Rza Tahmasib was born in Nakhchivan.

He studied at the "Mektabi-Tarbiye" (1901-1906) and the Nakhchivan city school (1906-1909).

During the events that took place in Nakhchivan in 1918, he fought against the enemy as part of self-defense groups to prevent the massacres committed by Armenians.

After 1918, he continued his activities in Baku. After the establishment of Soviet power, in 1921, he received an offer to go to Turkey and work as a translator in a diplomatic mission. In September 1921, he was one of the two employees of the Information Department, which was included in the 28-person Azerbaijani delegation that went to Turkey. In August 1922, he returned to his homeland and devoted his subsequent activities to the development of theater and cinema.

He studied at the Directing Department of the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography (1937, Sergei Eisenstein's workshop).

He began his stage career in 1910 in the theater troupe of the Union of Muslim Artists in Tbilisi. Since 1920, he worked as an actor, director, artistic director (1922-1924), director (1937-1938, 1953-1959) at the Azerbaijan State Drama Theater, as well as a director and artistic director at the film studio.

Honored Artist (1943), People's Artist (1964), laureate of the USSR State Prize (1946) Rza Tahmasib died in 1980.

Director, actor Rza Tahmasib is the brother of writer, playwright Mammadhuseyn Tahmasib.