Chiaureli, Mikhail Edisherovich

Born Jan. 25 (Feb. 6), 1894, in Tiflis; died Oct. 31, 1974, in Tbilisi. Soviet motion-picture director. People’s Artist of the USSR (1948). Member of the CPSU from 1940.

Chiaureli graduated from the Tbilisi School of Painting and Sculpture. He worked as an actor, designer, and director in the theater. In 1921 he organized the Theater of Revolutionary Satire in Georgia and portrayed the title role in the film Arsen Dzhordzhiashvili. Subsequently he worked mainly as a director. His first films were First Cornet Streshnev (1928, together with E. L. Dzigan), Saba (1929), and Khabarda (1931). His film The Last Masquerade (1934) was the first in a series of historical revolutionary films characteristic of Chiaureli’s work. His films included Arsen (1937), The Great Glow (1938), Georgii Saakadze (1942, 1943), The Vow (1946), The Fall of Berlin (1950), Otar’s Widow (1958), and The General and the Daisies (1964).

Chiaureli was awarded the State Prize of the USSR in 1941, 1943, 1946, 1947, and 1950. He was awarded three orders of Lenin, two other orders, and various medals.