career

Tanailidi was born in the village of Bashkand (then

Zangezur Zangezur ( hy, Զանգեզուր) is a historical and geographical region in Eastern Armenia on the slopes of the Zangezur Mountains which largely corresponds to the Syunik Province of the Republic of Armenia. It was ceded to Russia by Qajar Ir ...

uyezd,

Elisabethpol Governorate The Elizavetpol Governorate, also known after 1918 as the Ganja Governorate, was a province ('' guberniya'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Yelisavetpol (present-day Ganja). The area of the governorate st ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

; nowadays the village of Mutsk, Syunik province,

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

) to a family of émigrés from

Kars Kars (; ku, Qers; ) is a city in northeast Turkey and the capital of Kars Province. Its population is 73,836 in 2011. Kars was in the ancient region known as ''Chorzene'', (in Greek Χορζηνή) in classical historiography ( Strabo), part of ...

. She first appeared on stage in 1905 as an Azeri drama trouper in

Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...

(the troupe was reorganized into the Azerbaijani Theatre of Tbilisi in 1922), where she acted in plays by Hajibeyov, Jabbarli,

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

, etc. in both Azeri and Greek languages. At that time, Tanailidi was often credited as Surayya Zangasurskaya (Azeri: ''Sürəyya Zəngəzurskaya''). In 1917, she toured

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

along with prominent Azeri actors of the time. Playing the part of Asya in Hajibeyov's ''Arshin Mal Alan'' musical comedy in 1919 brought her great success. In 1924, she settled in Baku and started working at the

Azerbaijan State Academic National Drama Theatre The Azerbaijan State Academic Drama Theatre ( az, Azərbaycan Akademik Milli Dram Teatrı) is an academic theatre of drama in Baku, Azerbaijan. History of the theatre The theatre has its origins in national holidays and dances. Elements of theat ...

. Later she starred in the movies ''Ismat'' (1934) and ''Almaz'' (1936).

Death

In 1937, Pamphylia Tanailidi was accused by the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

government of being an

ian

spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

. Her close friendship with

Govhar Gaziyeva Govhar Ahmad qizi Gaziyeva ( az, Gövhər Qazıyeva; 1887, Tiflis, Russian Empire – 1960, Azerbaijan Province, Iran) was an Azeri stage actress who performed under the alias Goyarchin (Azeri for "dove"). Having debuted in 1910, she is considered ...

(Azerbaijani actress and Tanailidi's co-trouper, who emigrated to

upon Azerbaijan's

Sovietization Sovietization (russian: Советизация) is the adoption of a political system based on the model of soviets (workers' councils) or the adoption of a way of life, mentality, and culture modelled after the Soviet Union. This often included ...

in 1920) and Ahmed Trinić (an

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

n-born journalist, who was imprisoned in 1936 and committed suicide a year later) was considered enough evidence to condemn her of espionage. Tanailidi refused to plead guilty. After a fifteen-minute trial, she was given the death sentence, and on 15 October 1937 she was executed by firing squad. The location of her burial place remains unknown even today. In 1957, Pamphylia Tanailidi was officially exonerated.

Roles

* Mehriban (''Goveh the Blacksmith'' by S. Sami) * Badi ul-Jamal (''Seyfalmuluk'' by M.J. Amirov) * Azerbai (''Azerbai and Jan'' by I. Ashurbeyli) * Shamsa (''The Tripoli War'' by J. Jabbarli) * Kabla Fatma (''The Dead People'' by J. Mammadguluzadeh) * Emilia (''Othello'' by W. Shakespeare) * Peasant woman (''Timur the Lame'' by H. Javid) * Aouda (''Around the World in Eighty Days'' by J. Verne) * Wise woman (''Ismat'' by M. Mikayilov & G. Braginski) * Fatmanisa (''Almaz'' by J. Jabbarli)

Trivia

* Tanailidi was fluent in five languages:

Azeri Azerbaijanis (; az, Azərbaycanlılar, ), Azeris ( az, Azərilər, ), or Azerbaijani Turks ( az, Azərbaycan Türkləri, ) are a Turkic peoples, Turkic people living mainly in Azerbaijan (Iran), northwestern Iran and the Azerbaijan, Republi ...

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

, Turkish, and

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

. * She was known as a heavy smoker. According to poet Suleyman Rustam, among many reasons that led to her arrest, there was her preference of Iranian tobacco over Soviet tobacco, which she disliked and called "garbage".

External links

The History of Music of Azerbaijan in the 20th Century - The Totalitarian Era
by Farah Aliyeva. An article in the ''Musiqi Dunyasi'' Magazine (in Azeri). {{DEFAULTSORT:Tanailidi, Pamphylia 1891 births 1937 deaths 20th-century Azerbaijani actresses Azerbaijani stage actresses Azerbaijani film actresses Soviet stage actresses Soviet film actresses Soviet rehabilitations Great Purge victims from Azerbaijan Soviet people of Greek descent Azerbaijani people of Greek descent Executed Azerbaijani women People from Syunik Province People from Elizavetpol Governorate