Olga Lepeshinskaya: biography, photo, personal life. Ballerina Lepeshinskaya Olga Vasilyevna and Stalin

Olga Lepeshinskaya is a ballerina whose biography is very interesting. She danced leading parties in the Bolshoi Theater, enjoyed the respect of Stalin and great authority around the world. We will talk about the fate of this great woman in this article.

Origin

Lepeshinskaya Olga Vasilievna was born in 1916 on September 28 in the family of Maria and Vasily Lepeshinsky. Revolutionary turmoil and civil war, this family has survived relatively calmly, and when the eradication of devastation began in Russia, the girl's daddy, a gifted engineer who built the Sino-Eastern Railway, became very demanded by the new government as an expert in designing bridges. Lepeshinsky were hereditary noblemen, however, repressions and regular cleansing of the "former" did not touch them. Grandfather Olga was a well-known People's Will, and her uncle was in exile along with V.I. Lenin - and this was the best indulgence in the 1920s.

Childhood

Olga Lepeshinskaya lived a measured and calm life together with her parents in Moscow on Solyanka. Father and mother of the girls dreamed that their daughter would continue the family dynasty and become a bridge engineer. However, Olga had completely different intentions. She loved to dance from childhood and wanted to become a ballerina. So she soon entered the State Ballet School at the Bolshoi Theater.

The training of future artists in this school was taken very seriously, because many of them later fell into the Bolshoi Theater. And on the famous stage Olga Lepeshinskaya came out very early - in 10 years. Then schoolgirls, second graders, represented a flock of birds, rejoicing in the arrival of spring, in the opera The Snow Maiden. Then the girl debuted and in her first real role - she embodied the image of Fairy Dragee in The Nutcracker. And after graduating from the ballet school, in which the school was reorganized in 1931, Olga danced already the main party.

Way to glory

At the age of 18, Olga Lepeshinskaya became famous. In 1935, she was involved in the premiere ballet "Three Fat Men", where she performed the party of the girl Suok. Her performances were enthusiastically received by the public, and in the press the young ballerina was christened as a rising star.

In addition, the young celebrity began to actively engage in social activities, first became a member of the District Committee and the Moscow City Committee of the Komsomol, then, four years later - a deputy of the Moscow Council. By that time the ballerinas were called "Order Bearer" on posters, and in 1937 she was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor. For an artist who recently celebrated the twentieth anniversary, this was a real recognition and a pledge of a brilliant career.

Different roles

However, not everything in the fate of the young celebrity was developing smoothly. Repression of the 1930s did not bypass the ballerina family. Olga Olga's aunt was arrested once, but fortunately, Olga Lepeshinskaya, Olga Vasilievna, was not affected by this. In the theater, the artist always performed new roles. She portrayed Zina in the "Bright Stream", embodied the image of Princess Aurora in "Sleeping Beauty", danced Pauline in the "Caucasian Captive" and Masha in the "Nutcracker". She also happened to perform the role of Odette-Odile in Swan Lake. About Olga often and favorably responded in the press. But the ballerina herself was not always satisfied with what she was doing. For example, when she considered that she would not be able to perfection the party of Odette, she asked the leadership to release her from participation in the "Swan Lake". Such a case was unprecedented for that time. And the best of her roles, Olga called the party Svetlana in the production of the same name and Kitri in the ballet Don Quixote. Lepeshinskaya never suffered from a "stellar" disease and really assessed her achievements. At the end of her career, she claimed that her choreography was not outstanding, but the natural technique and fiery temperament made her inimitable.

Olga Lepeshinskaya and Stalin

The career of the ballerina was very successful because she was very strict about herself and constantly engaged in self-improvement. The performances of the artist were so good that Stalin himself drew attention to her, jokingly called "dragonfly", and after the establishment of the Stalin Prize she personally put her name on the list of the first laureates. This happened before the start of the Great Patriotic War, therefore, having received a huge amount of money (100,000 rubles), Olga gave most of it to the defense fund. The leader of the peoples always had a weakness for Lepeshinskaya and often spoiled her with expensive gifts. Once in the Kremlin, a ballerina was drinking champagne, and she really liked the glasses. The next day she was delivered a pair of such glasses with engraving "Jumping-dragonfly from Stalin."

