Vakhtang Levanovich Mchedelov (russian: Вахтанг Леванович Мчеделов, born Mchedlishvili, Мчедлишвили / ka, ვახტანგ მჭედლიშვილი; 6 August 1884 – 19 May 1924) was a

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 ...

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

and pedagogue of Georgian origin.Mchedelov's biography
at Russian Online Krugosvet encyclopedia

Biography

Born in

Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ) is the second largest city of Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast of the Black Sea in Georgia's southwest. It is situated in a subtropical zone at the foot of th ...

, Georgia, Mchedelov joined the

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 ...

in 1904, first as Stanislavsky's assistant, later to co-direct and direct the MAT productions. In 1913 he started to read drama at the private School of Dramatic Art (run by Massalitinov, Alexandrov and Podgorny and known as the Schools of Three Nikolais) and was "by far the most popular tutor... He loved young people and they reciprocated, he gave us more time and effort than other teachers and we admired him for that," the actor Vsevolod Verbitsky wrote in his memoirs.Mchedelov's biography
at the Moscow Art Theatre site As in 1916 the school closed for financial reasons, it was Mchedelov who started to collect the money for the new project which finally materialized as the MAT Second Studio which opened with the premiere of

Zinaida Gippius Zinaida Nikolayevna Gippius (Hippius) (; – 9 September 1945) was a Russian literature, Russian poet, playwright, novelist, editor and religious thinker, one of the major figures in Russian symbolism. The story of her marriage to Dmitry Merezhk ...

's '' The Green Ring'' to a resounding public acclaim. His another big success at the Second Studio was the renewed production of

Maurice Maeterlinck Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck (29 August 1862 – 6 May 1949), also known as Count (or Comte) Maeterlinck from 1932, was a Belgian playwright, poet, and essayist who was Flemish but wrote in French. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in ...

's ''

Blue Bird The bluebirds are a North American group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the order of Passerines in the genus ''Sialia'' of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas. ...

'' in 1921. A zealous follower of Stanislavski's ideas, Mchedelov in the early 1920s was engaged in most of the theatre's experimental work. He also produced and directed plays at the Theatre of Comedy and the then Moscow-based Jewish

Habima Theatre The Habima Theatre ( he, תיאטרון הבימה ''Te'atron HaBima'', lit. "The Stage Theatre") is the List of national theatres, national theatre of Israel and one of the first Hebrew language theatres. It is located in Habima Square in the ce ...

. In 1923 he launched and for a short while was the head of the Georgian Theatre Studio. Vakhtang Mchedelov died on 19 May 1924 in Moscow. His memoirs are kept at the Theatre Museum in

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mchedelov, Vakhtang Russian theatre directors People from Batumi 1884 births 1924 deaths Russian people of Georgian descent Вахтанг Леванович