What illness Tigran Keosayan faced
He was only 30 when his health began to fail.
The news of Tigran Keosayan’s death came as a shock to many, despite months of anxious waiting. At the end of 2024 the director suffered clinical death, after which he fell into a coma. From that moment on, the Keosayan family and all who cared prayed for his recovery, but on 26 September Margarita Simonyan wrote on her Telegram channel: «Tonight, Tigran went to the Creator. Thank you to everyone who prayed.» In fact, Tigran Keosayan clung to every chance to survive not only in the last nine months. Behind the long and painful farewell lay a years-long, largely invisible struggle few suspected.
Family, colleagues, and viewers hoped for recovery throughout the months of uncertainty.
«They thought he would live to 46»
Tigran Keosayan was born into a family where cinema was like air. His mother was an actress, and his father a director who gave the world «The Elusive Avengers» (6+) (Soviet adventure film). From childhood he felt the weight of responsibility, which his father reminded him about:
— «This surname isn’t yours and not even mine; the name doesn’t belong to us. We must do good things, and we have no right to disgrace it,» said Edmond Keosayan to his son.
From childhood, Keosayan lived with one principle: don’t let his father down. So after school he threw himself into work. His first job was at the «Mosfilm» (Mosfilm Studios) film studio, where he ran errands.
Beyond directing, Tigran Keosayan also appeared as an actor in several films.
After military service he seriously took up film directing, following in his father’s footsteps. In every offer he saw a chance to prove to the world that he could handle it and do it better than anyone. That approach backfired after work on the comedy «Poor Sasha» (0+).
— «Shoots on set lasted 22 hours a day. Then I went down with atrial fibrillation. But I couldn’t pass up the chance that appeared to make this film,» he believed.
In the 1990s, together with his older brother David, Keosayan opened the Gold Vision studio, where he shot commercials and music videos for stars. The workload grew even more. Orders rolled in one after another: shoots for Mikhail Shufutinsky, Irina Allegrova, and Diana Gurtskaya. At the same time, Keosayan continued making films and in 2007 began working on television as host of the program «Evening with Tigran Keosayan» (16+).
Each episode featured invited stars joining Tigran Keosayan to discuss current topics.
Years of working everywhere at once and the colossal tension that had built up over decades took their toll. In 2008, when he was 42, the director was hospitalized in a pre-infarction state, and a stent was placed to improve blood flow. Despite the serious procedure, Keosayan did not take the doctors’ concern seriously and was already determined to return to the air and to filming as soon as possible.
— «I hope that very soon we’ll meet again on the air. And our tomorrow will definitely be better than today!» Tigran told his fans optimistically after the operation.
However, “tomorrow” turned out to be less joyful. Just two years later, in 2010, Keosayan had a heart attack, after which the prognosis was grim.
— «Doctors gave him three years to live. And we still often discuss this with his doctors — they thought he would live to 46,» his wife, Margarita Simonyan, later recalled.
«If I’d been there, it wouldn’t have happened»
The doctors were wrong — instead of three years, the director lived 15. And all those years he refused to slow down. Instead of rest with minimal stress, he kept making films and hosting programs, to the doctors’ genuine surprise. Viewers saw a confident, energetic host on screen, unaware that behind the smile and fiery speeches stood a titanic will. Any stress or overexertion could have been his last.
Margarita Simonyan spoke about her husband’s condition during the program’s studio interview.
Margarita Simonyan remained anxious for her beloved but told no one. Only in 2019, on one show, did she casually mention that she was waiting for Keosayan to quit smoking.
— «Not yet, but I hope he will,» Simonyan said to the audience, who had no idea how destructive the habit was for the director.
In late December 2024, Tigran Keosayan suffered a massive heart attack. At that moment his wife was not there.
— «For once, I wasn’t there. If I’d been there, it wouldn’t have happened,» Simonyan said bitterly on the show «A Person’s Fate» (12+).
She arrived at the hospital right after her husband. And she saw how, despite all the doctors’ efforts, the director experienced clinical death and fell into a coma due to chronic heart problems and a history of heart attacks. For the first month, Margarita refused to leave the hospital, waiting for her beloved to open his eyes and come to. Later she said through tears that in despair she was ready for a reckless step:
— «I decided that if this really is a coma and such a severe situation, then I would go to the SVO (special military operation), because I simply cannot live any longer. Of course, they’ll ‘kill me’ on the second day, and I’ll go fly to meet the Lord.»
Margarita never heard her husband utter a word in response to her pleas.
Until 30 January the director did not react to anything at all. Then a faint hope appeared — he began responding to his wife’s voice.
— «He doesn’t speak, but he responds. I tell him: “Honey, if you hear me, blink.” He blinks. I say something to him: “Let’s go home, let’s go home.” He opens his mouth, starts moving, stretches out his hands. We communicate, he responds to me. I kiss his little feet, and he bends the toes on his feet,» Simonyan shared in April.
However, the doctors offered no predictions, acknowledging that the situation was beyond their capabilities, and that the longer a person remains unconscious, the fewer the chances of recovery.
— «Doctors say everything is in God’s hands. That all this is already beyond medicine. Some people emerge from a coma; some do not. Why it happens or doesn’t — not one doctor has been able to explain,» said Margarita.
For nine months the family hoped for a miracle, but it did not happen. On the night of 26 September 2025, Tigran Keosayan died without regaining consciousness. Keosayan had undergone aortocoronary stenting multiple times; seven stents and a pacemaker had been implanted in his heart. The preliminary cause of death was acute heart failure.
