Genica Missirio (1895-?) was a Romanian actor who starred in the French silent cinema of the 1920s. Among his films are such classics as L’Atlantide / Lost Atlantis (Jacques Feyder, 1921) and Abel Gance’s epic Napoléon (1927).
French postcard by JRPR, Paris, no. 99. Genica Missirio in Figaro (Gaston Ravel, 1929), an adaptation of the classic play by Beaumarchais. Photo: Roger Forster.
French postcard by Éditions Cinémagazine, no. 414. Photo: Sartony.
Genica Missirio was born Eugeniu Mitirliu in Craiova, Romania, in 1895. In 1913, the young man from Craiova left to study in France. When Romania entered World War I, the young cavalry second lieutenant interrupted his stay in France to join the Romanian army on the battlefield. After the war ended, Missirio returned to Paris, where he attended law school. But the future lawyer's destiny took a different course. The exchange rates quickly became disastrous for the young man's pocketbook. He interrupted his studies to begin a career in cinema, as had been proposed to him.
He made his film debut at Gaumont in Le penseur (Léon Poirier, 1920). Missirio had his breakthrough as a film actor in the Orientalist adventure film L’Atlantide / Lost Atlantis (Jacques Feyder, 1921). The stars in this adaptation of the Pierre Benoit novel were Jean Angelo, Georges Melchior and Stacia Napierkowska.
Missirio played Captain Aymard, who at the beginning of the film finds Lieutenant Saint-Avit (Melchior) in the desert, almost dead. Recovered Saint-Avit narrates how the desert queen Antinéa (Napierkowska) seduced him in killing his buddy Captain Morhange (Angelo) when Morhange rejected Antinéa. A few years later, Saint-Avit cannot forget Antinea and, with Aymard, he goes back to her, despite what she has done.
The film, shot on location in the desert, was a huge commercial success, but the critical reception was less positive. The critics were in particular harsh against Napierkowska, who, now past her prime, was too rotund to be a femme fatale. A rare tinted nitrate copy was found and restored by the Netherlands Filmmuseum (now Eye, in combination with the French intertitles from a French copy, and had its international release at the 1992 Cinema Ritrovato festival in Bologna. In 2004, the Dutch restored print was released on DVD by Lobster, and in 2006 again by Home Vision Entertainment on the DVD Rediscover Jacques Feyder.
After L’Atlantide, Missirio was Serge Tchérenkol in Les ailes s’ouvrent / The Wings Open (Guy du Fresnay, 1921), opposite André Roanne and another actress from L’Atlantide: Marie-Louise Iribe. The following year, Missirio had the male lead in Du Fresnay’s comedy Margot (Guy du Fresnay, 1922), with Gina Palerme in the title role.
French postcard for the Louis Aubert production L'Atlantide (1921) by Jacques Feyder, based on the novel by Pierre Benoit. The card depicts the French captain Morhange (Jean Angelo) being received by the mysterious and cruel desert queen Antinéa (Stacia Napierkowska). The sets were by Manuel Orazi.
In 1923, Genica Missirio played L’Aristo, a notorious gang leader, in Vidoq, Jean Kemm’s adaptation of Arthur Bernède’s popular novel. René Navarre played the title role, and his co-stars were Elmire Vautier, Rachel Devirys and Dolly Davis. In the same year, he also acted in La bouquetière des innocents / The Innocent Flower Girl (Jacques Robert, 1923), the part of Concini, the favourite of the French Queen of Medici and the first minister of France, but hated by the French and finally killed on the instigation of King Louis XIII. Claude Merelle was the star of the film, playing the double role of Concini’s scheming wife Leonor, lady-in-waiting of the queen, as well as Margot, the innocent flower girl.
French postcard by JRPR, Paris, no. 99. Genica Missirio in Figaro (Gaston Ravel, 1929), an adaptation of the classic play by Beaumarchais. Photo: Roger Forster.
French postcard by Éditions Cinémagazine, no. 414. Photo: Sartony.
A huge commercial success
Genica Missirio was born Eugeniu Mitirliu in Craiova, Romania, in 1895. In 1913, the young man from Craiova left to study in France. When Romania entered World War I, the young cavalry second lieutenant interrupted his stay in France to join the Romanian army on the battlefield. After the war ended, Missirio returned to Paris, where he attended law school. But the future lawyer's destiny took a different course. The exchange rates quickly became disastrous for the young man's pocketbook. He interrupted his studies to begin a career in cinema, as had been proposed to him.
He made his film debut at Gaumont in Le penseur (Léon Poirier, 1920). Missirio had his breakthrough as a film actor in the Orientalist adventure film L’Atlantide / Lost Atlantis (Jacques Feyder, 1921). The stars in this adaptation of the Pierre Benoit novel were Jean Angelo, Georges Melchior and Stacia Napierkowska.
