Hasanagha Salayev

Hasanagha Darya oghlu Salayev, who embodied the aesthetic principles of the romantic and realist schools of acting in his work with captivating harmony, was born on 5 December 1921 in Baku into a family of employees. When Hasanagha turned seven, his father Darya kishi enrolled him at the 6th Soviet School in Baku. Hasanagha finished the ninth grade there with high marks in 1937. That same year he entered the Baku Theatre Technical School. While still a student, in 1938 he was admitted to the acting company of the Academic National Drama Theatre. In 1941, just as he was finishing his studies, he went off to war, and returned to his native theatre in 1946. In a short time, Hasanagha Salayev played interesting roles in the theatre's repertoire and in newly staged productions. Over the years he created memorable stage characters in productions of works by Samad Vurgun — "Khanlar" (Mamulya), "Farhad and Shirin" (Farhad), "Vagif" (Eldar, Gajar and Vagif); Zeynal Khalil's "Gatir Mammad" (Aziz); Anvar Mammadkhanli's "Dawn of the East" (Mustafa); William Shakespeare's "Othello" (Montano), "Antony and Cleopatra" (Caesar), "The Winter's Tale" (Florizel and Leontes); Nazim Hikmet's "In Turkey" (Huseyn Halim); Mirza Ibrahimov's "Life" (Abbas); Mehdi Huseyn's "Javanshir" (Gartal and Sohrab), "Flame" (Amin Bakhtiyarov); Lope de Vega's "The Star of Seville" (Tavera); Shikhali Gurbanov's "Without You" (Farhad); Suleyman Rustam's "Gachag Nabi" (Vali); Jafar Jabbarli's "Faded Flowers" (Bahram), "The Bride of Fire" (Gorkhmaz), "Almaz" (Ibad), "Oktay Eloglu" (Oktay); Pavel Malyarevsky's "The Stone Eagle" (Maksim); Yuri Osnos and Vladimir Vinnikov's "The Indian Beauty" (Charudatta); Mirza Fatali Akhundzade's "Haji Gara" (Heydar bey); Bernard Shaw's "The Devil's Disciple" (Richard Dudgeon); Bakhtiyar Vahabzade's "The Second Voice" (Rashad); Nazim Hikmet's "Fame, or a Forgotten Man" (the Doctor); Friedrich Schiller's "The Maid of Orleans" (Dunois); and Huseyn Javid's "Siyavush" (Keykavus). At the same time, the actor appeared in the feature films "Fatali Khan", "The Meeting", "It Could Be Him, It Could Be This One", "Can She Be Forgiven?", "Koroghlu" and "The Investigation Continues", produced by the Azerbaijanfilm studio, and in the television film "Aygun", playing the roles of Suleyman, Musa, Azim Azimzade, Gudrat, Eyvaz, Major Rustamov and Amirkhan. For his achievements in the art of acting, Hasanagha Salayev was awarded the honorary title of Honoured Artist of the Azerbaijan SSR on 10 June 1959, and the title of People's Artist in 1974. At the wisest stage of his creative life, at the age of 54, Hasanagha Salayev was suddenly stricken with paralysis. Never appearing on stage again, the actor passed away on 2 October 1981. Hasanagha Salayev was distinguished by his fiery passion, dignified appearance, free stage manner, majestic bearing, and attentiveness to his fellow actors on stage. Skilfully controlling his resonant, ringing voice, the actor was equally capable of playing romantic roles and realist characters, as well as dramatic images with complex psychological turns. He skilfully connected the characters he portrayed in classical and translated works with the social and moral-ethical problems of his own time. In spirit, emotional intensity, vocal range and fiery passion, Hasanagha Salayev was a romantic actor, yet he also skilfully performed lyrical, dramatic and psychological roles.