Alexander Moissi

Albanian-Austrian Alexander Moissi (1879-1935) was one of the great European stage actors of the early 20th century. The attractive and charismatic women's idol also appeared in several silent and early sound films.


German postcard Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin-Wilm. no. 6904. Photo: Becker & Maass.


German postcard by Verlag Louis Blumenthal, Berlin, no. 2680.


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-Sterne series, no. 537/1. Photo: Amboss-Film / Dworsky Co. Alexander Moissi and Eduard von Winterstein in Der Ring der drei Wünsche (Arthur Wellin, 1918). The film was produced by Rudolf Dworsky and scripted by Hans Land (pseudonym of Hugo Landsberger) and Emil Rameau. Plot: A hunchback named Henrik obtains a wishing ring: youth, beauty and health.


German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin-Wilm, no. 7527. Photo: Becker & Maass. Alexander Moissi as Hamlet.


German postcard by Hermann Leiser Verlag, Berlin, no. 8709. Photo: Becker & Maass.

Buried alive

Alexander Moissi was born as Aleksander Moisiu in Trieste, Austria-Hungary (now Italy) in 1879. He was the fifth and last child of Konstantin Moisiu, a rich Albanian merchant in oil and wheat, and the half-Albanian, half-Italian Amalia di Rada, the daughter of a Florentine writer and doctor. After an international childhood in Trieste, Durrës, and Graz, 20-year-old Alexander finally settled with his mother and two sisters in Vienna.

In Vienna, he was spotted by Paul Schlenther, the director of the famous Burgtheater, and by the legendary actor Josef Kainz, who gave him acting lessons. In 1901, Moissi moved to Prague, where he worked for the Neue Deutsche Theater, and in 1904 to Berlin, where he became a protégé of the influential director Max Reinhardt at the Deutsche Theater. Here, he had his breakthrough as Oswald in the Henrik Ibsen play 'Ghosts'. He would continue to play the part for more than two decades.

Under Reinhardt, he played parts in many William Shakespeare plays, including the jester in 'King Lear', Romeo in 'Romeo and Juliet' (1907), and the title role in 'Hamlet' (1909). In 1911, Moissi followed the Reinhardt Ensemble to Russia and was acclaimed in St. Petersburg by critic and dramatist Anatoliy Lunacharsky for his interpretation of Oedipus.

Travelling all over Europe and the Americas, he became a globally known star. His repertoire of leading roles encompassed the whole spectrum of European drama, from Greek tragedy to twentieth-century modernism. He was the first in Europe to interpret characters from Strindberg, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Pirandello, and Hofmannsthal.

His interpretations of Hamlet, Oedipus, Faust, and Dubedat in George Bernard Shaw's 'The Doctor's Dilemma' were celebrated at the time, as was his voice and emotional range. His most famous role was Fedya in Leo Tolstoy's 'Buried Alive (or The Living Corpse)'. He performed this role 1500 times between 1913 and 1935, and more than one-and-a-half million people saw him playing the part.


German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin, no. 4850. Photo: publicity still for 'Romeo und Julie' (Romeo and Juliet) with Lia Eibenschütz.


German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin, no. 8198. Photo: Dr. Hans Boehm. Publicity still for 'Romeo und Julie' (Romeo and Juliet) with Lia Eibenschütz.


German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin, no. 4293. Photo: Becker & Maass. Alexander Moissi as Don Manuel in a stage production of 'Die Braut von Messina' (The Bride of Messina) by Friedrich Schiller.


German postcard by Photo Verlag Jos. Paul Böhm, München (Munich), no. 3051. Alexander Moissi (right) and Rudolf Schildkraut in the play 'Hamlet, ich sag dir was!' (1909).


German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin, no. 4883. Photo: Hans Boehm. Alexander Moissi as Achilles in 'Penthesilea' by Heinrich von Kleist. The play premiered on 23 September 1911 at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin. Gertrud Eysoldt played the title role.


German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin, no. 4913.


