Mariya Prizvan-Sokolova

Maria Aleksandrovna Prizvan-Sokolova was born on April 1, 1909, in Russia. She studied art and acting at the State Artistic Studio in Leningrad and graduated in 1931 as an actress. From 1931-2001 Prizvan-Sokolova was a permanent member of the legendary troupe of Bolshoi Drama Theatre (BDT) in St. Petersburg (Leningrad). She made a remarkable stage career under directorship of Georgi Tovstonogov at the BDT. There her stage partners were such stars as Vasili Sofronov, Oleg Basilashvili, Tatyana Doronina, Alisa Freyndlikh, Lyudmila Makarova, Svetlana Kryuchkova, Zinaida Sharko, Natalya Tenyakova, Elena Popova, Valentina Kovel, Kirill Lavrov, Innokentiy Smoktunovskiy, Vitali Politseymako, Oleg Borisov, Vladislav Strzhelchik, Yefim Kopelyan, Sergey Yurskiy, Evgeniy Lebedev, Ivan Palmu, Pavel Luspekayev, Nikolay Trofimov, Georgiy Shtil, Pavel Pankov, Mikhail Volkov, Leonid Nevedomsky, Vsevolod Kuznetsov, Vadim Medvedev, Yuriy Demich, Gennadiy Bogachyov, Andrey Tolubeev, and many other remarkable Russian actors. Maria Prizvan-Sokolova was designated the title of People's Artist of Russia. Her acting career spanned over 70 years. She played her last premiere on stage of Bolshoi Drama Theatre (BDT) in St. Petersburg at the age of 90. Her performances were among the highest examples of stage acting. Maria Prizvan-Sokolova was also a reputable acting coach in Leningrad (St. Petersburg). She was the first acting teacher of such stars as Alisa Freyndlikh and Olga Volkova among many others. She died on July 17, 2001, in St. Petersburg, Russia.