Fatma Gadri
Encyclopedia
Fatma Gadir qizi Gadri also spelled Qadri, Kadri, or Kadry (1 April 1907 – 29 February 1968) was an Azerbaijan
i theatre
actress.
(present-day Ukraine
). At age 9, she started earning money by working as a full time nanny for a child from a rich family. At her mother's insistence, she enrolled in a local madrasah
(religious school) to receive primary education. In 1922, she was admitted to two post-secondary institutions simultaneously: the Azerbaijan Theatre School and a teachers college, from both of which she graduated in 1926. Choosing the artistic path as her future career, Gadri started working as an actress at the Turkic Labour Theatre in Baku and Ganja
. After an unsuccessful surgery on her neck, she was allowed to quit her job at the theatre in order to recover.
After a brief period of acting at the Baku Russian Theatre
, she was hired to the Azerbaijan State Drama Theatre in 1935, where she worked for the next 24 years. Soon she was also elected to the Baku City Council and started teaching at the Azerbaijan Theatre School and at a music school in Baku. In 1943, she became People's Artist of Azerbaijan. Physically weak and exposed to illnesses, she often acted out her roles despite bodily pain. This led to emaciation
in 1958, when Fatma Gadri suddenly fell unconscious at the Pushkin Moscow Drama Theatre, right before her final act in War and Peace
by Sergei Prokofiev
, during the troupe's tour in Moscow
. After receiving medical treatment for seven months, the doctors forbade her from going up on stage again fearing for her health.
in 1932. These tragic events added to her unstable health and psychological condition. Unable to get over severe depression
after being forbidden to perform in theatres, 60-year old Gadri died by committing suicide in her apartment in 1968.
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
i theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
actress.
Career
Fatma Gadri was born to a poor family of a merchant acolyte in OdessaOdessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
(present-day Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
). At age 9, she started earning money by working as a full time nanny for a child from a rich family. At her mother's insistence, she enrolled in a local madrasah
Madrasah
Madrasah is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, whether secular or religious...
(religious school) to receive primary education. In 1922, she was admitted to two post-secondary institutions simultaneously: the Azerbaijan Theatre School and a teachers college, from both of which she graduated in 1926. Choosing the artistic path as her future career, Gadri started working as an actress at the Turkic Labour Theatre in Baku and Ganja
Ganja, Azerbaijan
Ganja is Azerbaijan's second-largest city with a population of around 313,300. It was named Yelizavetpol in the Russian Empire period. The city regained its original name—Ganja—from 1920–1935 during the first part of its incorporation into the Soviet Union. However, its name was changed again and...
. After an unsuccessful surgery on her neck, she was allowed to quit her job at the theatre in order to recover.
After a brief period of acting at the Baku Russian Theatre
Azerbaijan State Russian Drama Theatre
Azerbaijan State Russian Samed Vurgun Drama Theatre Azerbaijan State Russian Samed Vurgun Drama Theatre Azerbaijan State Russian Samed Vurgun Drama Theatre (Azeri: Səməd Vurğun adına Azərbaycan Dövlət Rus Drama Teatrı, Russian: Азербайджанский государственный русский драматический театр имени...
, she was hired to the Azerbaijan State Drama Theatre in 1935, where she worked for the next 24 years. Soon she was also elected to the Baku City Council and started teaching at the Azerbaijan Theatre School and at a music school in Baku. In 1943, she became People's Artist of Azerbaijan. Physically weak and exposed to illnesses, she often acted out her roles despite bodily pain. This led to emaciation
Emaciation
Emaciation occurs when an organism loses substantial amounts of much needed fat and often muscle tissue, making that organism look extremely thin. The cause of emaciation is a lack of nutrients, starvation, or disease....
in 1958, when Fatma Gadri suddenly fell unconscious at the Pushkin Moscow Drama Theatre, right before her final act in War and Peace
War and Peace (Prokofiev)
War and Peace is an opera in two parts , sometimes arranged as five acts, by Sergei Prokofiev to a Russian libretto by the composer and Mira Mendelson, based on the novel War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy...
by Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century...
, during the troupe's tour in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. After receiving medical treatment for seven months, the doctors forbade her from going up on stage again fearing for her health.
Personal life
Off stage, Fatma Gadri lived a difficult life. Her first marriage in the early 1920s did not last long, and her only son died in his teenage years. Gadri's second husband died of pneumoniaPneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
in 1932. These tragic events added to her unstable health and psychological condition. Unable to get over severe depression
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
after being forbidden to perform in theatres, 60-year old Gadri died by committing suicide in her apartment in 1968.