Robert Hossein, aka Rustam Guseinov

Anna Demchenko, Ekaterina Tesemnikova, exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza

A world-famous Azerbaijani from France, Robert Hossein, has visited Baku already two times in May. His grandfather was born in Azerbaijan, his father in Samarkand. While living in France they made an invaluable contribution to world culture and art. His father, Aminullah Hossein, was a composer who wrote great music - ballets, operas, symphonies. After Samarkand was occupied by Russian troops in 1868 and annexed to the Russian Empire, the Hossein family adopted the Russian-sounding surname Guseinov. Therefore, in his passport Robert Hossein remains Guseinov with the given name Rustam.

Strangely enough, until recently very few people knew that the French actor and director Robert Hossein and Rustam Guseinov are one and the same person. All across the world people know that the famous singer Charles Aznavour is Armenian by origin, but few people realize that the "people's director of the French Republic," a well-known actor in France as well as in Russia, who played de Peyrac in movies about Angelica, is actually Azerbaijani.

He comes from a modest family of Russian immigrants of the first wave. Rustam Huseynov was born to a family of emigres from the Russian Empire in Paris on December 30, 1927. His father Aminullah Guseinov was from an Azerbaijani family and was born in Samarkand. For his musical talent he was sent to study in Moscow, where he converted to Orthodoxy and received the name Andrey. After that the budding young musician went to Berlin. He did not return to Russia or to Turkestan. With the First World War his study abroad turned into exile. In order to feed himself and his family, he played at banquets, in restaurants and taverns - anywhere where there was work. His gift as a composer was not in demand, but the musician did not lose optimism. Robert Hossein recalled that his father liked to say: "The first 50 years of life are the most difficult, then you get used to them. The most important thing is to never get used to anything, because you never know how your life is going to turn."

Hossein's mother, Anna Minevskaya, was born in Kiev and grew up in St. Petersburg. She came from a wealthy Jewish family. Her father owned a bank and an apartment house in the capital. Being a good man, he pitied the students who were unable to pay rent and not only allowed them to live in his house for free, but also helped with money. According to Robert Hossein, some of the money even went to Lenin, who lived at that time in Switzerland. Many of residents, students became his friends. On the eve of World War One two tenants suddenly disappeared, and there was no news from them for a long time. The next meeting of the homeowner and one of the former tenants was very unexpected - after the revolution Minevsky was brought in for questioning, which, ironically, had to be conducted by one of his former tenants. It turned out that, already before the revolution, he was engaged in clandestine activities and later became a commissioner. But he was a grateful person, supplied the family of Minevsky with travel passports and let them emigrate. It was in Germany, where her family ended up, that Anna Minevskaya met her future husband.

Anna Minevskaya worked at a Russian theater, where she was badly paid. Given the very modest income from her husband's performances, the young family struggled to make ends meet. But, despite poverty, she always believed in her husband's talent and strongly supported him. Many immigrants started doing more profitable jobs, which required no special skills. The professions of a driver and landlord were the most popular ones. But Guseinov could not imagine life without his vocation. He said: "Yes, I lived in poverty, but I've always had a rich inner life."

Their son Rustam was born in a cheap hotel room. In the early years of his life he almost did not know a word in French - the family spoke Russian, also cherishing their native Azerbaijani language. With time, Rustam was sent to study at a boarding school. When it came time to pay, he was transferred to another. This happened about a dozen times, and in each school there were different orders, different doctrines were taught. Forced to frequently change apartments, Rustam always dreamed of a big house full of loved ones.

He grew up unpretentious and not prone to feeling sorry for himself. When other parents brought their children goodies, with him the only one who did not get anything, Rustam thought that this was because the others were weak and sick, and he was strong and healthy and therefore did not need anything. The boy was growing as an introvert, he never had friends in boarding schools and constant moving did not help the situation. He often skipped classes, climbed trees to observe people as if they were actors on stage.

For 15 years the family lived in the attic of a house in a poor neighborhood. The tap and bath were located on the second floor, and they had to go down several flights of stairs to get to them (there were 4 floors plus the attic). In Guseinov's room there were only two beds and a wardrobe. Despite this, the mother of Rustam kept traditions and cooked borsch and cutlets and taught her son to read the Lord's Prayer before bedtime.

When Rustam decided to start his acting career at the age of 15, his parents were glad, because it meant that their son could help the family. The young man began to study at a drama school known as the Old Dovecote. Later he completed a course taught by René Simon. With his coming of age he took the pseudonym Robert Hossein, more understandable to the French audience.

