Maria I. Perini (March 10, 1873 - 1939) was an Italian

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

teacher. In 1916, she opened the first private ballet studio in the

Tbilisi State Academy of Arts The Tbilisi State Academy of Arts ( ka, თბილისის სახელმწიფო სამხატვრო აკადემია) is one of the oldest universities in Georgia and the Caucasus. It is located in central Tbilisi ...

and went on to teach many of the famous

Georgian dance Georgian dance ( ka, ქართული ცეკვა) is the traditional dance of Georgia. It stems from military moves, sports games, and dances celebrated during holidays in the Middle Ages. The dance was popularized by the founders of th ...

rs including Dimitri and Irina Aleksidze, Maria Bauer, Soliko Virsaladze, Nino Ramishvili, Iliko Sukhishvili, Vakhtang Chabukiani, Elene Chikvaidze, Maria Kazinets, and Elene Gvaramadze. Her methods of teaching classical dance laid solid foundations for developing Georgian ballet. She was married to the Polish-Georgian artist Henryk Hryniewski. Perini's students remembered their teacher as a sincere, impartial, exciting person who dedicated all her life to establishing and developing classical ballet in Tbilisi, and recall their childhood as bright and beautiful thanks to her.

Biography

Early life and education

Perini was born in Northern

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and graduated from Turin Royal Opera ballet school. She performed alongside such well-known dancers as Virginia Zucchi, P. Lenian, and

Enrico Cecchetti Enrico Cecchetti (; 21 June 1850 – 13 November 1928) was an Italian ballet dancer, mime, and founder of the Cecchetti method. The son of two dancers from Civitanova Marche, he was born in the costuming room of the ''Teatro Tordinona'' in ...

Career

In 1891, Perini was invited to perform at the Tbilisi Opera Theatre as soloist. She was the first to perform 32 fouetté turns for the Georgian audience and demonstrated

virtuoso A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'', or ; Late Latin ''virtuosus''; Latin ''virtus''; 'virtue', 'excellence' or 'skill') is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as fine arts, ...

performance of ballet moves. From 1897 to 1907, she was

prima ballerina A ballet dancer is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. Ballet dancers ...

at the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theatre, followed by

pedagogical Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

and concert activities. In 1916, she opened the first private ballet and classical dance studio in the

building (the former House of Arshakuni) at Griboedovi street in

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 ( ...

. An impressive ballet production of Coppeliaby Delibes and a dance act from The Blue Birdby Maeterlinck were staged. The studio raised many masters of Georgian ballet, including Vakhtang Chabukiani, founders of the

Georgian National Ballet The Georgian National Ballet ( ka, ქართული ეროვნული ბალეტი, tr) is the first professional state dance company in Georgia (country), Georgia. Founded by husband and wife Iliko Sukhishvili and Nino Ramishvil ...

theater Iliko Sukhishvili and Nino Ramishvili, Tamar Chabukiani, and Simon Virsaladze. In 1922, the Academy of Arts of Georgia was founded in a house of merchant Arshakun, on the Commandant Street. Until 1937, the wing of this building served as workshop of Henryk Hryniewski, an artist, professor of the academy, and as Maria's ballet studio. Hryniewski, a native of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, got art education in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, and upon returning to

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

became founder of the Tbilisi Academy of Arts, together with D. Chubinashvili, Iakob Nikoladze,

Eugene Lanceray Yevgeny Yevgenyevich Lanceray (; – 13 September 1946), also often spelled Eugene Lansere, was a Russian graphic artist, painter, sculptor, mosaicist, and illustrator, associated stylistically with ''Mir iskusstva'' ("World of Art").Scholl, T ...

, A. Kalgin and others. In 1920, the studio was renamed “Ballet School of the State Theatre”. Perini was appointed as director, while Nicholas Sergeyev, ballet master at the

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

Opera Theatre, was invited as pedagogue. The tuition fee was not high, although kids from needy families were taught for free. In 1925, the studio presented a performance by students; poet

Ioseb Grishashvili Ioseb Grishashvili ( ka, იოსებ გრიშაშვილი) was a pen name of Ioseb Mamulishvili (Georgian: ; born 12 April/24 April 1889 – died 3 August 1965) was a noted poet and historian from Georgia. A history museum in Tbilisi ...

wrote:

“Student girls rushed around. You could see Perini’s caring hand in their dancing, as well as Sergeev’s and Arbatov’s artistic taste. Four proficient ballet artists girls were outstanding: L. Chikvaidze, L. Begtabegishvili, M. Bauer, L. Gvaramadze. Exceptional was Vakhtang Chabukiani with his passion, technique and temperament, who definitely has bright future ahead.”

In 1927, the arts department of the National Committee for Education initiated an evening dedicated to 30 years anniversary of Maria Perini's artistic and pedagogical work. The Opera Theatre hosted the performances of The Magic Lake and other choreographic etudes. In 1936, Perini attended and was impressed by the premiere of the first Georgian ballet, staged by her student, Vakhtang Chabukiani. The same year she was nominated as the Honored People's Artist of Georgian Soviet Republic, and was preparing for the occasion, but the Soviet authorities opted not to award Perini, a foreign citizen, with this prestigious status.

Great Purge

In 1937, Perini's son, Ferdinand Inochenz, who lived in

Bryansk Bryansk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, situated on the Desna (river), Desna River, southwest of Moscow. It has a population of 379,152 at the 2021 census. Bryans ...

with his spouse and two kids, was exiled as part of the

Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...

. Also exiled was the spouse of Perini's daughter, an engineer at the metallurgy factory in

Taganrog Taganrog (, ) is a port city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, on the north shore of Taganrog Bay in the Sea of Azov, several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don (river), Don River. It is in the Black Sea region. Population: Located at the site of a ...

. The fate of Perini's daughter is unknown. Also in 1937, Hrynewski was exiled to

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

at the age of 68. He did not return. Hrynewski did not have children or relatives succeeding him, and his rich archives and art legacy was almost entirely lost. Perini was also forced to leave the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and sold everything she had to move first to

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

and then to

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million1873 births 1939 deaths Entertainers from Turin Ballet teachers Italian ballerinas 19th-century Italian ballet dancers