Michail Arniotakis

ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ

Michail Arniotakis (1841-1910) was a prominent Greek actor, director, playwright, and drama teacher. He was born in 1841 in Athens and studied law at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

He was the husband of actress Eleni Arniotaki and the father of actresses Rozalia Nika and Kiki Arniotaki. He retired from the theater in 1907 due to hemiplegia and passed away on April 26, 1910, in Athens.

Initially, he worked as a secretary at the Athens Peace Court until 1865, while also participating in amateur theater troupes.

After being encouraged by Pantelis Soutsas, he left his position in the judicial system to dedicate himself professionally to theater, joining Soutsas' theater troupe.

His first official theatrical appearance took place on March 12, 1866, when he played Aipytos in the play Meropi by Dimitrios Vernardakis. He later toured cities in Greece, Turkey, Romania, and Russia, either with his own troupes or with those of Soutsas, Tavoulari, and Alexiadis.

He particularly stood out in his performances as Iago in Othello by Shakespeare, Tartuffe by Molière, and the role of Claudius, according to theater historian Giannis Sideris. His last theatrical appearance was in 1907 at the Municipal Theater of Athens, where he portrayed Ali Pasha in the play Kira Vasiliki by Gerasimos Vokos, with his daughter Rozalia Arniotaki-Nika also performing.

In 1871, he took over the management of the first summer theater in Omonia, and in 1874, he presented the play Emilia Galotti by Lessing in Syros. He taught acting at the drama school of the National Dramatic Society and wrote two plays: Social Wounds (1887) and Privileged (1902), both of which were performed on stage, with him directing Privileged at the Varieté Theater. He also worked on theatrical studies.

Michail Arniotakis himself directed his play Privileged in 1902 at the Varieté Theater, and he wrote two plays (Social Wounds and Privileged) and theatrical studies.

In summary, Michail Arniotakis was a versatile theater artist with a significant contribution to the Greek stage of the 19th and early 20th centuries, both as an actor and as a teacher and playwright.