It was founded in 1942 as the City Theatre (at the time, the city, then Leningrad, was
besieged by the German army. It then became the Blockade Theatre, or, as it is sometimes translated, the Besieged Theatre). The company was legitimized as a drama theatre in 1943. It was renamed after V.F. Komissarzhevskaya in 1959, and granted academic status in 1994. It is located in the former “Passage Hall” of the elite department store
The Passage. The same building housed many theatre companies before 1942, most notably, the
Komissarzhevskaya Theatre (), a private theatre under the directorship by V.F. Komissarzhevskaya herself, in 1904–1906 (this troupe operated in 1904–1909). The Cambridge guide to American theatre - Page 375 Don B. Wilmeth - 2007 "He directed two productions for the Theatre Guild (1923) and in 1939 emigrated to the US, where he established the Komisarjevsky Theatre Studio (NYC) — sic: Komisarjevsky Theatre Studio by HIS own name, not his sister’s.--> ==Notable actors==