Mustafa Mardanov

(1894 - 1968)

People’s Artist of the Azerbaijan Republic.

In 1962-1969 he was chairman of the Azerbaijan Theatre Society.

Mustafa Hashim oglu Mardanov was born in 1894 in South Azerbaijan - in Marand. But when he was a child, his family moved to Tiflis, and lived here until 1924. The cultural environment of Tiflis has shaped his worldview since childhood. The acting school of Azerbaijan has also become a special experience for Mustafa Mardanov. What he learned from Abbas Mirza Sharifzade, Sidgi Ruhulla, Agasadyg Geraybeyli and dozens of leading figures determined the path of development of the actor, inspired him to new creative searches. 

Having created in the Tbilisi Theatre the characters, such as Keremali in “Haji Gara”, Haji Gambar in “Out of the frying pan into the fire”, Adham in “Nadir Shah”, the actor played more serious roles in the Baku theatre.

At that time, the newspapers especially praised Mustafa Mardanov’s Khlestakov (“The Inspector”), Imamverdi (“Sevil”), Luka (“At the bottom”), Shmaga (“Guilty without fault”), Poloni (“Hamlet”) and dozens of other characters in his performance were repeatedly met with applause from the audience. Mustafa Mardanov’s theatrical activity covers a big period of time. With the arrival in the theatre, he enriched the national acting school, introduced new colors and shades for this art.

He was an Azerbaijani with all his heart. In each of the character created by him, the national spirit prevailed.

At the time when Mustafa Mardanov worked in the theatre, he was often invited to take part in films, because the plasticity, his facial features and the ability to assimilate the character were essential for the actor in the cinema.

The character of Muzdur Gulu (the film “Bismillah”, 1925) was his first role in cinema. This sample of our silent cinema is also valuable as the first director work of Abbas Mirza Sharifzade. After that, Mustafa Mardanov was often invited to the movies. In 1929, he played the role of Atakishi in the film “Sevil”.

One of the most successful roles of this great artist in our cinema was the character of Hasan bey in the film “If not that, then this”. The role of Mohammed in the film “Where is Ahmed?” also has a special meaning in the creative work of Mustafa Mardanov.

It was one of the last roles that the actor created. The character of Murtuzov, created in the film “In the name of the law” of 1968, was the last role of the actor.