10 main beauties of the Russian emigration who managed to conquer the world

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

Russian women have always been famous for their beauty. It is no coincidence that Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Romain Rolland and others called the fair sex, born in Russia, their muses. The heroines of our today's review lived in different countries, but their origin unites all of them. True, not all of them positioned themselves as Russians, but in the Western world they are known precisely as Russian beauties.

Marina Shalyapina

Fyodor Chaliapin, along with his family, was not going to leave Russia, but the poor health of his daughter Marina forced the family to emigrate. The girl tried to practice ballet, after a leg injury she became interested in the art of design, but she was able to become famous in emigre circles only thanks to her victory in the Miss Russia - 1931 competition, which was held for several years by the Illustrated Russia magazine. Subsequently, Marina Chaliapina became the wife of the Italian politician Luigi Freddie, in marriage with whom she gave birth to a daughter, Angela. After the war, she was engaged in organizing the leisure of passengers on a cruise ship and had the rank of naval officer. She began to visit her homeland already in the 1980s, took part in events in memory of her legendary father. She died at the 98th year of her life in Italy.

Olga Chekhova

She was born on the territory of modern Armenia into a Russian-German family. In Moscow, the future main star of the Third Reich married Mikhail Chekhov. Before emigration, she managed to star in several films, but she made a career and a name in Germany. The actress had a friendship with Goebbels, and her name is often mentioned in connection with Soviet intelligence, although there is no documentary evidence of this. After World War II, the actress lived in Germany, acted in films and owned a cosmetics company.

Vera Chekhova (Rust)

She became an actress, like her grandmother Olga Chekhova. True, as a child, Vera studied painting, but later she entered the drama school in Munich and began to actively act in films. A significant role in the popularity of the actress was played by her short romance with Elvis Presley. However, Vera Chekhova was very talented. She has played more than 40 film roles and was awarded Germany's highest national film award, the Deutscher Filmpreis. At a more mature age, she became interested in directing and made several documentaries.

Irina Baronova

The granddaughter of the director of Imperial Bank and the daughter of a naval officer became a real ballet star. She studied the art of dance with Matilda Kshesinskaya and Olga Preobrazhenskaya, and at the age of 11 she made her debut at the Paris Opera Ballet. A year later, she danced with George Balanchine, as part of the Russian Ballet Monte Carlo. Thanks to her first husband Jerry Sevastyanov (Stanislavsky's nephew), she ended up in the United States and even acted in films, but the ballerina did not like the atmosphere of Hollywood. Irina Baronova's second husband, Cecil Tennant, moved his wife to the UK, but forbade her to go on stage. When her husband died, she returned to ballet, but already as a teacher. Until her last days, she served as Vice President of the Royal Australian Ballet Academy.

Ksenia Kuprina

In Paris, she was better known than her father Alexander Kuprin. The father, a famous Russian writer, was even jealous of his daughter for success. She was called one of the most beautiful actresses, but when the taxi driver asked Alexander Ivanovich if he was the father of "the same Kisa Kuprina", the writer was somewhat upset. Ksenia was friends with many celebrities, including Edith Piaf and Antoine de Saint-Exupery. The return of Kisa's parents to Russia had a detrimental effect on her career, and turned many emigrants against the actress. During the "thaw" period, Ksenia Kuprina herself decided to move to her homeland, dreaming of a career in Soviet cinema. But the directors did not offer her to act, and in the Pushkin Theater, where Ksenia served, she played only cameo roles. In 1981, she died in Moscow from cancer.

Milla Jovovich

She was born in the capital of Ukraine, then moved with her mother, actress Galina Loginova, to Moscow and always considered and considers herself Russian. The actress surrounds herself with Russian friends, her best friend is also Russian, and Mila Jovovich herself is very fond of everything connected with Russia: songs, dances, humor, Russian cuisine. Despite the difficulties associated with the origin, Mila Jovovich was able to make a brilliant career in cinema, and her life can serve as a shining example of how to achieve your goal.

Helen Mirren

The English actress was born in the suburbs of London, but her father was Russian, and her grandfather Pyotr Mironov was a military engineer and Russian diplomat. The family changed their last name already in the 1950s, then the actress's father came up with an English derivative from the Mironovs. Helen Mirren began her career at the Old Vic Theater in London but became famous after joining the Royal Shakespeare Group. Today Helen Mirren is a real star of theater and cinema. She somehow joked about her origin: the upper part is English, but the lower part is definitely Russian.

Tamara Tumanova

She was called the black pearl of Russian ballet, although in fact many different bloods are mixed in Tamara Tumanova. Her mother belonged to the Georgian nobles Tumanishvili and Chkheidze, her father bore the surname Khasidovich, received from his adoptive parents, and was related to the South Russian and Polish nobility. In some sources it can be found among the ancestors of Tamara Tumanova and Armenians. Nevertheless, the ballerina became famous under the Russian surname, taken as a pseudonym, and then received official status upon obtaining American citizenship. She conquered the best scenes in the world, starred in several films, staged two ballets. The history of Russian ballet cannot be imagined without Tamara Tumanova. She died in 1996.

Natalie Wood

The actress changed her last name with her parents when they all received American citizenship. From birth, the future Hollywood star was called Natalya Nikolaevna Zakharenko, and the family ended up in the United States after fleeing Russia during the Civil War. Natalie Wood starred in films from the age of four and soon became one of the most popular child actors. Later, she gained fame as one of the most sought-after Hollywood actresses, on account of which she played about 80 movie roles. Unfortunately, the life of the actress ended at 43. She drowned under unknown circumstances while on a yacht.

Nicoletta Romanova

She was born and raised in Italy, her father is the politician Giuseppe Consolo, and her mother, Natalya Romanova, is the great-great-granddaughter of Nicholas I. True, the heiress of the legendary surname does not even know Russian, but Nicoletta, at the age of 18, began to study the language of her ancestors. She still speaks with an accent, but she is frankly proud of her origin and visits Russia. Nicoletta Romanova, starting her film career, took her mother's surname as a pseudonym and was able to become famous as an Italian actress and socialite.

The name of Maria Uspenskaya, nicknamed Maruccia, does not mean anything to most of our contemporaries, and this is not surprising. After the Moscow Art Theater actress did not return from a tour in the USA in 1924, she was forgotten in the USSR for many decades. In America, they know much more about her merits than at home, because she was one of the first to teach acting according to the Stanislavsky system in the United States. On Broadway, Maruccia became famous in the lead role in the play "Monkey", and in Hollywood, where she began acting after 50 years, her first role brought her an Oscar nomination.