Studii si Cercetari de Istoria Artei : Teatru, Muzică, Cinematografie (Dec 2018)
Destine frânte. Frații Haig, Arșavir și Jeni Acterian
Abstract
For almost half a century, in Romania, the communist censorship wiped out of the collective memory the names of many prominent intellectuals of the interwar period. Among them, the Acterian brothers – Haig, Arșavir and Jeni – outstanding representatives of the Bucharest Armenian cultural elite, tragic victims of the History turmoil which hit Romania between 1940 and 1950. Haig Acterian, brilliant stage director and theater theoretician, close friend of Gordon Craig and author of major essays on theater history and aesthetics, perished in 1943 on the WWII Eastern Front. Arșavir Acterian, well known publisher and lawyer in the Thirties, twice sent to jail by the communist regime installed in 1948, could resume his writing career only after 1990. Jeni Acterian, gifted theatre director and fabulous memoirist, forced to conceal her identity under a false name when the monarchy was replaced by the communist republic, died prematurely, killed by fear and grief. In 1997, Haig Aterian’s letters sent to his wife, actress Marietta Sadova, from Vienne, Berlin and Rome where he had got scholarships, were brought together and published by his brother Arșavir in Dragoste și viață în lumea teatrulu (Love and Life within the Theater World), revealing testimony of generous and bright ideas for reforming the theatrical and cinema esthetics and production.
