Yelena Gogoleva

Yelena Gogoleva was a legendary Russian actress of the troupe at Maly Academic Theatre in Moscow. She was born Elena Nikolaevna Gogoleva on April 20, 1900, in the Russian Empire.

Her father, Nikolai Gogolev, was an officer for the Russian Tsar Nicholas II, and was decorated veteran of the Russian-Japanese War of 1904. Her mother was an actress in Russia. Young Gogoleva was performing on stage with her mother from the age of 6.

From 1908-1916 she studied at the Imperial Aleksandro-Mariinsky Institute for Noble Ladies.

From 1916-1918 she studied acting with the famous actor and director Aleksandr Yuzhin.

From 1918-1993 Gogoleva was a permanent member of the legendary troupe at Maly Academic Theatre in Moscow. There she played over 150 roles on stage.

In 1918 she made her theatre debut as a stage partner of then leading actress Maria Ermolova.

In 1920 Gogoleva gave birth to her son Igor, who later became a fighter pilot in WWII. That same year she received a precious medallion from actress Ermolova that she would wear through her entire life. Gogoleva was married to actor Vsevolod Aksyonov. They were both known in Moscow for riding horses across the city instead of driving cars.

During the 1930s Gogoleva became the leading actress of Maly Theatre. She worked on stage with such actors as Olga Sadovskaya, Nikolai Annenkov, A. Yablochkina, Varvara Massalitinova, Varvara Ryzhova, Yevdokiya Turchaninova, Vera Pashennaya, Varvara Obukhova, Yelena Shatrova, Elina Bystritskaya, Rufina Nifontova, Tatyana Eremeeva, Aleksandr Yuzhin, Aleksandr Ostuzhev, Vladimir Davydov, Sergei Aidarov, Stepan Kuznetsov, Prov Sadovsky, Boris Ravenskikh, Boris Babochkin, Mikhail Zharov, Mikhail Tsaryov, Igor Ilyinsky, Pavel Olenev, Mikhail Sadovsky, Konstantin Zubov, Viktor Khokhryakov, Vsevolod Aksyonov, Nikolai Ryzhov, Evgeniy Vesnik, Viktor Korshunov, Evgeniy Samoylov, Yuriy Solomin, and many other notable Russian actors. Gogoleva's stage performances were admired by such contemporaries as Vsevolod Meyerhold, Konstantin Stanislavsky, and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, among many others.

Gogoleva exhausted herself on stage by the end of the 1930s. At that time Soviet actors were often compensated with food instead of money. The atmosphere of political repressions under the dictatorship of Joseph Stalin imposed a heavy toll on many actor's careers.

In 1939, Gogoleva was diagnosed with tuberculosis of a throat. She was losing her voice and her acting career was at risk. She was treated by the best doctors in Moscow but the illness was progressing. Her last hope was to try silence.

In 1940 she left Moscow and spent over six months in silence.

In 1941 she made a comeback and successfully played the leading role in 'Varvary', a play by Maxim Gorky. Her son, named Igor, was a fighter pilot during the Second World War.

In 1942, Gogoleva received an official letter of his death from the Soviet authorities. In reality her son was taken to a Nazi concentration camp after his plane was downed and seized by the Nazis. He could not contact her for several years.

In 1945, Gogoleva received a letter from her son. He wrote that he was back in the Soviet Union, but he was imprisoned and treated badly, and suffered under restrictions from the Soviet authorities.

He was finally released and worked as a music record producer until his death in 1969. Gogoleva was hurt by her son's destiny, but her own life was not any sweeter.

In 1985 she broke her hip and her acting career was at risk. She managed to recover completely after a surgery.

From 1986-1993 she continued acting on stage of Maly Theatre.

In 1990 Gogoleva celebrated her 90th birthday on stage of Maly Theatre in Moscow. Her birthday party was attended by many celebrities, political and cultural figures of Russia. She was three times awarded the State Prize of the USSR, and was designated People's Artist of the USSR and Russia.