German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin-Wilm., no. 7552. Photo: Fritz Richard. Alexander Moissi as Fedja in the play 'Der lebende Leichnam' (The Living Corpse or Russian: Живой труп) by Leo Tolstoy.


German postcard by Verlag Herm. Leiser, Berlin-Wilm., no. 7554. Photo: Fritz Richard. Alexander Moissi as Fedja in the play 'Der lebende Leichnam' (The Living Corpse or Russian: Живой труп) by Leo Tolstoy.

Prisoner in France

Though primarily a stage actor, Alexander Moissi appeared in 17 film productions between 1913 and 1935.

In 1913 he appeared in Germany in four silent films for the Deutsche Bioscop GmbH: the experimental pantomime Das schwarze Los / The Black Lot (Emil Albes, John Gottowt, 1913), Meier Helmbrechts Flucht und Ende / Meier Helmbrecht’s Flight and End (Leo Greiner, 1913), Die Augen des Ole Brandis / The Eyes of Ole Brandis (Stellan Rye, 1913), and he had a supporting role in the classic fantasy film Der Student von Prag / The Student of Prague (Stellan Rye, Paul Wegener, 1913) starring Paul Wegener.

Two years later, he starred in the films Kulissenzauber / Background magic (Heinrich Bolten-Baeckers, Leo Peukert, 1915) and Sein einziger Sohn / His Only Son (Adolf Gartner, 1915). It was World War I, and in 1915, Moissi was mobilised by the Austrian army. As an airman, he was taken prisoner in France, but he got free five months later through a prisoner exchange. Till 1917, he worked as a stage actor in Switzerland.

In 1918, he starred as Stanislaus in Pique Dame (Arthur Wellin, 1918), a film adaptation of Alexander Pushkin’s short story 'The Queen of Spades'. That same year, he appeared opposite Ria Jende in Der Ring der drei Wünsche / The Ring of the Three Wishes (Arthur Wellin, 1918).

The following years he played in such silent films as Erborgtes Glück / Borrowed Happiness (Arthur Wellin, 1919) with Käthe Dorsch, Zwischen Tod und Leben / Between Life and Death (Arthur Wellin, 1919) with Bernhard Goetzke, Figaros Hochzeit / Figaro’s Wedding (Max Mack, 1920) based on the play by Beaumarchais, and Die Nacht der Königin Isabeau / The Night of Queen Isabeau (Robert Wiene, 1920) starring Fern Andra.


Austrian postcard by Traub, Salzburg. Photo: Atelier K. Hintner. Alexander Moissi as Jedermann in the stage production 'Jedermann' (Everyman) at the Salzburger Festspiele. Max Reinhardt directed Moissi in this production in 1919 and 1920, and from 1926 till 1931.


Austrian postcard by Traub, Salzburg. Photo: Ernst Maier (Atelier K. Hintner). Alexander Moissi as Jedermann in the stage production 'Jedermann' (Everyman) at the Salzburger Festspiele, performed before the Salzburg Dom (cathedral). Max Reinhardt directed Moissi in this production in 1919 and 1920, and from 1926 till 1931. Caption: Everyman in front of the cathedral.


Austrian postcard by Traub, Salzburg. Photo: Ernst Maier (Atelier K. Hintner). Alexander Moissi as Jedermann in the stage production 'Jedermann' (Everyman) at the Salzburger Festspiele. Caption: Everyman in front of the cathedral.


German postcard by Verlag Louis Blumenthal, Berlin, no. 3233. Photo: Zander & Labisch. Alexander Moissi as the Jester in 'König Lear' (King Lear).


German postcard by Hermann Leiser Verlag, Berlin, no. 4165. Photo: Becker & Maass. Publicity still for a stage production of 'Die Räuber' (The Robbers) by Friedrich Schiller with Moissi as Franz Moor.


German postcard by Verl. v. Louis Blumenthal, Berlin, no. 3285. Photo: Becker & Maass. Alexander Moissi as Franz Moor in the stage play 'Die Räuber' (The Robbers) by Friedrich Schiller.


German postcard. Photo: Alexander Moissi as Hamlet in a stage production of 'Hamlet' by William Shakespeare.


