Pamphylia Tanailidi, often spelled as Panfilia Tanailidi (, ; 1891, Bashkand – 15 October 1937,

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 ...

) was an

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

i actress of

Pontic Greek Pontic Greek (, ; or ''Romeika'') is a variety of Modern Greek indigenous to the Pontus region on the southern shores of the Black Sea, northeastern Anatolia, and the Eastern Turkish and Caucasus region. An endangered Greek language variety ...

origin.

Life and career

Tanailidi was born in the village of Bashkand (then

Zangezur Zangezur () is a historical and geographical region in Eastern Armenia on the slopes of the Zangezur Mountains which largely corresponds to the Syunik Province of Armenia. It was ceded to Russia by Qajar Iran according to the Treaty of Gulistan ...

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 s ...

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; nowadays the village of Mutsk, Syunik province,

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

) to a family of émigrés from

Kars Kars ( or ; ; ) is a city in northeast Turkey. It is the seat of Kars Province and Kars District.� ...

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

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

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 natio ...

, 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 (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

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 () 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 theatricality were contained in many kinds of nat ...

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

Death

In 1937, Pamphylia Tanailidi was accused by the

Soviet 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 ...

government of being an

ian

spy Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ''e ...

. Her close friendship with

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

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

upon Azerbaijan's

Sovietization Sovietization ( ) 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 modeled after the Soviet Union. A notable wave of Sovietization (in the second me ...

in 1920) and Ahmed Trinić (an

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

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 Azeri or Azeri Turk may refer to: * Azeri people, an ethnic group also known as Azerbaijanis * Citizens of Azerbaijan * Azeri language, the modern-day Turkic language * Old Azeri, an extinct Iranian language * Azeri Turk (journal), Academic jour ...

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 ...

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

, and Georgian. * She was known as a heavy smoker. According to poet

Suleyman Rustam Suleyman Rustam (; 12 March 1906 – 10 June 1989) was a Soviet and Azerbaijani poet, playwright and translator. Biography Suleyman Rustam was born on in Novxanı village in family of a blacksmith. He studied at Russo-Tatar school until th ...

, 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