Nika Kazbegi
November, 2019
Alexander Chavchavadze House – Museum, Tsinandali, Kakheti
On the 26th of December 1908, – Nika Kazbegi was born in Tbilisi into a noble family. His father, Ivane Kazbegi, was Major General for the King and died abroad in emigration. His mother, Ekaterine Chichua, did not accompany her husband and stayed with her son – in their homeland.
In 1926, Nika Kazbegi became a student of the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts, where his professors were well-known painters – Gigo Gabashvili and Evgeni Lansere. He also studied with Sergo Kobuladze, Korneli Sanadze, Revaz Tavadze, and others, with whom he participated at The Student Exhibition of the Academy.
After two years, Nika Kazbegi was forced to leave the institute because he was a son of an emigrant and an ‘Enemy of the People.’ Yet, leaving the Academy of Arts did not interfere with his artistic career. He dedicated himself to the theatre and arts. In 1930, he began working in the theatre industry and did not stop until he died. He worked in almost every leading theatre of the land and collaborated with numerous prominent directors, including – Vasil Yushitashvili, George Jhuruli, Aleqsandre Tayaishvili, and Sergo Tchelidze. In 1933, when Kote Marjanishvili decided to stage William Shakespeare’s – “Romeo and Juliet”-, he chose Nika Kazbegi as the painter without hesitation. Marjanishvili had first draft sketches with him in Moscow, where, apart from Schiller’s – “Don Carlos”- and Johann Strauss’s -“The Bat”-, he was working on Shakespeare.
Mariam Chkhaidze