Antonio Cunill Cabanellas

He emigrated to Buenos Aires in 1915 and quickly gained prominence in the vibrant local theatre scene, and became an early cinematographer and actor in the Argentine cinema, appearing in a 1917 comedy, Carlitos en Mar del Plata.

Cunill helped remedy the local shortage of skilled technicians in scenography and stagecraft by founding the National Institute for Theatrical Studies and authoring a number of technical texts and treatises.

A number of the lead actors he discovered during this era, such as Eva Franco, Duilio Marzio and Pepe Soriano, later became prominent in both Argentine theatre and film.

[3][4][5] Becoming assistant director of the National Music Conservatory, Cunill was named director of the largest popular stage theatre in Argentina, the public Teatro General San Martín, in 1953, and managed the institution during a difficult interim marked by a scarcity of venues (its new, modernist Corrientes Avenue building was under construction) and the instability leading to President Juan Perón's 1955 overthrow.

Cunill resigned on the eve of these events, and he returned at the helm of his National Institute for Theatrical Studies, teaching at its facilities adjoining the Cervantes Theatre until his death in 1969 at age 74.