She was "Sesilia"…

And that was all.

Anyone in Georgia knows this name.

And, as a token of tremendous esteem and worship we will always add the word "Mrs" and she will always remain the inimitable and only one – the person that people, by their own will, have conferred the rare right and honour of addressing solely by her name.

"Mrs. Sesilia, may I give you a lift, please?"
"Thank you, but I am going too far and I’d rather take a taxi."
"May I still insist on driving you to where you are going?"
"All right! Don’t take so much trouble persuading me!"
"Where do you want to be taken?"
"A close friend of mine has died. I thought the funeral would be at her home, but the ceremony has been transferred to a club. What do you think of a funeral being turned into a performance? And they say Sesilia is an eccentric woman!"
"You can’t do anything about it. It’s not easy to be a Tbilisian."
"Not easy, you’re saying! We can’t even fit into our own skin! Can you explain what’s going on?" She raised her brows, scrutinizing me very closely. "Have you turned mute? What’s the matter with you? Can’t you answer?"

From Rezo Kldiashvili’s memoirs

Sesilia… Mrs. Sesilia.

They say she used to repeat these words frequently, and then she wrote the following:

"I have lived, I have worked and my road has come to an end. Please do not make my funeral procession  from the theatre. If you do as I ask, the number of deaths in the theatre will drop. A guard of honour is unnecessary, neither are the speeches. Don’t make the people bored. I don’t like the Didube Pantheon. Please find two graves for me at the Saburtalo cemetery.

I say two graves because I want someone who will follow me from my family to be buried next to me so that I am not alone. I beg this on my knees: please commit me to the earth quietly and peacefully."
 
Last wills mean a lot… As do the deeds and the entire life … Obviously, not everyone would be able to write like this.

It seems that an idea like the kings’ modesty exists.

Or the modesty of those whose destiny entitles them not to be modest at all.

"Please commit me to the earth quietly and peacefully…"

We failed to execute your will, Mrs. Sesilia… You must forgive us. Your funeral day in Tbilisi and in the country was neither peaceful nor quiet. And once again, during that very time, we rediscovered a strange truth – an extraordinary warmth arising from the unity of sadness and pain, the greatest pleasure in being joined together by love.

A pompous bearing-out of the deceased, a prestigious piece of land. It’s probably really funny… You’ve already had something that is really precious in this world.

 No one knows how all this is achieved… I mean, love.  No one knows how an artist is formed as such. A person, not only exceptional, but truly belonging to her people…

Her friends recall that Mrs. Sesilia was obsessed with one question: What have I done to deserve such love and what must I do not to lose it?
Perhaps this is both the question and the answer.

Sesilia Takaishvili’s first role was "Kristine" in Shalva Dadiani’s famous play "Ninoshvili’s Guria".

"No, my dear," Mrs. Sesilia told me, "I performed my first role in Shalva Dadiani’s play "Kakali guli" in the 1928-29 theatre season. Later on, Kote Marjanishvili entrusted to me the role of the maid "Tiko" in a comedy… I played the part of Tiko as a  Gurian girl, thus imparting this supporting role with a character and flavour of my own. I have never tried to avoid playing a supporting role. I recall that a brief chat with Ushangi Chkheidze (Vizhinidze) provoked such a lively reaction and laughter that the spectators almost fell out of their boxes".

From Nana Ghvinepadze’s  reminiscences

Our generation does not remember her first role and can hardly recall her on the stage. However, we have memorized every word of Vasasia, Asineta and Maradia. It seems forever that the word "grandmother" has been associated solely with her image.

Sesilia Takaishvili left the stage rather early.

She made up her mind, and left. This was just like her…

At that time, no one could understand or explain the reason for this.

"It’s more difficult for an actor to leave the stage than come to the theatre…

I had personal reasons for quitting the stage, even though active, creative impulses were still alive in me. But here, I encountered a worldly contradiction: an acute sense of age on the one hand, and a keen feeling of eternal youth which never leaves a person in peace, on the other. Personally, I have taken age into account", said Mrs. Sesilia in one of the interviews.

Of her stage roles, she herself was most of all fond of Queen Elizabeth in Shiller’s "Mary Stuart". They say she was inimitable there. Unfortunately, we can only try to imagine it. But thanks to the movies we know her second most favourite role – granny Olgha in "Grandma, Iliko, Ilarioni and I" almost by heart.

It was not only movies and theatre that our parents’ generation enjoyed with Sesilia starring but also her variety art. She travelled all over Georgia together with Sandro Zhorzholiani – another legend of the stage.

"Before the concert both of them together presented a rare spectacle. Sandro used to sit on his chair with staring eyes smacking his lips, stamping his feet and thinking. Was he repeating his text? He would then move from one chair to another and walk around…

"What am I walking back and forth and torturing myself for, what am I nervous about?"

"No, Sesil, you really have much more funny words in your part than I do."

"What’s the problem Sandro? Say them yourself if you want."

They were quarreling seriously. Nothing could have been more fun than watching them. They have performed on stage for so many years but before every concert they still felt so nervous."

From Marine Tbileli’s reminiscences

Our dearest Sesilia. Special, always different and always equally good. Generous, humorous, improviser, everyone’s grandma and a real Vasasi.
The unique, inimitable Sesilia…

"The door of our house was always wide open. A great many people used to come to visit us. Misha Tumanishvilil, Erosi Manjgaladze, Gogi Gegechkori and others lived in the same building. This was the actors’ house. I very well recall that Mr. Erosi had a dog, called Tango. In the mornings he and his Tango used to do exercises. Imagine that the dog was deaf and limp.  When Tango died grandma and Dodo Abashidze sent Mr. Erosi a telegram with their condolences: "Don’t forget to call us for a funeral repast. Your well wishers." Erosi found out who the authors were and wouldn’t speak with my grandmother for a long time".

From Nino Godziashvili’s reminiscences

Humorous and cheerful and a strict and demanding mentor at the same time. Her word and her appraisal had a special value. Actors recalled that whenever she went to a theatre, a rumour about Sesilia’s presence at the performance would go from one floor to another, from one make-up room to another…

She would never leave anyone without advice or words of praise.

She had indeed what to say…

For her, personally creating a role or an image was as easy and simple as breathing.

When Giga Lordkipanidze offered her Asineta’s part, she chose her clothing at home in a flash. She put on Nata’s (her grand daughter’s) warm leather waistcoat,
found an old skirt and when Giga Lordkipanidze came to see her, she greeted him with a "salute" dressed up in this fashion. Everyone who was watching this scene nearly died from laughter. The image was ready.

Sesilia Takaishvili was a star… That time, however, being a star was considered a bad thing and no one would have dared to address Mrs. Sesilia as "a star".
Now the times have changed…

Look up to the sky…

There you will see the star named "Sesilia".

MARINA VASHAKMADZE