Ira Aldridge was a tragic actor, theatre director, and playwright, and the first American performer of Shakespearean roles to achieve worldwide fame. Born in 1807 in New York into a preacher's family, he debuted in the early 1820s at the African Grove Theatre in New York, performing in "Pizarro", "Romeo and Juliet", and "Hamlet". Due to racist persecution, the theatre was destroyed, and Aldridge moved to England. He studied at the University of Glasgow and successfully performed in London theatres. In the 1850s, the actor undertook an extensive tour of continental Europe. From 1858 (with breaks), he toured the Russian Empire, participating in performances "Othello" and "King Lear" in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Odessa, Kyiv, and Simferopol. In the Bakhrushin Theatre Museum online collection, you can find a portrait of Ira Aldridge in the role of Othello, as well as archival materials related to the actor.