Hamo Bek-Nazaryan

Hamo Beknazarian (Armenian: Համո Բեկնազարյան; Russian: Амбарцум Бек-Назаров; 19 May 1891 – 27 April 1965), also known as Hamo Bek-Nazarov or Amo Bek-Nazarian, was a Soviet Armenian film director, actor and screenwriter. Hamo Beknazarian was born on 19 May 1891 in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, Russian Empire. His career in cinema started in 1914, when a casual acquaintance offered him a part in a film. Since that part, he decided to pursue a career in cinema. Between 1914 and 1918, he played about 70 parts, becoming a popular actor in pre-Revolutionary Russian film. In 1920, instead of going to Armenia as he had decided, he went to Tbilisi where he developed a film department for the Georgian Commissioner's office of Public Education. He shot many films in Tbilisi, including Patricide and Lost Treasures. In 1925, he shot his first Armenian film and moved to Armenia. In 1933, he shot the first Armenian sound film Pepo. In 1941, Beknazarian was awarded the Stalin Prize. Besides feature films, he also shot a few documentaries.

Hamo Beknazarian died on 27 April 1965 in Moscow, USSR.