People's Artist of the USSR Elina Bystritskaya died at the age of 92 in Moscow. It is reported by RIA Novosti with reference to the director of the Maly Theater. It clarifies that in recent years Bystritskaya seriously ill.

According to preliminary data, the farewell to the actress will be held on April 29, the ceremony will be held in the Maly Theater. According to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, Bystritskaya will be buried in the Novodevichy Cemetery. The head of the Moscow City Duma Culture Commission, Yevgeny Gerasimov, said that it was necessary to perpetuate the memory of the people's artist.

“It is necessary and even necessary to make a memorial plaque, something that colleagues will probably offer it from the Maly Theater, this will be surely done and supported,” RIA Novosti quotes Gerasimov.

Meanwhile, public and cultural figures express condolences in connection with the death of Bystritskaya.

“This is really sad news. There are actors of the same role due to different circumstances. Elina Avraamovna, too, it would seem, was one of the most visible. But unlike many, she played many more roles in the theater and in the cinema. This is a big loss. There are people who, when present, means there is time. And when they are not there, the time is gone, ”said Vladimir Bortko, first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Culture, in an interview with RT.

The State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin called the death of the people's artist of the USSR an irreparable loss. The deputy noted the talent and human qualities of Bystritskaya.

“Elina Bystritskaya possessed a rare talent and skill to convey the full depth of human feelings, experiences, decisiveness and firmness of character, which manifested themselves in her youth - while working in the hospital during the Great Patriotic War. Several generations of spectators admire her playing in the “Quiet Don”, which still remains the benchmark for playing the role of Aksinya, ”the State Duma press service quotes Volodina.

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Actress Lyudmila Khityaeva, who played the role of Darya, the wife of Peter Melekhov in “The Quiet Don”, spoke about the collaboration with Bystritskaya.

“We worked together on the big picture“ The Quiet Don ”. We talked a lot about life, Elina was in great shape. Her soul was saved by the theater, she then still worked at the Maly Theater. Each nature gives a head start in life, each has its own account. Elina lived to a powerful date. Of course, this is bitter, we are all leaving, ”Khityaeva told RT.

Colleagues actress remember Bystritskaya as a strong-willed woman.

“She lived a very decent and beautiful life. She is a wonderful, wonderful person. A beautiful woman, talented, surprisingly stubborn, with an amazing character. For many years we were partners on stage, we had friendly, very good relations. The last time she played with me a few years ago was in the play “The Love Circle,” actor Boris Klyuev told RT in an interview.

Veteran of the Great Patriotic

Elina Bystritskaya was born in Kiev in the family of a doctor on April 4, 1928. During World War II, their family was evacuated to Astrakhan. Bystritskaya studied there at school and in parallel attended courses for nurses. At the age of 13, she became a nurse in a mobile evacuation hospital. After the war, she entered the Nizhyn obstetric and medical assistant school. There she began to visit the theater club. In the late 1940s, Bystritskaya entered the Kiev Theater Institute.

  • State Academic Maly Theater. A play by Maxim Gorky "The Old Man". Scene from the play. Sofya Markovna - People's Artist of the RSFSR Elina Bystritskaya, Old Man - People's Artist of the USSR Peter Konstantinov
  • RIA News
  • © Alexander Gladshtein

After the institute, Bystritskaya was accepted into the Vilnius Drama Theater troupe - she served there for three seasons, until 1956. Then Bystritskaya moved to the capital and settled in the Moscow Drama Theater. Pushkin. Since 1958, Bystritskaya served in the Maly Theater. Among the most famous performances with her participation - "Woe from Wit", "Masquerade", "Guilty Without Guilt", "Uncle's Dream" and "For every sage is quite simplicity."

Dreamed to play Aksinju


Bystritskaya began playing cinema while still a student at the Kiev Theater Institute. She made her debut in cinema in 1950, starring in the film “On Peaceful Days”.

The following tapes with the participation of Bystritskaya were rolled out in 1954-1955 (“The Bogatyr” goes to Marto ”and“ The Unfinished Tale ”).

Then, in 1955, Bystritskaya, as part of the official delegation, went to France for a week of Soviet cinema. In Paris, she learned about the beginning of the filming of the film “Quiet Don” by the novel by Mikhail Sholokhov.

At that time, director Sergei Gerasimov was looking for an actress for the role of Aksinya, for whom Nonna Mordyukova had already tried. Bystritskaya dreamed of playing the role of Aksinya since her student years. She was lucky - the author of the novel Mikhail Sholokhov himself approved her candidacy.

  • Shot from the film "Silent Don"
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  • © V. Kuzin

“It’s true that since I was a student, I really wanted to play Aksinho. Not quite true that she did not give me. The teachers simply tried to focus me on the role of the lyrical heroine, and I was always more attracted by the characteristic images, and I, of course, thankful for the fate of Sergei Appolinarievich Gerasimov and Mikhail Sholokhov himself for having the opportunity to embody Aksinho and, as time showed, coped well with this task, ”the actress later said.

Soon, roles in such films as “Volunteers”, “Everything remains for people”, “Summer Residents” and “Eternal Flame” followed, and in the 1970s the actress practically ceased to act in films, concentrating on work in the theater. She returned to the screens in the early 1990s.

For her contribution to the theater and cinema art, Bystritskaya was awarded a number of awards and prizes, including the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, the Triumph Prize, and the title of People's Artist of the USSR.