Austrian postcard by Iris-Verlag, no. 328. Photo: Zimler.

Albanian citizen

Alexander Moissi’s last silent film was Kean (Rudolf Biebrach, 1921), based on the play by Alexandre Dumas père. Edmund Kean, born in 1787, was the greatest Shakespearean actor of his day. Remarkable is that Moissi’s first sound film, the Hollywood production Die Königsloge / The Royal Box (Bryan Foy, 1929), also told the story of Edmund Kean. The German-language production by Warner Bros. was not a success.

In the 1920s, Moissi had more success in Russia, France, Austria, and Italy than in Germany. After the rise of the Nazis in Germany, Moissi reportedly became an Albanian citizen in 1934 (some sources say that he got an Italian passport). After a successful stage tour through Italy in 1934, Mossi starred in the Italian film production Lorenzino de' Medici / The Magnificent Rogue (Guido Brignone, 1935) with Maria Denis. It would be his final film.

A year later, Alexander Moissi died of pneumonia in Vienna (some sources say Lugano, Switzerland) and lies buried at the Morcote cemetery overlooking Lake Lugano.

He was married twice. With his first wife, the Viennese actress Maria Moissi, he had a daughter, Bettina, who also would become an actress. In 1919, he married actress Johanna Terwin. He is the over-grandfather of German actor Gedeon Burkhard.

In his honour, the High College of Drama in Tirana, and the Professional Theatre of Durrës, Albania, are named ‘Aleksander Moisiu.’ The 60th anniversary of his death was remembered in Albania in 1995 with an Artistic Year dedicated to him; it was sponsored by the Aleksander Moisiu Foundation in Durrës.


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-Sterne series, no. 218/2. Photo: Becker & Maass, Berlin.


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-Sterne series, no. 218/3. Photo: Becker & Maass, Berlin.


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-Sterne series, no. 537/2. Photo: Amboss-Film / Dworsky Co. Alexander Moissi (left) in Der Ring der drei Wünsche/The Ring of Three Wishes (Arthur Wellin, 1918).


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-Sterne series, no. 537/3. Photo: Amboss-Film / Dworsky Co. Alexander Moissi and Ria Jende in Der Ring der drei Wünsche / The Ring of Three Wishes (Arthur Wellin, 1918).


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-Sterne Series, no. 537/8. Photo: Amboss-Film, Dworsky Co. Alexander Moissi, Ria Jende and Eduard von Winterstein in Der Ring der drei Wünsche (Arthur Wellin, 1918).


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-Sterne series, no. 538/4. Photo: Amboss Film. Alexander Moissi in Erborgtes Glück / Borrowed Happiness (Arthur Wellin, 1919).


German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin-Wilm, no. 7521. Photo: Hans Boehm. Caption: Alexander Moissi in seinem Heim (at home).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4725/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Defina.



German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin-Wilm., no. 8519. Photo: Becker & Maass. Caption: Alexander Moissi and his mother.


German postcard by Kunst-Verlag L. Murr, München, no. 406. Photo: Friede Hostrup, München.


German postcard by Kunst-Verlag L. Murr, München, no. 408. Photo: Friede Hostrup, München.


Italian postcard by Ed. Manenti Film, Roma. Alexander Moissi in the Italian historical film Lorenzino de' Medici (Guido Brignone, 1935). The Henry VIII-like figure is the perfidious Duke Alessandro, played by Camillo Pilotto, who covets Lorenzo's (Moissi) sweetheart (Germana Paolieri).

Sources: Stephanie D’heil (Steffi-line - German), Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

This post was last updated on 8 October 2025.

Three films starring Alexander Moissi

Albanian-Austrian Alexander Moissi (1879-1935) was one of the great European stage actors of the early-20th century. The attractive and charismatic women's idol also appeared in several silent and early sound films, in particular in Germany. Here are three silent examples, Pique-Dame (1918), based on the classic novella by Alexander Pushkin, Der Ring der drei Wünsche/The Ring of Three Wishes (1918) and Erborgtes Glück/Borrowed Happiness (1919) with Käthe Dorsch. All three films were directed by Arthur Wellin.

