Petros Heronimosi Adamian (, ''Bedros Atamian'' in Western Armenian; December 21, 1849 – , 1891) 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 around the ...

actor, poet, writer, artist and public figure who worked in the Ottoman and

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

empires. He was famed for his

Shakespearean William Shakespeare ( 23 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 ...

roles, especially

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

Othello ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'', often shortened to ''Othello'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare around 1603. Set in Venice and Cyprus, the play depicts the Moorish military commander Othello as he is manipulat ...

and

King Lear ''The Tragedy of King Lear'', often shortened to ''King Lear'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his ...

Biography

Petros Adamian was born on December 21, 1849 in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

(Istanbul), the capital of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. Adamian's mother died when he was one and a half years old. He received his primary education at the school of the Holy Savior Armenian Catholic Church in his home neighborhood of

Galata Galata is the former name of the Karaköy neighbourhood in Istanbul, which is located at the northern shore of the Golden Horn. The district is connected to the historic Fatih district by several bridges that cross the Golden Horn, most nota ...

He started his artistic career at the age of seventeen, playing a minor role in the play ''William the Conqueror'' at the Constantinopolitan Armenian Eastern Theater. On March 11, 1867, he played the role of Vardan Mamikonian's son in the play (Vardan Mamikonian, savior of the fatherland) by Romanos Sedefdjian. He was praised by the press for his performance. In 1867–1869, he performed with the Asian Company (), the Voluntary Company () and other Armenian theatrical troupes. In 1870, he went to

Nakhichevan-on-Don __NOTOC__ Nakhichevan-on-Don (, ''Naxičevan’-na-Donu''), also known as New Nakhichevan (, ''Nor Naxiĵevan''; as opposed to the "old" Nakhichevan), was an Armenian-populated town near Rostov-on-Don, in southern Russia founded in 1779 by Armen ...

with T. Fasuladjian's group and returned to Constantinople in early 1871. From 1872 to 1875, he was a member of B. Maghakian's troupe, playing leading roles in tragedies and melodramas. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, he performed a number of poetic recitations, particularly reciting poems by

Mikayel Nalbandian Mikayel Nalbandian (; ) was a Russian-Armenian writer, poet, political theorist and activist. Nalbandian was born in Nakhichevan-on-Don, an Armenian town in southern Russia, and traveled extensively, although he visited Armenia itself only on ...

and

Raphael Patkanian Raphael Patkanian (, – ), also known by the penname Gamar Katipa (), was a nineteenth-century Russian Armenian writer and educator. He was born into a noted family of Armenian intellectuals in Nakhichevan-on-Don and began writing in his stude ...

extolling freedom. In 1879, he was hired by the Armenian Theater Board of

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

(Tbilisi) 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 (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

Shushi Shusha (, ) or Shushi () is a city in Azerbaijan, in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Situated at an altitude of 1,400–1,800 metres (4,600–5,900 ft) in the Karabakh mountains, the city was a mountain resort in the Soviet Union, Soviet ...

Alexandropol Gyumri (, ) is an urban municipal community and the List of cities and towns in Armenia, 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 centur ...

, Tiflis. In the 1880s, when the Ottoman Turkish reaction "held the national minorities in scorn", Adamian had an artistic tour in foreign (

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n and Ukrainian) cities, acting both in

and

French language French ( or ) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-R ...

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 are

, Arbenin ( Lermontov's ''

Masquerade Masquerade or Masquerades may refer to: Books * ''Masquerade'' (book), a 1979 children's book by Kit Williams that sparked a worldwide treasure hunt * ''Masquerades'' (novel), a 1995 Forgotten Realms novel by Kate Novak and Jeff Grubb * ''Masq ...

''), Khlestakov ( Gogol's ''Revisor''), Mikael ( Sundukian's ''One More Victim''), and others. Nishan Parlakian credits Adamian with popularizing Shakespeare among Armenians. Being a "great Shakespearean actor" and the first Armenian scientific researcher of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 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, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

Semyon Nadson Semyon Yakovlevich Nadson (; 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 the Russian Empire. Biography Nadson's father was a Jew who converted to ...

, 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 publ ...

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 (, 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). Biography From 1882, he worked in Armen ...

Vahram Papazian Vahram Papazian or Papazyan (; 6 January 1888 in Constantinople, Ottoman Empire – 5 June 1968 in Yerevan, Armenia), was a Soviet actor who was an ethnic Armenian, mostly known for his Shakespearean roles. Vahram did plays in Constantinople, ...

, 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 ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

is named after Adamian.

Selected works

* * * * *

References

External links

*
Famous People of Armenia: Petros Adamian
(in Russian)
Mary Cholakian (February 21, 2000). "The Artist"
''Planeta Diaspor'' (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 Poets from the Ottoman Empire 19th-century artists from the Ottoman Empire Armenians from the Ottoman Empire Male stage actors from the Ottoman Empire Deaths from esophageal cancer 19th-century Armenian male actors

Biography

Selected works

References

Further reading

External links