Lado Aleksi-Meskhishvili

Actor and director, the hero of the stage

1857–1920

Lado Aleksi-Meskhishvili (1857-1920) joined the Georgian troupe in Tbilisi in 1881 and led it twice: from 1890 to 1896 and from 1910 to 1914. In between he ran the theatre in Kutaisi, from 1897 to 1906 and again in 1914 and 1915.

On stage he was a heroic actor with a great voice and ear, and he chose roles through which he could speak of freedom. For audiences at the end of the century that sounded plainer than any journalism.

In 1916 to 1918 he also appeared in Russian films. He is buried in the Didube Pantheon, in 1930 he was given the title of People's Artist posthumously, and since 1940 the Kutaisi drama theatre has carried his name.