Ara Shiraz carving new memorial stone to Mher Mkrtchyan in Komitas Pantheon

Famous Armenian sculptor Ara Shiraz, upon an order by Yerevan's Municipality, has started to carve a memorial stone to the outstanding Armenian actor, Mher Mkrtchyan (known as Frunzik), according to a Yerevan's Municipality report.

It comes after Yerevan's Mayor Gagik Beglaryan and Armenia's Minister of Culture and Education Hasmik Poghosyan, after visiting Komitas Pantheon last week, said that the statue of Mher Mkrtchyan, currently standing in Pantheon, should be replaced by another one to more properly mark the master's memory.

Mher Mkrtchyan was born in Leninakan, currently Gyumri on July 4, 1930 - 29 December. He studied in Leninakan Art College and Theatre Studio, and then finished at the Acting Department of Yerevan Institute of Fine Arts and Theatre.

Since 1953, he has performed in the Sundukyan Drama Theatre of Yerevan. He also directed many successful productions, best of them Maxim Gorky's "The Lower Depths"

His cinema career began in 1955. His famous roles in Rolan Bykov's "Aybolit-66" (1966), Leonid Gaidai's "Kidnapping, Caucasian Style" (1966), and Georgi Daneliya's "Mimino" (1977) earned him the reputation of one of the leading comedy actors in the Soviet Union.

But that reputation sometimes overshadowed his real talent and emotional depth which he put into his roles in such classics of Armenian cinema as "Yerankyuni" ("Triangle") (1967), "Menq enq, mer sarere" ("We are Our Mountains") (1969) , "Hayrik" ("Father") (1973), "Nahapet" (1977), "Hin oreri yerge" ("Old Days' Song") (1982), "Mer mankutyan tangon" ("Tango of Our Childhood") (1985).

Among his many awards was the USSR State Prize for 1978. He was named a People's Artist of the Soviet Union in 1984 and died six years later in Yerevan, Armenia.