Menahem Natanovich Gnessin (Russian: Мена́хем Ната́нович Гне́син; Hebrew: מנחם גנסין; 1882–1951) was an early Russian Jewish actor and Hebrew language instructor[1] who created the Amateur Dramatic Arts Company in 1907 for presentation of plays in Hebrew.[2] In 1917, at Moscow he also helped start Habimah, the world's first professional Hebrew theater.[3] He is best known as an actor in the 1933 drama, Oded the Wanderer.[4] Gnessin wrote articles about his time in the theater, and published memoirs titled Darki im ha-Te'atron ha-Ivri, 1905–26 (My Career in the Hebrew Theater, 1946).[2]
Born in Starodub, he emigrated to Palestine, where he died in 1951.[5]