Abashidze, Vasily (Vaso) Alexeyevich

Celebrated Georgian actor and director, National Artist of the Republic (1922) (Narodny artist Respubliki), one of the cofounders of realism in Georgian drama.

Born November 22 (December 4 as of Gregorian calendar), 1854, in a town of Dusheti. Acted in amateur performances since 1874. Joined Tiflis Georgian drama group in 1879. Was a bright character actor and comedian. Famous for his parts in vaudevilles. Parts: Karapet and Sarkis Bogdanych (The Niggard and The Lawsuit by G. Eristavi), Geurk (The Solar Eclipse in Georgia by Antonov), Avetik (The Times Are Different Now by Tsagareli), Zimzimov (Pepo by Sundukyan), Famusov (Grief of Intelligence by Griboedov), Khlestakov and the Mayor (The Auditor by Gogol), Murzavetsky (The Wolves and the Sheep by Ostrovsky), Scapin (Scapin's Schemings by Moliere), etc. Author of several plays; director, founder (1885), and editor-in-chief of Georgia's first theater magazine, Teatri.

Abashidze died in Tiflis on October 9, 1926. Tbilisi Georgian Music Comedy Theater is named after him.