Aleksei Granovskii — founder of GOSET, Moscow, 1920s.
Granovskii (real name - Abram Azarkh) (1891 — 1937) had the strongest links (rather than the other avant-garde Russian directors of that time - Vakhtangov, Meierkhold and Tairov) with European theater as a student and adherent of Reinhardt. Thus, the recognition of his creativity by European directors and critics was absolutely necessary for him. For Granovskii the appreciation of GOSET’s performances by sophisticated audience of Berlin, London and Paris could be the only evaluation of its art. During the GOSET’s tour abroad in 1928 Granovskii was received in Europe as a new theatrical messiah, a more innovative and revolutionary than Meierkhold, Reinhardt and Piscator. According to some scholars, the German press published more articles about Granovskii’s ensemble than about the previous success of the Moscow Art Theater.