Petros Heronimosi Adamian ( hy, Պետրոս Հերոնիմոսի Ադամեան, December 21, 1849,

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

– , 1891,

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

) was an

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

actor, poet, writer, artist and public figure.

Biography

Adamian's mother died when he was one and a half years old. He started his artistic career at the age of seventeen, in the play "William the Conqueror." After a first period in his career where he gradually won recognition in the theater groups of Constantinople, in 1879 he was hired by the Armenian Theater Board of Tiflis and the golden period of his career started afterwards in the Caucasus. He would abandon the historical plays and the French melodramas to enter the world of Shakespeare. Since 1879 he performed in

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 ...

Shushi / hy, Շուշի , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = ShushaCollection2021.jpg , image_caption = Landmarks of Shusha, from top left:Ghazanchetsots Cathedral • Yukhari Govhar ...

Alexandropol Gyumri ( hy, Գյումրի, ) is an urban municipal community and the second-largest city in Armenia, serving as the administrative center of Shirak Province in the northwestern part of the country. By the end of the 19th century, when the city w ...

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 ...

. In the 1880s, when the Ottoman Turkish reaction "held the national minorities in scorn",Shakespeare in Armenian, by Sona Seferian
Adamian had an artistic tour in foreign (

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 ...

n and

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

) cities, acting both in

and

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

s. In 1887 a Russian theatrical critic wrote about Adamian in "Odessky Vestnik": "Not Salvini, not Rossi, not Possart, not Barna, and finally, no world-famous actor has given us such a pure and perfect ''Hamlet'' as P. Adamian did." In 1888 he returned to Constantinople. Among his best roles of that period:

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane an ...

, Arbenin (Lermontov's "Masquerade"), Khlestakov (Gogol's "Revisor"), Mikael (Sundukian's "One more victim"), etc. Being a "great Shakespearean actor" and the first Armenian scientific researcher of

William 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 ...

plays, in 1887 he published the study "Shakespeare and the Sources and Criticism of His Tragedy Hamlet." He also made translations from Shakespeare,

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

Semyon Nadson Semyon Yakovlevich Nadson (russian: Семён Яковлевич Надсон; 14 December 1862 – 19 January 1887) was a Russian poet and essayist. He is noted for being the first Jewish poet to achieve national fame in Russia. Biography Nad ...

, and

Nikolai Nekrasov Nikolay Alexeyevich Nekrasov ( rus, Никола́й Алексе́евич Некра́сов, p=nʲɪkɐˈlaj ɐlʲɪkˈsʲejɪvʲɪtɕ nʲɪˈkrasəf, a=Ru-Nikolay_Alexeyevich_Nekrasov.ogg, – ) was a Russian poet, writer, critic and publi ...

Adamian suffered from a throat cancer for the last two years of his life. He died in the St. Nicholas Russian hospital of Constantinople. Siranush,

Hovhannes Abelian Hovhannes Harutyuni Abelian ( hy, Հովհաննես Աբելյան, October 23, 1865, Shamakhi, Baku Governorate, Russian Empire - July 1, 1936, Yerevan, Soviet Armenia) was an Armenian actor, People's Artist of the Armenian SSR (1925). Bio ...

Vahram Papazian Vahram Papazian or Papazyan ( hy, Վահրամ Քամերի Փափազյան, January 6, 1888 in Constantinople, Ottoman Empire – June 5, 1968 in Yerevan, Armenia), was a Soviet actor who was an ethnic Armenian, mostly known for his Shakespea ...

, and other Armenian actors continued Adamian's theatrical tradition. The Armenian Drama Theatre of

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

is named after Adamian.

Books

*"Petros Adamian", by G. Stepanian, Yerevan, 1956

References

External links

Shakespeare in Armenian, by Sona SeferianShakespeare and the Armenian theatre, by Nishan Parlakian, Armenian Dramatic Arts Alliance, 2008

— Mary Cholakian, "The Artist"
// "Planeta Diaspor" journal, 21.02.2000 (in Russian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Adamian, Petros 1849 births 1891 deaths Male actors from Istanbul Ethnic Armenian male actors 19th-century male actors from the Ottoman Empire Armenians from the Ottoman Empire Male stage actors from the Ottoman Empire Deaths from cancer in Turkey Deaths from esophageal cancer

Biography

Books

See also

References

External links