Maria Nikolayevna Yermolova (russian: Мария Николаевна Ермолова; in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
– 12 March 1928, ''id.'') was a Russian actress, said to be the greatest in the history of the
Maly Theatre The Maly Theatre, or Mali Theatre, may refer to one of several different theatres:
* The Maly Theatre (Moscow), also known as The State Academic Maly Theatre of Russia, in Moscow (founded in 1756 and given its own building in 1824)
* The Maly Theat ...
in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
and the first person to be proclaimed the "
People's Artist of the Republic
People's, branded as ''People's Viennaline'' until May 2018, and legally ''Altenrhein Luftfahrt GmbH'', is an Austrian airline headquartered in Vienna. It operates scheduled and charter passenger flights mainly from its base at St. Gallen-Altenr ...
" (1921).
Career
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
The ( Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various ...
put it. Her contemporary and fellow Russian actor
Constantin Stanislavski
Konstantin Sergeyevich Stanislavski ( Alekseyev; russian: Константин Сергеевич Станиславский, p=kənstɐnʲˈtʲin sʲɪrˈgʲejɪvʲɪtɕ stənʲɪˈslafskʲɪj; 7 August 1938) was a seminal Soviet Russian t ...
proclaimed her the greatest actress he had ever observed, thus placing her above
Sarah Bernhardt and
Eleonora Duse
Eleonora Giulia Amalia Duse ( , ; 3 October 185821 April 1924), often known simply as Duse, was an Italian actress, rated by many as the greatest of her time. She performed in many countries, notably in the plays of Gabriele d'Annunzio and Hen ...
.

From 1889 to 1928 she lived in a house on
Tverskoy Boulevard
Tverskoy Boulevard (russian: Тверской бульвар) is one of the main thoroughfares in central Moscow. It is a part of the Boulevard Ring and begins at the end of the Nikitsky Boulevard, at the crossing with Bolshaya Nikitskaya Stre ...
in Moscow.
Following her death, her flat was designated a national monument, and the
Yermolova Theatre
The Yermolova Theatre (russian: Москóвский теáтр им. М. Н. Ермóловой) is a theatre company in the Tverskoy District of central Moscow. It is under the artistic direction of Vladimir Andreyev (russian: Владимир ...
in the Tverskoy District of Moscow still bears her name. A
minor planet
According to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a minor planet is an astronomical object in direct orbit around the Sun that is exclusively classified as neither a planet nor a comet. Before 2006, the IAU officially used the term '' ...
3657 Ermolova, discovered by
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
astronomer
Lyudmila Zhuravlyova
Lyudmila Vasilyevna Zhuravleva (russian: Людмила Васильевна Журавлёва, uk, Людмила Василівна Журавльова, Ljudmyla Vasylivna Žuravljova; born 22 May 1946) is a Soviet, Russian and Ukrainian ast ...
in 1978 is named after her.
Ermolova crater on Venus is also named in her honor.
References
External links
People's Artists of Russia
Soviet stage actresses
1853 births
1928 deaths
19th-century actresses from the Russian Empire
Russian stage actresses
{{Russia-actor-stub