Mark Weil, Tashkent Theater Director, is murdered at age 55

An Ashkenazi Jew and star of the arts in Uzbekistan, Mark Weil, the artistic director at Tashkent's famed Ilkhom Theatre, Uzbekistan, was found murdered near his home Thursday night. There were stab wounds all over his body.

The police said the murder was carried out by two men and it is is believed to have been an anti-Semitic act. Weil was involved in the local Jewish community and founded a theater that often hosted Israeli drama and literature festivals. His attackers were not apprehended.

Weil founded the theatre in 1976, and it was one of the first to not depend on any Soviet state cultural institution. In 1989, the Ilkhom founded a drama school.