Olga Knipper
Encyclopedia
Olga Leonardovna Knipper-Chekhova ' onMouseout='HidePop("12588")' href="/topics/Glazov">Glazov
– 22 March 1959 in Moscow
) was a Russia
n stage actress. She was married to Anton Chekhov
.
Knipper was among the 39 original members of the Moscow Art Theatre
when it was formed by Constantin Stanislavski in 1898. She played Arkadina in The Seagull
(1898), played Elena in the Moscow premiere of Uncle Vanya
(1899), and was the first to play Masha in Three Sisters
(1901) and Madame Ranevskaya in The Cherry Orchard
(1904). Knipper married Anton Chekhov, the author of these plays, in 1901. Knipper-Chekhova played Ranevskaya again in 1943, when the theatre marked the 300th performance of The Cherry Orchard. The German actress Olga Chekhova
was her niece and the Soviet composer Lev Knipper
was her nephew.
In 1894, Olga's father died unexpectedly, leaving the 25 year old and her mother troubled by the outstanding debts he left behind from living well beyond their means. Olga and her mother both began giving music and singing lessons to make ends meet. They also dismissed four of their five servants, and moved into a smaller flat. Olga's hopes of becoming a successful stage actress had not yet diminished. Going ahead with her intentions without her mother's approval and giving up her social circle relations was a sacrifice Olga was willing to make: "Whenever in my life I really wanted something, and really believed in the possibility of achieving what I wanted and acted energetically, I always succeeded and never regretted going my own way", she wrote.
She enrolled briefly into the Maly Theatre's drama school, although she dropped out one month later. With the help of her reluctant mother, Olga enrolled at the Philharmonic School, where she was taught by the future co-founder of the Moscow Art Theatre
, Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko
. Nemirovich introduced Knipper and fellow student Vsevolod Meierhold (who would later become one of the most prominent figures of Russian theatre after the Revolution) to Constantin Stanislavski.
Told in strict confidence, Nemirovich confessed to Knipper and Meierhold that he and Stanislavski were planning the creation of a new theatre company. Nemirovich assured the two actors that they would be invited to join this company and to help lead it to greatness. After many weeks, enough capital was finally secured to found the new company. The company gathered in Pushkino
, where Stanislavski addressed Knipper and the other members, telling them that he hoped they had all come to dedicate their lives to creating the "first rational, moral, and universally accessible theatre in Russia."
While rehearsing for The Seagull on the 9th of September, Olga's 30th birthday, she met Russia's most eligible literary bachelor and playwright of The Seagull, Anton Chekhov, then 38. Knipper and Chekhov exchanged telegrams and letters for the next few years, while Olga became more familiar with Chekhov's younger sister, Masha. Random letters of teasing and playfulness became letters of love and deep remorse that they lived so far apart from each other. Olga's true colors shone throughout her letters of correspondence. Her ill-moods, volatile tempers, combined with her sporadic high spirits, kept Chekhov on his toes. In the winter of 1900, Chekhov returned from Yalta
and headed to Moscow, with a new play that he had written with a 'dear actress' in mind. "What a part I’ve got for you in Three Sisters. Give me ten rubles and you can have it, otherwise I’ll give it to another actress", Chekhov wrote to Olga.
Many similarities existed between Olga Knipper and the character Chekhov wrote for her in Three Sisters, