Galina Korotkevich

Galina Korotkevich is a Russian actress known for the leading role in Vesna v Moskve (1953). She was born Galina Petrovna Korotkevich on August 18, 1921, in St. Petersburg, Russia, into a family of actors. Her family lived on the Nevsky Prospekt, number 11, near the Hermitage museum. As a young girl she was fond of art, music and theatre. In the 1930s, she studied drawing and ballet, then took an acting class. Galina Korotkevich was nineteen when Hitler's troops attacked her country in WWII. The war changed her life forever. She survived the siege of Leningrad during the Nazi occupation of Russia in the Second World War. At that time she and her mother nearly died of starvation, but they survived. In her effort to help the resistance, Korotkevich formed a small concert troupe and gave over two thousand performances for soldiers in the front-lines during WWII. Several times she was risking her life. She narrowly escaped death under air-bombings by the Luftwaffe. Her cheering appearances before soldiers in the front-lines helped lift their spirits during the hard years of WWII. In 1945, after the war ended, Galina Korotkevich resumed her studies at the Leningrad Institute of Theatre, Music, and Cinematography. In 1946 she graduated from the acting class of Boris Sushkevich. From 1946 to 1962 she was member of the troupe at the Theatre of Lensoveta in Leningrad. There she shot to fame as Nadia Kovrova in the popular play "Spring in Moscow" directed by Nikolai Akimov. Eventually, the play was made into movie Vesna v Moskve (1953), and Korotkevich became an instant celebrity in the Soviet Union. Since 1962 Korotkevich has been a permanent member of the troupe at the Theatre of Komissarzhevskoi in St. Petersburg. There her stage partners were such actors as Tamara Abrosimova, Natalya Chetverikova, Natalya Danilova, Elena Safonova, Tatiana Samarina, Elena Simonova, Aleksandr Galibin, Georgiy Korolchuk, Stanislav Landgraf Vladimir Osobik, Boris Sokolov, Pyotr Shelokhonov, and other notable Russian actors. Galina Korotkevich was decorated for her feat as actress who performed for defenders of Leningrad during WWII. She was also honored as a survivor of the heroic siege of Leningrad. Korotkevich was designated People's Artist of Russia and was awarded for her works on stage and in film. During her acting career spanning over 70 years, she played over 70 roles on stage and also appeared on television. Galina Korotkevich also made memorable readings of Russian classic literature on many radio shows. She is currently residing in St. Petersburg, Russia.