STAR

Vera Karlovna Sirye [Shirye], People's Artiste of Azerbaijan, was extremely popular nation-wide and an idol for many generations. What is interesting is that when you mention that name to people from the middle-aged and older generations in Baku, their faces light up and their thoughts are transported far away to a much desired past and the smile does not leave their lips… This year we are marking her birth centenary.

Vera Sirye was born on 31 January 1915. Her father, Karl Petrovich Sirye, a Latvian by origin, had perished in the First World War without ever seeing his daughter. The little girl was brought up by her step-father Sattarov Mirza Sattar oglu, who inculcated in Vera not only a love of the theatre, but also of the Azeri language. Mirza Sattarov loved Vera as if she were his own daughter. Then a sister Leyla appeared. The little girls were inseparable and had an enormous love for one another throughout their lives.

Leyla xanim [mark of respect for a woman in Azerbaijan] Tagizada was the first woman in the country to be a deputy of the Supreme Soviet and was a Merited doctor. Vera's sister was always the primary advisor, friend, critic and support in her life. Vera Karlovna frequently admitted that her career in the theatre was promoted by her step-father, since he acted in amateur theatrical performances and always took her with him to the rehearsals. He had a good voice, even [the famous Azerbaijani singer] Bulbul himself knew him. The family often went to see operas. Vera Karlovna began to work at the Baku Workers' Theatre as the S. Vurgun Russian Drama Theatre was previously called, while she was still very young. 

She often performed at enterprises and before military units and that helped her in her career. Her indefatigable soul longed to be in the thick of life, among people. and her natural kindness and the extremely rare beauty of the timbre of her voice immediately won all kinds of people over to her.

She had mastered Azeri literary and colloquial language so well that she could probably have competed with any linguist. Her pronunciation was so irreproachably correct that even now experts cannot hide their admiration when they hear recordings of her poetry readings.

A real embodiment

Vera Sirye was a remarkable stage actress. She was particularly good at playing mothers, although she herself never married and did not know the happiness that motherhood brings. She remained loyal to her first and only love, Petenka, who perished in the early years of the Second World War. Then she rejected any kind of advances and proposals that would be made to the attractive woman that she was. She was no less successful in productions where she played the part of female patriots, managers, and heroines captivated by the idea of a common cause. But no matter which part she played, she stood out for her profound psychological interpretation of the characters.

Among the characters she created there is Nadezhda Durova (the play "Nadezhda Durova"), Laurencia ("Fuenteovejuna" by Lope de Vega), Melanya ("Children of the Sun"by Maxim Gorky), Mother [Kate Keller] ("All My Sons" by Arthur Miller), Sahrabanu xanim ("Monsieur Jordan, Botanist and Dervish Mastalishakh, the famous wizard" by Mirza. Fatali, Akhundov), Queen Elizabeth ("Maria Stuart" by Friedrich Schiller), Teresa ("Teresa's Birthday", Georgh Mdivani) and many others. 

But she probably earned the greatest love of the people when she performed at the fronts of the Second World War, on the radio, in military hospitals, in institutions of higher education and schools, reading the verses of Suleyman Rustam "The Mother and a Postman" and Samad Vurgun's "Azerbaijan" and "Mothers". She performed these works in two languages.

Possessing a voice with an amazingly beautiful timbre and many-coloured overtones, the actress read these verses with such heartfelt conviction that the people who heard stopped what they were doing in their everyday lives, asked the children to be quiet and listened to her. They recognised her in the street, exchanged bows with her when they met her and accompanied her with exclamations of "There goes Mother and The Postman!", Thus, the fictional character created by the poet acquired a real embodiment in the combination of the actress's talent and the recognition of the people by common definition.

She was one of the first in the country to receive the Order of the Red Star, medals "For Defence of the Caucasus", "For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War [Second World War] of 1941-1945", as well as numerous certificates and acknowledgements of gratitude from the country's government and the commanders at the fronts; she was awarded the Order of Friendship of Peoples and the "Istiqlal" order. She was the first of the representatives of art and culture in the country to receive a life-long stipend from the president of Azerbaijan.

On her 85th birthday, President Heydar Aliyev, who thought highly of her career and professional contribution to the country's theatrical art, rang her up and personally congratulated her. Quoting from a letter to her from President Heydar Aliyev: "You have done great service in the successes achieved by the Russian Theatre which has a wealth of traditions in our republic. On the stage of that theatre you have been able to masterfully combine in your career even the theatrical trends enveloping different poles and differing radically from one another. It is precisely due to this that you have managed to create classical characters that have gone down in the history of our theatre due to the masterful way that they were portrayed and the originality of interpretation. Your work on the steady development of Azerbaijani-Russian cultural ties deserves to be highly valued." This very great actress passed away on 1 May 2003.

She will always be remembered

A memorial soiree was held at the S. Vurgun Russian Drama Theatre to mark the birth centenary of the unforgettable actress. The actors who had been fortunate enough to be on the stage with her recalled her and spoke about her to their young fellow actors who could not have seen her on the stage due to their age.

"An artiste always remains an artiste. He cannot live without the stage. Vera Karlovna, who remained a member of the troupe until the very end of her life, frequently used to come and see me, when I was the newly appointed managing director and would say that she was prepared to give performances at housing offices or in schools or anywhere else, just to continue serving her art. And she really did serve her art. Now we say that we work at the theatre. Our leading lights used to say, 'We serve at the theatre'. She served the theatre and her own people throughout her life," the managing director, People's Artiste Aleksandr Sharovskiy said, recalling the great actress.

From the generation of leading lights

Speaking about the lessons she had from the unsurpassed professional reciter, People's Artiste Ludmila Dukhovnaya stressed that even today she still considers herself to be her pupil. "I remember the early 1960s, After I had just finished my studies and entered the theatre, I approached Vera Karlovna, carrying my little exercise book in which my verses were written down. I was preparing to do some more work on them. I asked her whether she could help me to work up these verses. She replied in the affirmative and immediately began to read straight from the page without any kind of preparation, reading it as if she had worked on these verses. It made such an indelible impression on me. Right up to the present time, I try to be equal to her as if she were my teacher, mentor and an example to be imitated in working on the word."

People's Artiste Aleksandra Nikushina also recalls the time she spent working in the theatre with Vera Karlovna. "When I was still a schoolgirl, I saw Vera Karlovna playing Queen Elizabeth in a production of "Maria Stuart". She played the part in such a realistic manner that I thought at that time that Queen Elizabeth was such a wicked woman, while I felt sorry for poor Maria [Mary Queen of Scots], which meant that as child I involuntarily felt a dislike for the actress. It was not until I went to the theatre in later years that I understood what a spiritually good person she was, what an excellent professional actress and what a reverent attitude she had to her career!

Once when she had somehow heard the poems "A Word about the Theatre" that I had written, she asked whether I would object to her reciting them from time to time. I replied that I would consider it an honour and would be very pleased about it." Then the actress read her own verses dedicated to Vera Karlovna as well and to all the actresses serving their theatre and their audience at that time.

On behalf of the family, Vera Karlovna's niece, Zemfira Tagizada, a lecturer in the Department of Biochemistry and Biotechology at Baku State University, addressed the theatre staff and the audience, expressing her gratitude to the theatre's management in the person of its director Adalat Haciyev. While saying good bye to those invited and smiling, he said that he got the sensation that all that time Vera Karlovna Sirye was standing beside him. The light in the theatre foyer possibly glowed more brightly because stars of that calibre can never be extinguished and leave in their wake a trail of light for long, long years to come.