Pique-Dame (1918)

German postcard in the Film Sterne series, no. 522/2. Photo: Amboss Film. Alexander Moissi and Hertha Ruß in Pique-Dame (Arthur Wellin, 1918).


German postcard in the Film Sterne series, no. 522/3. Photo: Amboss Film. Alexander Moissi and Hertha Ruß in Pique-Dame in (Arthur Wellin, 1918).

His impressive and punchy performance

Pique-Dame (Arthur Wellin, 1918) was based on the eponymous novella by Alexander Pushkin and is situated in Russia, during the time of the Tsars in the 19th century. The young engineer lieutenant Stanislaus Kovolski (Alexander Moissi) is in constant need of money. One day he meets a fortune-teller who prophesies that a great windfall awaits him after he meets an old lady. His friend Prince Domsky (Eduard von Winterstein) tells him en passant in the club about his old aunt, Countess Balinski (Johanna Terwin). Stanislaus learns from his friend Paul that she acquired her great fortune through a mysterious card game. Now Kovolski is determined to meet the old lady. One of his first attempts to approach the countess leads to an acquaintance with Lisaveta (Hertha Ruß), an impoverished relative of the stony-rich noblewoman, with whom he quickly falls in love. The next time Stanislaus tries to secretly look over the old lady's shoulder in order to elicit the card game secret from her. Countess Balinski is so frightened that she suddenly drops dead.

From then on Count Stanislaus is haunted by nocturnal demons. Plagued by a guilty conscience, he constantly sees the dead old woman in his mind's eye as an eternal reminder. But Madame does not reproach him in any way. Rather, she tells Kovolski her secret: to achieve his goal, he must win the first three games on his next visit to the club. To do this, he must first bet on the three, then on the seven and finally on the ace. He succeeds on the first night. He bets on the three. The second night also brings him luck, this time with the announced seven. Confident of victory, he bets on his ace on the third night, which indeed also wins. Stanislaus now believes he has a future with Lisaveta, but when he wants to show his Ace, to his greatest surprise it is the Queen of Spades.

Count Kovolski is totally shocked, he cannot believe it. After all, he had seen the ace with his own eyes, and now this? He is deeply convinced that the dead countess wants to take revenge on him, who is to blame for the death of her heart, with this sign of fate from the beyond. He has bet everything in his confidence of victory, and now everything is gone. Count Kovolski's entire fortune is lost with a playing card. The shock is so deep that Stanislaus Kovolski gradually falls into mental derangement and finally ends his life in an insane asylum.

Pique Dame was produced at the beginning of 1918, passed the censors in March of the same year with a ban on young people and premiered on 17 May 1918 in Berlin's Tauentzienpalast. The length of the four-act play was 1521 metres. Producer Rudolf Dworsky also designed the film buildings. The scriptwriters were Rudolf Strauss and Carl Singer. His co-star Johanna Terwin also became Moissi's wife in 1919. Supporting parts were for Johannes Riemann, Ernst Pittschau and Ernst Deutsch.

The Kinematographische Rundschau, 31 August 1918 "It was a lucky move to get the best actor of Ibsen's and Tolstoy's characters, Alexander Moissi, for the film. (...) His impressive and punchy performance, with which he portrays the engineer lieutenant who has become a criminal out of his addiction to wealth, makes us forget that we only see Moissi on the screen. At the climax of the plot, when the lieutenant goes mad as a result of losing his game, the great artist's performance is almost overwhelming. Moissi's task is made easier by the other artists, especially Johanna Tenvin [sic] and Herta Russ, who do their best in combination with good direction. This film work gains a lot from the good photography, through which we can follow even the finest nuance in Moissi's play."


German postcard in the Film Sterne series, no. 522/4. Photo: Amboss Film. Alexander Moissi and Johanna Terwin in Pique-Dame (Arthur Wellin, 1918).


German postcard in the Film Sterne series, no. 522/6. Photo: Amboss Film. Alexander Moissi in Pique-Dame (Arthur Wellin, 1918).

