Vsevolod Meyerkhold
| Vsevolod Meyerhold | |
|---|---|
Meyerhold preparing for the role of Treplev for the Moscow Art Theater 1898 production of The Seagull by Anton Chekhov
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| Born | 9 February [O.S. 28 January] 1874 Penza Oblast, Russian Empire |
| Died | 2 February 1940 (aged 65) Moscow, Soviet Union |
| Nationality | Russian |
| Education | Moscow Art Theatre |
| Known for | Theatre Director |
| Movement | Symbolism, Futurism |
| Spouse(s) | Olga Munt Zinaida Reich |
| Patron(s) | Vera Komissarzhevskaya |
Vsevolod Emilevich Meyerhold (Russian: Все́волод Эми́льевич Мейерхо́льд; born German: Karl Kasimir Theodor Meierhold; 9 February [O.S. 28 January] 1874 – 2 February 1940) was a Russian and Soviet theatre director, actor and theatrical producer. His provocative experiments dealing with physical being and symbolism in an unconventional theatre setting made him one of the seminal forces in modern international theatre. During the Great Purge, Meyerhold was arrested, tortured and executed in February 1940.
Vsevolod Meyerhold was born Karl Kasimir Theodor Meierhold in Penza on 28 January o.s. (9 February n.s.) 1874 to Russian-German wine manufacturer Emil Fyodorovich Meierhold, and his Russian-Dutch wife, Alvina Danilovna (née van der Neese). He was the youngest of eight children.
After completing school in 1895, Meiergold studied law at Moscow University but never completed his degree. He was torn between studying theatre or a career as a violinist. However, he failed his audition to become the second violinist in the University orchestra and in 1896 joined the Moscow Philharmonic Dramatic School.
On his 21st birthday, he converted from Lutheranism to Orthodox Christianity and accepted "Vsevolod" as an Orthodox Christian name (after the Russian writer Vsevolod Garshin, whose prose Meyerhold loved).
Meyerhold began acting in 1896 as a student of the Moscow Philharmonic Dramatic School under the guidance of Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, co-founder of the Moscow Art Theatre. At the MAT, Meyerhold played 18 roles, such as Vasiliy Shuiskiy in Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich and Ivan the Terrible in The Death of Ivan the Terrible (both by Aleksey Tolstoy), and Treplev in Chekhov's The Seagull.
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