Alexis Granowsky

Alexis Granowsky (1890–1937) was a Russian theatre director who later became a film director. Granowsky was born as Abraham Azarkh to a Jewish family in Moscow. After studying in St. Petersburg, he went to Munich where he gained valuable theatre experience working under Max Reinhardt. He served in the Russian army during the First World War before in 1919 he set up his own Jewish-orientated theatre in St. Petersburg, which under a new director became GOSET. Granowsky's reputation rose quickly over the following years, as he became one of the most celebrated theatre directors in Europe. In 1925 Granowsky directed his first film, a silent, but concentrated his efforts on his stage work.

Alexis Granowsky
Born1890
Moscow
Russian Empire
Died11 March 1937
Paris
France
Other namesAbraham Azarkh
Alexei Michailowitsch Granowski
OccupationTheatre director
Film director
Years active1925-1937 (film)

After the Russian Revolution, and the Communist victory in the Russian Civil War, Granowsky continued to live in the country even though he felt himself culturally Western European. Granowsky was initially feted by the Soviet authorities and was awarded a number of honours but he began to find their cultural policies increasingly restrictive, and emigrated to the Weimar Republic in the late 1920s.[1]

In Germany Granowsky worked on some theatre productions, but increasingly moved into film. He collaborated with a number of other Russian exiles such as Léo Lania who shared his left-wing political views. He directed two German films, before emigrating to Paris where he lived for the rest of his life. He produced and directed expensive prestige films The Adventures of King Pausole (1933) and Taras Bulba (1936). He had married a wealthy German woman, but they separated before his death.[2] Despite his lavish lifestyle, Granowsky died comparatively poor.

Selected filmography

Director
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gollark: Wouldn't that be an AS-level?
gollark: > [be]cause why notWell, because of the... several hours a week of extra work.
gollark: Further Maths + Maths is, apparently, only an A-level and 3 quarters in terms of workload, so that's less bad.
gollark: I'm doing four (Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Computer Science) and that's kind of stretching it as I will be quite lacking in free periods compared to those doing three and some of the complementary studies options.

References
  1. Barton p.22
  2. Barton p.25

Bibliography
  • Barton, Ruth. Hedy Lamarr: The Most Beautiful Woman in Film. University Press of Kentucky, 2010.


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