Sergei Diaghilev
Russian art critic and impresario (1872–1929)
Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( dee-AG-il-ef; Russian: Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, IPA: [sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf]; 31 March [O.S. 19 March] 1872 – 19 August 1929), also known as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, patron, ballet impresario and founder of the Ballets Russes, from which many famous dancers and choreographers would arise.
Diaghilev's career can be divided into two periods: in Saint Petersburg (1898–1906) and while as an emigrant (1906–1929).
Biography
Sergei Diaghilev was born in Selishchi to a noble officer Pavel Diaghilev. His mother died from childbed fever soon after his birth. In 1873, Pavel met and married Elena Panaeva, who loved Sergei and raised him as her own child. The House of Diaghilev in Perm was a local cultural centre, and the Diaghilevs hosted a musical evening every second Thursday, Modest Mussorgsky being one of the most frequent guests. Sergei Diaghilev composed his first romance at the age of 15. When he entered the Saint Petersburg Imperial University, he also had private music lessons with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Instead of the usual four, it took him six years to graduate. By his own admission, Diaghilev used his student years 'to look around' and find his true interests in life.
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This entry incorporates text from “Sergei Diaghilev” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.