David Iasonovich Andguladze

Born Oct. 3 (15), 1895, in the village of Bakhvi, Kutaisi Province. Soviet Georgian opera singer (dramatic tenor). People’s Artist of the USSR (1950). Member of the CPSU since 1946.

In 1927, Andguladze graduated from the Tbilisi Conservatory, where he had studied under Professor E. A. Vron-skii. He made his first appearance on the opera stage in 1926 in Tbilisi. During the years from 1929 to 1955 (with interruptions) he was a soloist, and from 1945 to 1948 he was the artistic director of the Paliashvili Theater of Opera and Ballet in Tbilisi. Andguladze’s roles included Tariel’ (Mshvelidze’s Legend of Tariel’; State Prize, 1947), Abesalom and Malkhaz (Paliashvili’s Abesalom and Eteri and Daisi), Shota (Arakishvili’s Legend of Shota Rusta-veli), German (Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades), José (Bizet’s Carmen), Canio (Leoncavallo’s l Pagliacci), and Radames (Verdi’s Ada). In 1955 he retired from the stage.

Since 1946, Andguladze has been teaching at the Tbilisi Conservatory (since 1958 with the rank of professor). Among his students is Z. Andzhaparidze. Andguladze has been awarded two Orders of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, and a number of medals.