Varpakhovsky Leonid

Varpakhovsky, Leonid (March 29, 1908, Moscow – November 27, 1976, Moscow) — Russian director and stage designer. Merited Artist of Georgian SSR (1964), People’s Artist of the RSFSR (1966).

In 1918, he studied at the ballet school of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. After graduating from the Faculty of Literature and Arts of Moscow State University (1931), he worked at the Moscow Theatre of Working Youth as an assistant director and set designer, and also worked as a critic.

At V. Meyerhold’s Theatre, he staged Alexandre Dumas’ The Lady of the Camellias in 1934–35. At the same time, he studied at the studio of the Vakhtangov State Theatre.

From 1937 to 1953, he worked as a director in the theatres of Alma-Ata (Modern Almaty) and Magadan.

From 1945 to 1955, Varpakhovsky was a director at the Tbilisi A. Griboedov Drama Theatre, where he produced Chekhov’s The Seagull and M. Bulgakov’s The Days of the Turbins. He also worked at the Georgian Film Studio (Kartuli Filmi), and from 1956 onward continued his career in various Moscow theatres.

Sh. Tsutskiradze