Karamian, Erazm

(real surname, Melik-Karamian). Born Mar. 2 (15), 1912, in Paris. Soviet motion-picture director; People’s Artist of the Armenian SSR (1966). Member of the CPSU since 1945.

Karamian graduated from the School of Drama in Kharkov in 1935. He began working in Armenian cinema in 1936. In 1947–54 he directed newsreels and in 1954 began making feature films. His most important works (with S. A. Kevorkov) are The Path of Thunder (1956), Known Personally (1958), Mission Extraordinary (1965), and Explosion Past Midnight (1966). He also directed The Ghosts Leave the Summits (1955), Nasreddin in Khodzhent, or the Charmed Prince (1960, with A. I. Bek-Nazarov), and The Twelve Fellow-Travelers (1962). He took part in writing the screenplays for several of his films. Karamian was awarded the State Prize of the Armenian SSR (1967), two orders, and also medals.