V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko Museum-Apartment

About museum

In this apartment the outstanding director, one of the founders of the Moscow Art Theatre, Vladimir Ivanovich Nemirovich-Danchenko, spent the last years of his life. A year after his death, in 1944, the apartment was opened as a museum.
By the time the Art Theatre was founded in 1898, V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko's name was already well known in literary and theatrical circles. A writer, author of novellas and short stories, a playwright whose plays were performed at the Maly and the Alexandrinsky Theatres, a critic whose opinion was heeded by people of the arts — this is by no means a full list of his activities. V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko taught, and later led, dramatic courses at the Moscow Philharmonic School. Among his students were O. Knipper, I. Moskvin, and Vsevolod Meyerhold.
However, Vladimir Ivanovich saw the purpose of his life in creating a new theatre with a highly artistic repertoire — a theatre in tune with its time, freed from the conservatism and routine of imperial stages. The historic meeting of V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko with K. Stanislavsky became a landmark for Russian theatrical culture: its result was the birth of the Moscow Art Theatre. V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko's role in the history of the Art Theatre is enormous. He helped popularize Henrik Ibsen in Russia, was one of the best directors of his plays (nine of them were staged at the Art Theatre), and an innovator in the stage adaptations of the prose of F. Dostoevsky and L. Tolstoy. Vladimir Ivanovich became a leading organizer and manager in the theatrical field. The Nemirovich-Danchenko apartment, now a memorial, is small in size. The rooms have preserved the appearance they had during the owner's lifetime. Photographs of figures of Russian culture with dedication inscriptions hang on the study walls. Notable is a uniquely designed bookcase built to Vladimir Ivanovich's design. The furnishings are simple and unpretentious; here all life was subordinated to a strict work regimen, scheduled by the hour.
A separate room of the museum is devoted to an exhibition reflecting V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko's creative path as a director and playwright, recounting the productions he staged on dramatic and musical stages.
Guided tours are held in the museum-apartment, and lectures are given.