Sergei Parajanov Biography: Wife, Age, Arrest, Movies, Parents, Net Worth, Awards, Controversy, Death

Sergei Parajanov is a director, screenwriter, production designer and artist. His work dramatically breaks away from conventional linear narrative, particularly the Soviet-approved socialist realism style, which often led to his films being banned.

He is best known internationally for Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1964) and his magnum opus, The Color of Pomegranates (1969), sometimes known as Sayat-Nova, which solidified his reputation as a visionary filmmaker and a major figure in world cinema. His work continues to influence contemporary directors.

Profile

• Full names: Sergei Iosifovich Parajanov (born Sarkis Hovsepi Parajaniants)
• Date of birth: January 9, 1924
• Age: Deceased
• Gender: Male
• Place of birth: Tbilisi, Transcaucasian SFSR, USSR (now Georgia)
• Nationality: Soviet (Armenian descent)
• Profession: Film director, screenwriter, artist, production designer
• Parents: Iosif Parajanov (father), Siranush Bejanova (mother)
• Siblings: N/A
• Spouse: Nigyar Kerimova (1950-1951), Svetlana Shcherbatiuk (1956-1962)
• Children: Suren Parajanov
• Relationship status: Divorced (at time of death)
• Religion: Eastern Orthodox Christian
• Ethnicity: Armenian
• Net worth: $1 million to $5 million

Early Life and Education

Sergei Parajanov, who would have been 101 years old as of 2025, was born in Tbilisi on January 9, 1924. He grew up in an old section of the city known for its diverse ethnic makeup and historic culture.

His parents were Iosif Parajanov, an antique dealer, and Siranush Bejanova, a talented pianist. He did not have any known siblings. The household was a rich environment of art and culture.

Parajanov began his formal arts education in Tbilisi, studying architecture and choreography. In 1945, he moved to Moscow to study filmmaking at the prestigious Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (VGIK), one of the oldest film schools in the world. He studied under influential directors like Igor Savchenko and Alexandr Dovzhenko. Parajanov graduated from VGIK in 1951.

Personal Life

Sergei Parajanov married his first wife, Nigyar Kerimova, in 1950. Their marriage was cut tragically short when Kerimova was murdered by her own family for converting from Islam to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. The trauma of this event led Parajanov to leave Russia for Kyiv.

He married his second wife, Svetlana Shcherbatiuk, in 1956. They had one son named Suren, born in 1958. The couple divorced in 1962, and Svetlana moved to Kyiv with their son, maintaining a cordial relationship with Sergei for the rest of his life. Suren passed away in 2021.

Career

Parajanov began working as a director at the Dovzhenko Film Studios in Kyiv. His early films from the 1950s and early 1960s were largely conventional socialist realist works. However, he achieved international critical acclaim with his 1964 film Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, a visually rich interpretation of Ukrainian Hutsul folklore. This film established his unique style.

His masterpiece, The Color of Pomegranates (1969), was made in Armenia and centered on the life of the Armenian troubadour Sayat Nova. The film’s non-traditional, poetic structure clashed directly with Soviet bureaucracy, leading to it being heavily censored, re-edited, and eventually banned.

Following his imprisonment in the 1970s, Parajanov returned to directing in the mid-1980s under the less restrictive environment in the Georgian SSR. There he made The Legend of Suram Fortress (1985) and his final completed work, Ashik Kerib (1988), both continuing his distinct visual language.

Besides filmmaking, Parajanov was a prolific artist, creating collages, drawings, hats, and assemblages during his time in prison and during his creative bans.

Net Worth

Sergei Parajanov’s net worth at the time of his death is estimated to have been around $1 million to $5 million. This fortune was accumulated primarily through his work as a film director, screenwriter, and his extensive work as a visual artist, including exhibitions of his collages and drawings across Europe.

Death

Sergei Parajanov died of an aggressive form of cancer on July 20, 1990, in Yerevan, Armenian SSR, at the age of 66. He was buried at the Komitas Pantheon in Yerevan. He died shortly before his dream project, a film based on the “Confessions” of his life, could be realized.

Controversy

Sergei Parajanov was a deeply controversial figure to Soviet authorities due to his nonconformist lifestyle, his outspoken criticism of the government, his open bisexuality, and his refusal to make propaganda films. He was arrested multiple times. The most significant arrest occurred in 1973 when he was sentenced to five years in a strict-regime labor camp on charges of rape and distribution of pornography, which many international and domestic artists and human rights advocates believed were fabricated political charges aimed at silencing him.

He was released in 1977 after immense international pressure. His films were banned from distribution for nearly 15 years within the Soviet Union.

Social Media

• N/A

Filmography

• Andriesh (1954)
• Dumka (1957)
• Pervy paren (The First Lad) (1958)
• Natalya Uzhvi (1959)
• Zolotye ruki (Golden Hands) (1960)
• Ukrainskaya rapsodiya (Ukrainian Rhapsody) (1961)
• Tsvetok na kamne (Flower on the Stone) (1962)
• Teni zabytykh predkov (Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors) (1964)
• Kyivski freski (Kyiv Frescoes) (1966) (unfinished)
• Sayat-Nova (The Color of Pomegranates) (1969)
• Legenda o Suramskoi kreposti (The Legend of Suram Fortress) (1985)
• Ashik-Kerib (1988)