Hıraçya Nersesyan

Hıraçya Nersesyan — Biography

Hıraçya Nersesyan (Hrachia Nersisyan) was an actor who left the Ottoman Empire for the Soviet Union and played in Armenian films from the silent era into the 1960s. He was named People's Artist of the USSR in 1956 and won the Stalin Prize in 1941 with Zangezur. He kept acting until he died in Yerevan in 1961, and he lies in the Komitas Pantheon.

Born in İzmit, he studied in Constantinople and moved to the Soviet Union in 1923, soon turning to cinema. His first film was the 1925 silent Namus (1925). In the silent years he also appeared in Zare, Khaspush, The House on the Volcano and Kikos. In the sound era his best-known work includes Gikor (1934), Pepo (1935), in which he played the title character, Zangezur (1938), Sevan Fishermen (1939), Anahit (1947) and David Bek, where he played the hero of that name.

Late roles include Ghosts Leave the Peaks (1955), The Song of First Love (1958) and North Rainbow (1960), in which he played Bishop Nerses. His filmography covers more than twenty productions, some of which reached audiences only after his death. Besides the 1956 title he received the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Badge of Honour and the titles People's Artist and Honored Artist of the Armenian SSR.