Der Ring der drei Wünsche (1918)

German postcard by Rotophot in the Film Sterne series, no. 537/1. Photo: Amboss-Film / Dworsky Co. Alexander Moissi and Eduard von Winterstein in Der Ring der drei Wünsche/The Ring of Three Wishes (Arthur Wellin, 1918).


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-Sterne series, no. 537/2. Photo: Amboss-Film / Dworsky Co. Alexander Moissi (left) in Der Ring der drei Wünsche/The Ring of Three Wishes (Arthur Wellin, 1918).


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film Sterne series, no. 537/3. Photo: Amboss-Film / Dworsky Co. Alexander Moissi and Ria Jende in Der Ring der drei Wünsche/The Ring of Three Wishes (Arthur Wellin, 1918).

He wishes for youth, beauty and health

Der Ring der drei Wünsche/The Ring of Three Wishes (Arthur Wellin, 1918) was also produced by Rudolf Dworsky and scripted by Hans Land, a pseudonym of Hugo Landsberger, and Emil Rameau.

Alexander Moissi plays in this film a hunchback named Henrik who obtains a wishing ring. He wishes for youth, beauty and health. Moissi's co-actors were Belgian-German actress Ria Jende, Eduard von Winterstein and Paul Passarge.

The sculptor Henrik has had a hard time in life. Although blessed with great talent, he finds no affection from the opposite sex because of his conspicuous hump, but mostly only scorn and ridicule. His heart belongs to the enchanting circus performer Eva, but even she only has pity for the poor devil. One day, a dying Indian bequeaths a magic ring to the starving artist, which is supposed to grant him three wishes, and the recently world-weary sculptor believes he can finally turn his life around.

Henrik does not think twice and wishes for youth, beauty and wealth. But he has forgotten the most important thing in view of his passion for this woman: to wish himself happiness. And so the ring only brings him to curse and ruin, for although now rich, young and beautiful, he is only lied to and betrayed by everyone, even his friends and his beloved. Desperate and beside himself with anger, Henrik throws the ring far away from him and loses the last bit of happiness in his life.


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film Sterne series, no. 537/4. Photo: Amboss-Film / Dworsky Co. Alexander Moissi and Ria Jende in Der Ring der drei Wünsche/The Ring of Three Wishes (Arthur Wellin, 1918).


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film Sterne series, no. 537/5. Photo: Amboss-Film / Dworsky Co. Alexander Moissi and Ria Jende in Der Ring der drei Wünsche/The Ring of Three Wishes (Arthur Wellin, 1918).


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-Sterne Series, no. 537/8. Photo: Amboss-Film, Dworsky Co. Alexander Moissi, Ria Jende and Eduard von Winterstein in Der Ring der drei Wünsche (Arthur Wellin, 1918).

Erborgtes Glück (1919)

German postcard in the Film Sterne series, no. 538/1. Photo: Amboss Film. Alexander Moissi and Käthe Dorsch in Erborgtes Glück/Borrowed Happiness (Arthur Wellin, 1919). The child actor is most likely Waldemar Pottier.


German postcard in the Film Sterne series, no. 538/2. Photo: Amboss Film. Alexander Moissi as the baron, Eduard von Winterstein as the banker and Käthe Dorsch as the mistress in Erborgtes Glück/Borrowed Happiness (Arthur Wellin, 1919).

The tragic fate of a director

Erborgtes Glück/Borrowed Happiness (Arthur Wellin, 1919) was already shot in 1918, but the film was first screened in January 1919 at the Berlin cinema Tauentzienpalast. It was one of a series of five films with Alexander Moissi directed by Arthur Wellin and produced by Rudolf Dworsky. This series also included Der Ring der drei Wünsche (1918) and Pique Dame (1918).

In Erborgtes Glück, a banker (Eduard von Winterstein) arranges an insurance policy for a baron (Alexander Moissi), but he is the man who has committed adultery with the banker's own wife (Käthe Dorsch). After three years, the banker demands the man to kill himself, but instead the other shoots him.

