Mauritz Stiller

Moshe Stiller was born on July 17, 1883, in Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland, into a Russian-Jewish family. To avoid conscription into the Tsar's army, he fled to Sweden in 1910, becoming an actor and director at Svenska Biografteatern alongside Victor Sjöström.

Stiller was a master of visual sophistication, pioneering romantic screen comedy with Erotikon (1920), which directly influenced Ernst Lubitsch, and directing epic Selma Lagerlöf adaptations like Sir Arne's Treasure (1919). In 1924, he directed The Saga of Gösta Berling, discovering young drama student Greta Gustafsson, naming her Greta Garbo, and mentoring her ascent. Moving to Hollywood with Garbo in 1925, creative clashes with studio executives led him to return to Stockholm, where he died tragically young at forty-five.