In the first ten years of his career Hossein was not well known. He played at the Grand Guignol Theatre and staged performances. However, it was these early years that largely shaped him as theatre person.

Hossein met his future wife, Marina Poliakoff-Baydar (better known under her pseudonym Vladi) when she was only 11 years old. 4 years later he saw her again and fell in love with her, despite the ten-year age difference. At the time she already was a real star, while Robert was just beginning his ascent to stardom. In order to make the young ballerina interested in him, he invited her to appear in his first film, The Rascals go to Hell, his collaboration with Frederic Dard, the future author of a bestselling detective series, written under the pseudonym of San Antonio. 3 years later in 1955 they were married. Soon their two sons were born - Igor and Pyotr. The family lived in the big family house of Poliakoff-Baydar. The atmosphere there recalled the pre-revolutionary period and included regular tea around the samovar, games, and always friends and relatives visiting.

 

Hossein, who was raised in a completely different environment, was forced to do everything together. He once said that it felt like he was married to all four Palyakov-Baydarov sisters rather than to one of them. At the same time, Marina did not want to give up her habitual lifestyle and was deeply attached to her family. She just could not imagine her life without her parents' home. As a result they had to part their ways. However they managed to remain on good terms and even today several decades after their break-up they are still in touch.

 

After his break-up with Vladi, Hossein fell in love with Karolin Elyashev, the daughter of Baku-born Anatoliy Elyashev. They were married for 15 years, However this marriage ended as well, even though they had a child together. Only Candice Patu brought him happiness. On his wedding day Hossein was hospitalized for a whole month. His bride was at his side the whole time. Their marriage has been lasting for 40 years. They had a son together.

 

The famous French actress Fanny Ardant told Vestnik Kavkaza in an interview that she knew Hossein in person. Their children attended the same school. The life of Hossein is a universal story of Russian emigrants in France. They integrated into French society, but kept their identity. Robert's son Igor is a pearl-producer on Haiti, his other son Pyotr is a musician, Julien is an actor, screenwriter and director, Nicolas has changed his name to Aaron and become a Rabbi in Strasbourg.

 

The artistic road of Hossein himself is no less peculiar than his private life. Russian audiences know Hossein mainly as Joffrey de Peyrac, whom he played in the Angélique franchise. It took some time to persuade Hossein to take the role, as the Count was expected to be old and ugly. Hossein insisted that the character should be younger and should not have a hump. This role made Hossein very popular, his fans were ready to literally kiss his feet. However Hossein often makes fun of this role and jokes that there will be a portrait of the count rather than himself on his gravestone.

 

Hossein acted in 108 films, including The Professional, The Second Truth, Killer, Vampire from Dusseldorf, Who Knows and others. He worked on 17 screenplays and directed 17 movies. Every theatre performance he directed was a great success. His production of A Man Named Jesus was included in the Guinness Book of Records, as it was seen by 670 thousand people. His production of A Citizen of Lyon was seen by every hundredth person living in France. His productions of Danton and Robespierre and Crime and Punishment were also very successful. Hossein often invested his own money in his theatre projects and the audience has always loved them.

 

In May 2014 Robert Hossein visited Baku together with French President Francois Hollande. In order to honour the president of the French Republic and the famous actor, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held a formal dinner. Addressing the guests, Hossein said: "As a person of Azerbaijani origin I am proud to say that. I am a symbol of the friendship between our two counrties, each of them is my Motherland. I was born in France, yet I am an Azerbaijani and I envy this country."

 

During his visit to Baku, Hossein surprised the audience by playing on the Azerbaijani tar - a traditional musical instrument, which is used at folk festivals. The tar is believed to be a symbol of Azerbaijan. Tar music is including on the UNESCO world heritage list.

 

As a Soviet and Azerbaijani diplomat and scholar, who studied Azerbaijani emigration to Paris, Ramiz Abutalybov told Vestnik Kavkaza that Hossein's father was a remarkable tar player before he started playing the violin. "Aminula Hossein was a great composer. He wrote many beautiful compositions. I once watched his ballet and even met him in person," he said.

 

Since 2002 Robert Hossein has been serving as the head of the Théâtre Marigny. In 2014 he marked his 87th birthday. In spite of his age he remains active as an artist. He believes that his true talent is to find new talents.