There are people whose fate can, without any embellishment, become the script for an interesting film. Among them is the famous architect Karo Halabyan, whose biography is devoted to this article.
Early years
Karo Semenovich Alabyan was born in 1897 in Elizavetpol (now the city of Ganja, Azerbaijan). As in any Armenian family, his parents, even though they were barely making ends meet, dreamed of giving their son a good education. To this end, they sent the boy in an aunt to Tiflis, where young Karo entered the famous Nersisyan seminary. Anastas Mikoyan, who later held the highest positions in the Soviet state, studied with him there.
Karo Halabyan not only stood out among other students with diligence, but also knew how to draw superbly, play the violin and sang beautifully. Soon, in parallel with his studies at the seminary, the young man began to study at the vocal department of the local conservatory.
In Tiflis, Halabyan met many prominent representatives of the Armenian intelligentsia - the composer Aram Khachaturian, the artist Martiros Saryan and others, and became interested in modernism, which was fashionable at that time. HoweverAt the age of 20, Karo joined the RSDLP and chose a realistic style in art. During the Civil War, Alabyan fought for Soviet power and in one of the battles saved the life of his classmate and fellow soldier Anastas Mikoyan. As a result, young people, according to the old Caucasian custom, began to consider each other as blood brothers.
Study in Moscow
The young Halabyan was greatly influenced by the Armenian proletarian poet Yeghishe Charents, whose collections of poems he illustrated, and Vahan Teryan. The latter helped Karo go to Moscow in 1923 and enter the architectural department of VKhUTEMAS.
There the young man studied with M. Mazmanyan, G. Kochar and V. Simbirtsev, with whom he later had to work on building projects that today adorn the capital and the city of Yerevan.
As a student, Halabyan met with actor and director Ruben Simonov. They struck up a friendship that did not end all their lives. In 1928, in collaboration with Aram Khachaturian, they staged a play based on Hakob Paronyan's comedy "Uncle Baghdasar" on the stage of the Vakhtangov Theater in Moscow. Earlier, in collaboration with M. Mazmanyan, he designed the productions of the plays "Brave Nazar" by D. Demirchyan and "The Red Mask" by Lunacharsky on the stage of the First State Theater of the Armenian USSR in Yerevan.
Work in Armenia
In 1929, Karo Halabyan graduated from high school and went to Yerevan. There he headed the First State Design Institute of Soviet Armenia. During the two years spent inin the Armenian capital, a talented architect created designs for such famous buildings as the Builders Club (now the building of the Russian Theater named after Stanislavsky), the house for the employees of the Electrochemical Trust, the office of the main geological exploration department, etc. In addition, during this period of her life, Karo Alabyan taught at the architectural Faculty of ERPI.
In Moscow
In 1932, the architect Karo Alabyan finally moved to the capital. One of the first known buildings created by the architect in Moscow was the building of the Central Theater of the Red Army (now TsATRA), which he designed together with his former classmate V. Simbirtsev and B. Barkhin. The structure is made in the form of a five-pointed star and today it is the main decoration of Suvorovskaya Square in Moscow.
In the pre-war period, Karo Halabyan created designs for such buildings as the pavilions of the Armenian SSR VSHV in Moscow and the USSR at the international exhibition in New York, held in 1939. For the latest work done jointly with architect M. Iofan, the architect was awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of this largest American metropolis.
In the 40s
During the war, Karo Semenovich Alabyan led the Union of Architects of the USSR and the Academy of Architecture, and also headed a special workshop in which plans were developed to mask the main defensive and industrial structures of Moscow. In 1942, he was also appointed a member of the Commission for the Registration and Protection of Monuments and the chairman of the commission, which was supposed to be engaged in the restorationcities destroyed by war. In particular, it was Alabyan who was instructed to develop the General Plan for the destroyed Stalingrad. In addition, he was involved in the creation of a project to restore the main Kyiv street - Khreshchatyk.