Missirio played Captain Aymard, who at the beginning of the film finds Lieutenant Saint-Avit (Melchior) in the desert, almost dead. Recovered Saint-Avit narrates how the desert queen Antinéa (Napierkowska) seduced him in killing his buddy Captain Morhange (Angelo) when Morhange rejected Antinéa. A few years later, Saint-Avit cannot forget Antinea and, with Aymard, he goes back to her, despite what she has done.
The film, shot on location in the desert, was a huge commercial success, but the critical reception was less positive. The critics were in particular harsh against Napierkowska, who, now past her prime, was too rotund to be a femme fatale. A rare tinted nitrate copy was found and restored by the Netherlands Filmmuseum (now Eye, in combination with the French intertitles from a French copy, and had its international release at the 1992 Cinema Ritrovato festival in Bologna. In 2004, the Dutch restored print was released on DVD by Lobster, and in 2006 again by Home Vision Entertainment on the DVD Rediscover Jacques Feyder.
After L’Atlantide, Missirio was Serge Tchérenkol in Les ailes s’ouvrent / The Wings Open (Guy du Fresnay, 1921), opposite André Roanne and another actress from L’Atlantide: Marie-Louise Iribe. The following year, Missirio had the male lead in Du Fresnay’s comedy Margot (Guy du Fresnay, 1922), with Gina Palerme in the title role.
French postcard for the Louis Aubert production L'Atlantide (1921) by Jacques Feyder, based on the novel by Pierre Benoit. The card depicts the French captain Morhange (Jean Angelo) being received by the mysterious and cruel desert queen Antinéa (Stacia Napierkowska). The sets were by Manuel Orazi.
Notorious gang leader
In 1923, Genica Missirio played L’Aristo, a notorious gang leader, in Vidoq, Jean Kemm’s adaptation of Arthur Bernède’s popular novel. René Navarre played the title role, and his co-stars were Elmire Vautier, Rachel Devirys and Dolly Davis. In the same year, he also acted in La bouquetière des innocents / The Innocent Flower Girl (Jacques Robert, 1923), the part of Concini, the favourite of the French Queen of Medici and the first minister of France, but hated by the French and finally killed on the instigation of King Louis XIII. Claude Merelle was the star of the film, playing the double role of Concini’s scheming wife Leonor, lady-in-waiting of the queen, as well as Margot, the innocent flower girl.
In 1924, Missirio played in Le cavalier de minuit / The Midnight Rider (R. Alinat, Maurice Champeroy, 1924), starring André Nox and Gina Manès. In the same year, he had the male lead in the Albatros production L’affiche / The Poster (Jean Epstein, 1924), with Nathalie Lissenko as his love interest.
In 1926, Missirio acted in L’espionne aux yeux noirs / The Black-eyed Spy by Henri Desfontaines and in another Pierre Benoit adaptation, Le soleil de minuit / The Midnight Sun by Richard Garrick and Jean Legrand.
The following year, Missirio was highly active. He played opposite René Navarre in both Poker d’as / Poker of Aces (Henri Desfontaines, 1927) and Belphégor (Henri Desfontaines, 1927). He was Joachim Murat opposite Albert Diedonné as Napoleon in Abel Gance’s epic Napoléon (1927). He also played the love interest of France Dhélia opposite Constant Rémy in Le chemin de la gloire / The Road to Glory (Gaston Roudès, 1927) and had the male lead in Le prince Zilah /Prince Zilah (Gaston Roudès, 1927) with France Dhélia.
Genica Missirio’s last films were Madame Recamier (Gaston Tavel, Tony Lekain, 1928), starring Marie Bell - Missirio played Lucien Bonaparte, and Figaro (Gaston Tavel, 1929), starring Edmond Van Duren and Arlette Marchal. Possibly because of his foreign accent, Genica Missirio never made the passage to sound cinema and quit film acting. Unknown is when or where he died.
French postcard by JRPR, Paris, no. 304. Genica Missirio, Marie Bell, and Ernst (Edmond) Van Duren - up in the tree]- in Figaro (Gaston Ravel, 1929), an adaptation of the classic play by Beaumarchais. Photo: Roger Forster.
French postcard by J.R.P.R., Paris, no. 306. Photo: Roger Forster. Arlette Marchal and Genica Missirio in Figaro (Gaston Ravel, 1929). Collection: Manuel Palomino Arjona @ Flickr.
Sources: De Ieri si de azi (Romanian), Cineressources and IMDb.
This post was last updated on 26 September 2025.
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