Arthur Wellin (1880-prob. 1941) was a Jewish film director, originally Arthur Lewin. He had been a prolific stage director before shifting to film, the reason why Alexander Moissi ;engaged him as a film director for 5 films between 1918 and 1920.

Wellin was also co-owner of Amboss-Film, with Rudolf Dworsky. All in all, he directed some 27 silent films, and at times Wellin also acted. In 1933 he was expelled from acting by the Nazis when Adolf Hitler took over power in Germany.

In 1941 Arthur Wellin was deported from Prague to the Lodz ghetto in Poland, and from there, he was probably sent to one of the extermination camps.


German postcard in the Film Sterne series, no. 538/3. Photo: Amboss Film. Alexander Moissi as the baron, Eduard von Winterstein as the banker and Käthe Dorsch as the mistress in Erborgtes Glück/Borrowed Happiness (Arthur Wellin, 1919).


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-Sterne series, no. 538/4. Photo: Amboss Film. Alexander Moissi in Erborgtes Glück/Borrowed Happiness (Arthur Wellin, 1919). The child actor is most likely Waldemar Pottier.

Sources: Filmportal, Wikipedia (German) and IMDb. And our special thanks to Werner Mohr for helping identify the actors in the photos.

Der Ring der drei Wünsche (1918)

Famous stage actor Alexander Moissi played in Der Ring der drei Wünsche (Arthur Wellin, 1918) a hunchback who obtains a wishing ring: youth, beauty and health. Moissi's co-actors were Ria Jende and Eduard von Winterstein. The German silent film was produced by Rudolf Dworsky for Amboss-Film and Dworsky Co. and scripted by Hans Land (pseudonym of Hugo Landsberger) and Emil Rameau.


German postcard in the Film-Sterne series by Rotophot, no. 537/1. Publicity still for Der Ring der drei Wünsche/The Ring of the Three Wishes (Arthur Wellin, 1918) with left Alexander Moissi and Eduard von Winterstein.


German postcard in the Film-Sterne series by Rotophot, no. 537/2. Publicity still for Der Ring der drei Wünsche/The Ring of the Three Wishes (Arthur Wellin, 1918) with Alexander Moissi.

Deported from Prague to the Lodz ghetto

Arthur Wellin (1880-prob. 1941) was a Jewish film director, born as Arthur Lewin. He had been a prolific stage director before shifting to film.

This was a reason for Austrian actor Alexander Moissi to engage him as film director for 5 films between 1918 and 1920. Wellin was also co-owner of Ambross-Film, with Rudolf Dworsky.

All in all he directed some 27 silent films, and at times also acted. In 1933 he was expelled from acting when Adolf Hitler took over in Germany. In 1941 he was deported from Prague to the Lodz ghetto in Poland, and from there probably sent to one of the extermination camps.

Hugo Landsberger (1861-reported missing 1938) was a Jewish writer, who produced several socially engaged short stories, books and plays under the pseudonym of Hans Land, while he also produced popular entertainment works such as Stürme (1909) and Staatsanwalt Jordan (1915).

From 1913 he also wrote various film scripts for films including Die Richterin/The Judge (Paul von Woringen 1917) with Lotte Neumann, Die singende Hand/The Singing Hand (Arthur Wellin 1918) with Theodor Loos, and Die Sünde/The Sin (Alwin Neuss, 1918) with Ressel Orla. Land also acted occasionally, and directed the film Stürme/Storms (Hugo Landsberger, 1913), based on his own work.


German postcard in the Film-Sterne series by Rotophot, no. 537/3. Publicity still for Der Ring der drei Wünsche/The Ring of the Three Wishes (Arthur Wellin, 1918) with Alexander Moissi and Ria Jende.


German postcard in the Film-Sterne series by Rotophot, no. 537/8. Publicity still for Der Ring der drei Wünsche/The Ring of the Three Wishes (Arthur Wellin, 1918) with Alexander Moissi, Eduard von Winterstein and Ria Jende.

Sources: The German Early Cinema Database, Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.