Alabyan Karo Semenovich: personal life
Although the famous architect was considered an enviable groom and had an attractive and imposing appearance, he did not marry for a long time. Only in 1948, having crossed the 50-year mark, Alabyan made a marriage proposal not to anyone, but to the star of Soviet cinema and one of the most beautiful women of that time - Lyudmila Tselikovskaya. Unlike Karo Semenovich, his chosen one has already tried three times to start a family. At that time, she was very worried about the divorce from Mikhail Zharov, whom she broke up with due to the lack of children.
The future spouses met thanks to Ruben Simonov, who knew Tselikovskaya from the age of 16. At one time, Luda's mother was friendly with the theater actress. Vakhtangov Anna Babayan and asked her to show her daughter to her chief director. Ruben Simonov immediately discerned Tselikovskaya's acting talent and advised the girl to enter a theater university.
Despite the big difference in age, Karo Halabyan, who at that time already held the position of the chief architect of the capital, was able to win the heart of Tselikovskaya. A year later, the couple had a son. Karo Halabyan was beside himself with happiness. However, he soon had to leave his wife and child and go to Armenia.
Opala
According to contemporaries, Karo Semenovich fearlessly cameto help their friends and colleagues who were victims of political repression. This is confirmed by his numerous letters to various authorities, with requests to release this or that person from prison.
In the early 50s, Karo Halabyan publicly argued with Lavrenty Beria, who argued that the construction of high-rise buildings was economically profitable. The architect had recently returned from the United States and understood that with the level of development of building technologies that was in the Soviet Union at that time, the country would not be able to carry out such projects.
Beria was furious and did everything to get Stalin to remove Alabyan from all posts. Karo Semenovich was also threatened with arrest, since one of his employees suddenly turned out to be a "Japanese spy." The architect was saved by his blood brother Anastas Mikoyan. He found an opportunity to send Halabyan away from Beria to Yerevan. Separation from his beloved wife and recently born baby was a real torture for Karo Semenovich.
Return to Moscow
Alabyan was able to return to the capital only in 1953, after the death of the leader of the peoples and Beria. He had no apartment, no job. The family wandered around relatives and lived on the salary of Tselikovskaya. To top it off, it turned out that Sasha Halabyan has polio and needs special care.
Then Karo Semenovich wrote several letters to members of the Soviet government. The appeal to the leadership of the Soviet state had its effect. Halabyan's family was provided with housing, and he himself was given a job. Fortunately,it also turned out that the son of Karo and Lyudmila had a reversible form of the disease, and he soon began to recover. Slowly, life returned to normal. In particular, in 1954, Alabyan, in collaboration with L. Karlik, created a project for the building of the Sochi sea station, which for a long time was one of the architectural symbols of the city.
Death
Throughout his adult life, Karo Halabyan smoked a lot and never cared about his he alth. Six years after returning to Moscow, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. In those years, a surgical solution to this problem with a successful outcome was out of the question. A few months later, the architect died. He was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.
Karo Halabyan's grave is not alone. In 1992, 33 years after the death of the famous architect, Lyudmila Tselikovskaya was buried next to her. Although Alabyan's wife, after his death, was the civil wife of director Yuri Lyubimov for almost 16 years, she wished that her resting place was next to the grave of her beloved Karo.
A monument was erected to Alabyan at the Novodevichy cemetery. It was created by the Moscow sculptor Nikolai Nikogosyan and is a bas alt square with an architect's profile. Another monument to Karo Halabyan was erected in Yerevan. And the famous architect has a grandson, who was named after him. Streets in Moscow and Yerevan also bear his name.
Awards and achievements
In 1937-1950 Karo Halabyan was a deputy of the USSR Supreme Council. He was previously elected Corresponding Member of the British Royal Institute of Architecture.
Karo Halabyan wasalso awarded:
- Order of the Red Banner of Labor;
- honorary title of Honored Art Worker of the Armenian SSR;
- Order of the Badge of Honor;
- numerous medals;
- Grand Prix of the Paris International Exhibition of Arts and Technology.
Now you know who Karo Halabyan is. The biography of this famous architect is full of unexpected twists and turns. The last years of his life were brightened up by love and a happy marriage with one of the most beautiful women of the Stalin era, and the buildings built according to his designs adorn Moscow and Yerevan to this day.
