Alexander Moissi
Born	Moisi, Alessandro April 2, 1879(1879-04-02) Trieste
Died	March 22, 1935 (aged 55) age 55 Lugano, Switzerland

Alexander Moissi (Albanian: Aleksander Moisiu, Italian: Alexander Moissi; April 2, 1879, Trieste – March 22, 1935, Vienna) was a famous Albanian-Austrian stage actor.

[edit] Early years

After an international childhood in Trieste, Durrës and Graz, 20-year-old Alexander finally settled with his mother and two sisters in Vienna. It was there, with the encouragement and support of Austrian actor Josef Kainz (1858–1910), that Moissi's career as one of great European stage actors of the early-20th century began. The following years took him to Prague and then to Berlin, where he became a protégé of the influential director Max Reinhardt (1873-1943).

Moissi followed the Reinhardt Ensemble to Russia in 1911 and was acclaimed in St. Petersburg by critic and dramatist Anatoliy Lunacharsky (1875–1933) for his interpretation of Œdipus. Travelling all over Europe and the Americas, his most famous rôle was Fedya in Tolstoy's Buried Alive (or The Living Corpse) — performed 1400 times by him and seen by more than one-and-a-half-million people.

[edit] Work

His repertoire of leading roles encompassed the whole spectrum of European drama, from Greek tragedy to twentieth century modernism. He was the first in Europe to interpret characters from Strindberg, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Pirandello, and Hofmannsthal.

His interpretations in the leading roles of Hamlet, Œdipus, Faust, Dubedat (in George Bernard Shaw's The Doctor's Dilemma), and many others, were celebrated at the time, as were his voice and emotional range. Though primarily a stage actor, Moisiu also appeared in ten film productions from 1910 to 1935, of which seven were silent.

[edit] Death

Alexander Moissi died on March 22, 1935 and lies buried at the Morcote cemetery overlooking Lake Lugano in Switzerland.

In his honour, the High College of Drama in Tirana, and the Professional Theatre of Durrës, Albania, are named "Aleksander Moisiu." The 60th anniversary of his death was remembered in Albania in 1995 with an "Artistic Year" dedicated to him; it was sponsored by the Aleksander Moisiu Foundation in Durrës.

Grave of Moissi on the cemetery of Morcote

[edit] Quotes

"The voice and gestures of Moissi presented us with something hitherto unseen on the European stage." - Franz Kafka

"Hamlet is written for Moissi, and Moissi was uniquely born to interpret the Prince of Denmark." - Max Brod

"I salute Alexander Moissi to whom I am forever grateful, as one of the most brilliant interpreters of my characters." - Luigi Pirandello

"Man of the South, always Man of the South. In order not to be frozen he takes the sun of his country whenever he goes. Whenever you are with him you'll learn something new about life in this world." - Stefan Zweig

[edit] External links

• Spirit of Albania biography (Archived 2009-10-25)
• Alexander Moissi at the Internet Movie Database
• Photographs of Alexander Moissi