Separation from a son and 3 betrayals: What was the life of "grandmother in the window" Anastasia Zueva

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

She was a student and favorite of Stanislavsky, she served all her life at the Moscow Art Theater and at the very beginning of her career she played characteristic old women. Television viewers recognized her in the image of the grandmother-storyteller from the films-fairy tales of Alexander Row. Offstage, she was unusually graceful, she had a lot of fans, Joseph Brodsky dedicated poems to her, the Japanese millionaire was ready to throw all his wealth at Anastasia Zueva's feet. She survived the betrayal of the closest people, and after that she suffered incredibly from the consumer attitude of her son, from whom she was separated for many years.

Mother's betrayal

She was born in December 1896 in the Tula village of Spasskoye and until the age of five was, it seems, the happiest child in the world. Her father, Platon Zuev, was an engraver for samovars, and the family was considered, if not well-to-do, then quite well-off. The sisters, Nastya and Lisa, were very different. Liza is cheerful and mischievous, and Nastya is calm, thoughtful, loving loneliness and fishing.

When Anastasia Zueva was five years old, her father died suddenly of pneumonia, and her mother soon married a second time. Her chosen one was the gendarme colonel, who did not favor his wife's daughters too much. And my mother did not find anything better than to transfer the girls to be raised by her sister.

Fortunately, although her aunt was extremely strict, she loved her nieces and surrounded them with truly maternal care. She served as a steward on a rich estate, was in very good standing, and therefore they treated Liza and Nastya very well, even put them at the lord's table, where Nastya eagerly listened to conversations about art.

A little later, the aunt, along with her nieces, moved to Moscow, made acquaintance with the capital's intelligentsia, which could not but affect the formation of Liza and Nastya. They studied at the gymnasium, and after Nastya began to attend a theater studio. The aunt was categorically against Anastasia's hobby, but the girl successfully passed the selection to the private School of Dramatic Art.

The institution was considered prestigious and expensive, but the teachers from the very beginning saw an acting gift in the graceful Anastasia, and therefore enrolled her in free education. This became the decisive argument for the strict aunt to allow her niece to study acting. And soon Anastasia Zueva was accepted into the troupe of the 2nd studio of the Moscow Art Theater, and 8 years later, in 1924, she began to serve at the Moscow Art Theater.

Broken dreams of happiness

Almost immediately after the revolution, Anastasia Zueva married the head of the Northern Railways, Ivan Yevseyev. The actress hoped to live a long, happy life with her husband, in love and understanding. But Ivan Stepanovich imagined family life in a completely different way. Soon he began to demand from his wife a constant presence at home, and treated her service in the theater with disdain. He himself disappeared for days in a restaurant, did not deny himself the joys with ladies of easy virtue, and he began to raise his hand against his wife, not even embarrassed by the presence of his son Kostya, who was born in 1918.

After being dragged out by her husband for no reason, Anastasia Zueva left him. Ivan Evseev, in revenge, left his son with him and almost did not allow him to see his mother. Only when Konstantin entered the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics at Moscow State University, he was able to leave his father for his mother. Then the actress's son moved to the Zhukovsky Academy, at first he served as a military engineer, and later worked in the space industry.

But his relationship with his mother did not work out. He treated her like a consumer, and he found a spouse for himself such that more than anything in the world she loved money.

New betrayal

The actress was aware of all theatrical novelties, visited museums and exhibitions. She was always very graceful, took care of herself later, during the war, when she went to the front as part of a concert brigade. Anastasia Zueva always dressed carefully, always wore silk underwear and believed that a woman should look good under any circumstances. By the way, she had many government awards, but remained non-partisan, as she was a deeply religious person.

The career of an actress in the theater was quite successful, and her personal life improved. In the early 1930s, she married the famous composer Victor of Orange, who seemed to treat his wife with love and respect. Anastasia Zueva has always been a hospitable hostess, there were always a lot of people in her house, colleagues from the theater, academicians, artists, writers, students of the Moscow Art Theater School came to visit.

But the hospitality and cordiality of the actress played a cruel joke on her. When she took part in the life of a young lady who dreamed of a theatrical stage, the girl began to often visit Anastasia Zueva's house, took acting lessons and was preparing to enter the theater. But very quickly, dreams of the theater turned into dreams of the wife of their benefactor. And the young creature left the house of the actress, taking Victor of Orange with him. The young lady quickly legalized her marriage and made her husband happy with the birth of her daughter.

And five years later, already during the Great Patriotic War, she found herself a more prosperous spouse, leaving a daughter to Victor Oransky. The compassionate Anastasia Platonovna, together with her sister Elizabeth, went to her ex-husband. As a result, the husband, who had once betrayed the actress, and his daughter from another woman settled in the Zuevs' house. The daughter, though a negligent mother, soon took it away, but Victor Oransky lived in the house of his ex-wife until his death in 1953.

Anastasia Zueva forgave her ex-husband and, as the granddaughter of the actress Elena Simakova will tell afterwards, she continued to love him until the end of her days. And she categorically rejected the courtship of other men. When the Moscow Art Theater in 1959 was on tour in Japan, a very rich businessman fell in love with the actress. He courted the actress, offered her a hand and a heart several times, but Anastasia Zueva, with her usual tact, said a firm “no”. Nine years later, when the actress returned to Japan on tour, the situation repeated itself. The same millionaire continued to persistently seek her attention, surrounding her with warmth and care. And with no hope of reciprocity.

Loving grandmother

Anastasia Platonovna all her life tried to selflessly help people and could not accept the consumer attitude towards herself. This was the main reason for her discord with her son Constantine. They communicated very little with each other, but at the same time Anastasia Zueva raised his daughter Elena. Grandmother and granddaughter turned out to be the closest people.

The actress was strict with her granddaughter, but her love exceeded all strictness. Subsequently, Elena Konstantinovna admitted: no one has ever loved her as much as her grandmother. Anastasia Platonovna Lenochka did not spoil her, raised her by personal example, allowed her to communicate with her guests and was invariably proud that her granddaughter knows foreign languages. The actress remained faithful to her native Moscow Art Theater until the end of her days.

When she had her first stroke in 1954, she was able to recover and return to the stage. In 1986, another stroke took the life of the brilliant actress.

Anastasia Zueva played the same role in several of Rowe's films - an old storyteller, including in a fairy tale "Fire, water and copper pipes." In this film, Roe starred for the first time not only debutants, but also recognized masters - for example, Mikhail Pugovkin, for whom filming became a real test …