Mariya Kapnist

Maria Rostyslavivna Kapnist, née Marietta Rostyslavivna Kapnist-Sirko (9 (22) March 1913 – 25 October 1993, Kyiv) was a Ukrainian actress, Honored Artist of the Ukrainian SSR (1988). During her spanning acting career (1956-1993) she played more than a hundred roles. Early life and education Marietta Kapnist-Sirko was born on 9 (22) March 1913 in St. Petersburg. Her father, Count Rostyslav Kapnist, was a direct descendant of Myrhorod and Kyiv colonel of the Zaporizhian Army Vasyli Kapnist and her mother, Anastasia Baydak – a great-great-granddaughter of Zaporizhian Otaman Ivan Sirko. Kapnist received her first vocal lessons from an Opera singer Feodor Chaliapin who was the first to draw attention at her talent during her first stage performance in a home play. The Kapnists lived in St. Petersburg until 1917 when they had to flee to Sudak, Crimea to escape from the revolutionary storms. In 1921, Kapnist’s father, Rostyslav, was shot by a punitive detachment of the Cheka. Soon, the Kapnists’ house in Sudak was destroyed, and the surviving family members had to go into hiding.