August 17: Vera Maretskaya, "the mistress of the Mossovet Theatre," died.
On August 17, 1978, Vera Maretskaya, a 75-year-old Soviet theater and film actress and winner of four Stalin Prizes, died in Moscow. She was known as the "mistress of the Mossovet Theater": she performed there for almost forty years and "lobbied" for a new building for the theater.
Here I stand before you, a simple Russian woman, beaten by her husband, frightened by priests, shot by enemies - and yet still alive! I stand and think - why am I here?
(from the film "Member of the Government")
Childhood behind the scenes of the circus
Vera Maretskaya was born in 1903 in Barvikha, near Moscow, to a wealthy merchant family. Her father co-owned an iron foundry and ran a buffet at the Nikitin Circus, and after the 1917 Revolution, he worked as a bartender at the State Circus. Vera spent her childhood behind the scenes at the circus with her brothers and sister.
She dreamed of the stage from an early age: at 12, she made her debut as a hussar in a village drama club production. After studying for a year in the philosophy department of Moscow University, she dropped out.
Zavadsky Theatre and first film roles
At 21, Maretskaya graduated from the Vakhtangov Theatre School-Studio. That same year, she married her teacher, director and educator Yuri Zavadsky. For many years, she was a prima ballerina at his studio theater, which performed in basements, as the theater lacked a permanent location.
At 22, she began acting. Her first roles were in the drama "His Call" and the comedy "The Tailor from Torzhok," directed by Yakov Protazanov. Critics recognized her talent.
Maretskaya is good, but she's still afraid to play.
(Soviet Screen)
Rostov-on-Don and the executed brothers
In the 1930s, with the onset of the campaign to abolish "overly flamboyant, unorthodox theaters" and "transfer" them from the capitals to the regions, Maretskaya and her troupe found themselves in Rostov-on-Don. She performed at the Gorky Theater.
In 1937, she survived the execution of two brothers—both "Red Professors": one an associate of Bukharin, the other a historian and teacher. Her sister miraculously survived Stalin's camps thanks to Vera's intercession.
Member of the Government
In 1940, Maretskaya starred in the drama "Member of the Government," playing the peasant Alexandra Sokolova, who was elected to the Supreme Soviet. A true city girl, the actress convincingly portrayed a rural worker and inspired many Soviet women to fight for their rights. The final scene, where the heroine speaks from the podium of the Supreme Soviet, was particularly powerful.
I only regret that my youth was wasted on someone else's field, on the master's pots, on my husband's fists. I look at my good fortune now and believe: maybe my word will be enshrined in law!
The owner of the Mossovet Theatre
From 1940 until the end of her life, Maretskaya performed at the Mossovet Theatre. She wielded considerable influence over its director, Yuri Zavadsky—by then they were divorced but maintained a business relationship—for which she was known as the "mistress of the theater." She was renowned for her assertiveness: for example, she successfully pushed through the construction of a new theater building.
Friend and colleague Faina Ranevskaya valued Maretskaya for her “rare talent, human charm, humor, and mischief.”
War, funeral notices, and Stalin's prizes
With the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, Maretskaya and the theater were evacuated to Kazakhstan. She was a member of the Anti-Fascist Committee of Soviet Women.
In 1943, she starred as the partisan Praskovya Lukyanova in Friedrich Ermler's drama "She Defends the Motherland." As filming neared its end, the studio received a funeral notice for Maretskaya's second husband, actor and theater teacher Georgy Troitsky, who had volunteered for the front. To film her final scene, the director changed the date on the telegram and delivered it a day later, urging the entire crew to remain silent. The film was a resounding success—Maretskaya later received a Stalin Prize for this role.
Actress V. Maretskaya managed to create a powerful image of a simple Russian woman, a patriot, passionately loving her homeland and merciless in her sacred revenge against her enemies.
(Minister of Cinematography of the USSR Ivan Bolshakov)
To cope with the death of her husband, the actress went to the front and performed poems and monologues from films in front of soldiers.
In 1947, she played another leading role in the drama "The Village Teacher," receiving another Stalin Prize for it. There were four in total: Maretskaya was one of the leader's favorite actresses. The press called the film one of the best about the Soviet intelligentsia of the post-war years.
The last role
At 68, Maretskaya was diagnosed with cancer, but she continued to perform on stage. Her last role was in the play "The Strange Mrs. Savage."
