Leonid Sarvarian
Blog post description.
BIOGRAPHIES
9/26/20262 min read
Leonid Sarvarian was born in Tehran on October 27, 1942. His second name was given to him after his grandfather Tedious, so for most of his life his parents and family members called him Teddy.
Leonid's father, Mushegh, was a filmmaker, producer, and director, as well as a pioneer of graphic design in Iran. His mother, Jenia Mousissian, was a teacher and the principal of the Sarvarian School—an institution originally founded in 1910 by Leonid’s grandmother, Margarit Sarvarian.
A talented youth, he achieved his first artistic success in 1955 with a role in the film Bloody Moonlight (*Mahtab-e Khoonin*), directed by his father; the performance garnered praise from numerous film critics at the Tehran Festival.
In 1961, his father cast him in the lead role of the film Haji Jabbar in Paris; however, the film’s poor reception by audiences led Leonid to abandon acting as a career forever.
After completing his primary and secondary education, he joined the teaching staff at the Sarvarian School. Driven by talent, insight, and a passion for education, he advanced in his career and eventually became the school's principal. From the early 1960s until the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Leonid educated hundreds of students at the school, until it was forced to close due to circumstances beyond his control. Subsequently, he was appointed to teach religious studies to minority students in both public and Armenian schools. He continued in this role—his sole source of income—despite various challenges, until the late 1990s. He immigrated to Los Angeles, where he was greeted by a tribute ceremony organized by his former students, several community members and family. At the end of the ceremony he also received a commemorative plaque with a title that said - Thank you dear Mr. Teacher.
Beyond being an inspiring teacher to his students, he was also an actor, essayist, art critic, and poet. His book of poetry, A Written Heart, was published in Los Angeles in 1997 by his students as a tribute to him and was later translated into Farsi by another one of his students, Mr. Nikit Mirzaians in Farsi.
From 2010 onwards, Leonid resided in a nursing home in Glendale due to illness. For the most of that time he was bed-bound and unable to move out of his room. During this time his brother George, his nephew Ara and several of his student paid him a visit.
Leonid passed away on August 3, 2023, at a hospital in Los Angeles following a brief illness, with his nephews Ara and Armen by his side.