Maria Yermolova
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Maria Nikolayevna Yermolova (Russian: Мария Николаевна Ермолова; July 15 [O.S. July 3] 1853 in Moscow — March 12, 1928, id.) was said to be the greatest actress in the history of the Maly Theatre in Moscow and the first person to be proclaimed the "People's Artist of the Republic" (1921).
In the course of her 50-year career, Yermolova particularly excelled in the roles which allowed her to "emphasize her independence of spirit and her popular heroism in defiance of corrupt authority", as the Encyclopædia Britannica put it. Konstantin Stanislavsky famously proclaimed her the greatest actress he had ever observed, thus placing her above Sarah Bernhardt and Eleonora Duse. Following her death, her flat was designated a national monument, and one of the Moscow theatres still bears Yermolova's name.
