Warsaw Theatre Directorate

The Warsaw Theatre Directorate (Warszawskie Teatry Rządowe) was the chief authority for theatres in the Duchy of Warsaw in Warsaw during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was set up by decree of Frederick Augustus I of Saxony on 14 April 1810 as the Rządowa Dyrekcja Teatru (Government Directorate for Theatre), its draft statute having been developed by Wojciecha Bogusławskiego. In 1822 it changed its name to Dyrekcja Teatrów i Wszelkich Widowisk Dramatycznych i Muzycznych w Królestwie (Directorate of all theatres and dramatic and musical performance in the Kingdom), then in 1833 to the Warsaw Theatre Directorate. It ceased to exist in July 1915.

It guided theatrical output and provided theatres with financial stability, enabling shows in Polish to be put on and new theatre buildings to be constructed. Its companies included ones for operettas, ballets, dramas, comedies, the National Theatre and later opera and farce. It had 5 buildings: from 1833 - Teatr Wielki and the Teatr Rozmaitości from 1870 - Teatr Letni from 1880 - Teatr Mały from 1881 - Teatr Nowy from 1901 - Teatr Nowości

Presidents The body's president was supported by a board of governors and by directors, and from 1907 by literary managers. FromToPresident 1810 1813 Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz 1814 1820 Józef Lipiński 1821 1830 Aleksander Rożniecki 1832 1842 Józef Rautenstrauch 1842 1862 Ignacy Abramowicz 1862 1868 A. Hauke 1868 1880 Siergiej Muchanow 1880 1882 Wsiewołod Wsiewołożski 1882 1889 Longin Gudowski 1889 1892 Dymitr Palicyn 1892 1895 Aleksander Karandiejew 1895 1897 Piotr Andriejew 1898 1901 Paweł Iwanow 1901 1908 Konstantin Herschelman 1908 1914 Jurij Małyszew 1914 1915 Jurij Burman

Sources Bartłomiej tytuł= Encyklopedia Warszawy Kaczorowski: Warszawa: Wydaw. Naukowe PWN, 1994, s. 933, 934. . Maria Olga Bieńka: Warszawskie teatry rządowe : dramat i komedia : 1890–1915. Warszawa: Instytut Sztuki Polskiej Akademii Nauk, 2003. . Teatr polski w latach 1890-1918. Warszawa: PWN, 1988, s. 272. .