Sergei Parajanov

Sergei Iosifovich Parajanov was a Soviet film director, screenwriter and artist, and a People’s Artist of the Ukrainian SSR and the Armenian SSR. He was born on 9 January 1924 in Tiflis (Tbilisi) and died on 20 July 1990 in Yerevan. World fame came to him with the films “Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors” and “The Color of Pomegranates”. Having openly criticised Soviet cultural policy and censorship, he was convicted on political grounds and spent 4 years in prison. He was able to return to cinema only in 1983, making “The Legend of Suram Fortress” and “Ashik Kerib”.

Besides films, he created many drawings, collages, dolls and sculptures. On 27 June 1991 the Sergei Parajanov House-Museum opened in Yerevan.

In the photograph Parajanov wears a crocheted cape with round patterns; on the wall behind him are masks, dolls and textile works.