Sandro Akhmeteli (Georgian: სანდრო ახმეტელი; real name: Aleksandre Akhmetelashvili, ალექსანდრე ახმეტელაშვილი) (April 13, 1886 – June 27, 1937) was a Georgian theater director whose innovative conceptions and skill at mass scenes profoundly influenced the evolution of Soviet and post-Soviet Georgian theater tradition. Commonly regarded as the greatest of all Georgian theater directors,[1] he directed, from 1926 to 1935, the Rustaveli Theater in Tbilisi, Georgia, and transformed it into one of the most successful troupes in the Soviet Union. During Joseph Stalin’s Great Purge, he was arrested on trumped-up[citation needed] charges of espionage and executed.