Military years

Olga Lepeshinskaya is a ballerina with a rich biography. During the war the Bolshoi Theater was evacuated to Kuibyshev. In those years the ballerina not only constantly performed on stage, but also traveled all over the country with concerts. She repeatedly danced and before the soldiers at the front. Once her concert brigade nearly fell into captivity with the Germans. Lepeshinskaya learned of this only in 1975, when she received a letter from an officer who was at that meeting. He said that immediately after the concert and the departure of the artists, the road was blocked by the fascists and a bloody battle ensued. They say that Lepeshinskaya, who had accumulated 14 orders at the end of her life, considered the medals "For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945" and "For the Defense of Moscow" to be the most expensive awards, rightly believing that in the victory over the fascists there is also Her contribution.

New achievements

Olga Lepeshinskaya worked a lot during the war. Her new big role was Assol's party in Scarlet Sails. In 1943, she already danced in Moscow on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater. The first production in the postwar years, in which the ballerina was involved, was "Cinderella" by S. Prokofiev. In it the ballerina performed the main part. The image, embodied by Lepeshinskaya, was very much in line with time, for her heroine, after hard trials, comes with happiness and long-awaited love. For this role in 1946, Olga was awarded another Stalin Prize. After that, in 1947 and 1950, she received two more - for the parties performed in the "Flame of Paris" (Jeanne) and "Red Poppy" (Tao Hoa). In 1951, Olga Vasilyevna, together with Galina Ulanova, was awarded the title People's Artist of the USSR.

Personal life

Olga Lepeshinskaya, whose personal life interests many, married three times. In 1956 she met with General Alexei Antonov. After a while the lovers got married and healed happily. For the ballerina, it was the third marriage. Then colleagues Lepeshinskaya joked that she went to the promotion, because her previous wife was Lieutenant-General Raykhman Leonid. In 1951, he was suddenly arrested, but the ballerina managed to agree on his release. There were many rumors about this, but the truth was known only to her, to Beria and, possibly, to Stalin. The family of the actress disintegrated after that.

The third marriage of the ballerina was happy, but in 1962 Antonov died suddenly. This loss, Olga Lepeshinskaya experienced hard, she almost lost sight. After that, it was possible to forget about performances in the theater. Vision was eventually restored, and for several years the actress worked in Italy, engaged with young ballerinas. Then Olga Vassilyevna tried again to return to the stage. However, I realized that her choreography had changed, the joy and soul-raising that characterized her dances were gone. Then Lepeshinskaya went abroad for many years.

Pedagogical activity

Olga Lepeshinskaya, whose photo was published in the most famous publications of the world, worked in different countries. She created ballet national troupes, passed her rich experience to the beginning ballerinas. Olga Vasilievna really wanted to work at home, but her pedagogical abilities were not appreciated. At the same time, the authority of the artist in the theater was indisputable, for more than thirty years Lepeshinskaya was the head of the organizing committee of international ballet competitions in Moscow and the president of the Russian Choreographic Association. This remarkable woman had so many honorary titles and international awards that she even found it hard to remember some of them.

Inheritance

Olga Lepeshinskaya, whose biography is very instructive, was a man of seething energy, until the last days she continued to work. The great artist died in 2008 on December 20, and she was buried in Moscow at the Vvedenskoye cemetery. However, the glory of the ballerina is short-lived, and no one was interested in the fate of Olga Vasilievna before her death. Near her there were new friends, who after her death received a rich heritage of celebrity. It included old canvases, expensive furs and jewelry, as well as elite real estate. Of course, Olga Lepeshinskaya is a ballerina, whose legacy is far from that. She gave joy to the surrounding people, worked hard, shared her rich experience, but there was almost no material evidence of her talent, and outsiders took possession of the values that she had. This story was actively discussed in the media, but did not receive proper development. Some of the artist's pieces were later transferred to the State Central Theater Museum named after Bakhrushin and are now treasured in it.

Lepeshinskaya Olga, whose biography is full of vivid events, has lived a long and interesting life. She until the last days remained a strong man with an iron will and principles.