Georges Pitoëff was a Russian émigré with an Armenian background who became one of the leading actors and directors in France.
Pitoëff was born on 4 September 1884 in Tiflis, Russia (now Tbilisi, Georgia) to Russian-born of Armenian origins, he was the son of the Director of the Tiflis Theatre. After studying and graduating in law at Paris University, he switched his focus to a career in the theatre.
In Russia, Pitoëff trained with Konstantin Stanislavski.:45 In France he became a theatre director and producer, noted for his popularization of the works of contemporary playwrights, especially George Bernard Shaw, Anton Chekhov, Arthur Schnitzler, Henrik Ibsen, and Eugene O'Neill. He was a founding member of the Cartel des Quatre (Group of Four), a group including Louis Jouvet, Charles Dullin, and Gaston Baty, dedicated to rejuvenating the French theatre.
Pitoëff died on 17 September 1939 in Bellevue, near Geneva, Switzerland.
