City paid tribute to a Russian indologist and a founder of Bengali theatre
On 27 November 2022, citizens of Kolkata gathered to lay flowers to the memorial plaque to Gerasim Stepanovich Lebedev (1749 - 1817), a pioneer Russian indologist, translator and musician, in celebration of the 227th anniversary of the foundation of the first modern theatre of India. On 27th November 1795 he established a European-style proscenium drama theatre in Calcutta, that time the capital of India.
Gerasim Lebedev first came to Madras, India, as a musician in 1785 and rendered his gala presentations for two years. Then he came to Calcutta in 1787 with great cognition to get acquainted with the life and culture of the Indian people.
He translated Spanish and French dramas in Bengali language and with the help of local guides and local actors produced the first performance of "Kalpranim Sangbodol". For the first time, a play written in English, Richard Paul Jodrell’s The Disguise, a comedy in three acts, was translated into Bengali and performed on a proscenium stage – a new innovation that came with scene settings and arches, as seen in European theatres of the time.
The memorial plaque is situated on the place of Lebedev's Bengalee Theate, 37 Ezra Street, which used to be 25 Domtollah that time.
#Russia #RussiaIndia #GerasimLebedev #Kolkata #Theatre #BengaliTheatre
On 27 November 2022, citizens of Kolkata gathered to lay flowers to the memorial plaque to Gerasim Stepanovich Lebedev (1749 - 1817), a pioneer Russian indologist, translator and musician, in celebration of the 227th anniversary of the foundation of the first modern theatre of India. On 27th November 1795 he established a European-style proscenium drama theatre in Calcutta, that time the capital of India.
Gerasim Lebedev first came to Madras, India, as a musician in 1785 and rendered his gala presentations for two years. Then he came to Calcutta in 1787 with great cognition to get acquainted with the life and culture of the Indian people.
He translated Spanish and French dramas in Bengali language and with the help of local guides and local actors produced the first performance of "Kalpranim Sangbodol". For the first time, a play written in English, Richard Paul Jodrell’s The Disguise, a comedy in three acts, was translated into Bengali and performed on a proscenium stage – a new innovation that came with scene settings and arches, as seen in European theatres of the time.
The memorial plaque is situated on the place of Lebedev's Bengalee Theate, 37 Ezra Street, which used to be 25 Domtollah that time.
#Russia #RussiaIndia #GerasimLebedev #Kolkata #Theatre #BengaliTheatre
The Times of India on the commemoration of Gerasim Lebedev in Kolkata.
https://m.timesofindia.com/city/kolkata/city-remembers-russian-orientalist-who-pioneered-bengali-theatre-in-18th-century/amp_articleshow/95842407.cms
#Russia #RussianHouse #Rossotrudnichestvo #GerasimLebedev #ГерасимЛебедев #BengaliTheatre #Theatre #Indology #RussiaIndia #TimesofIndia
https://m.timesofindia.com/city/kolkata/city-remembers-russian-orientalist-who-pioneered-bengali-theatre-in-18th-century/amp_articleshow/95842407.cms
#Russia #RussianHouse #Rossotrudnichestvo #GerasimLebedev #ГерасимЛебедев #BengaliTheatre #Theatre #Indology #RussiaIndia #TimesofIndia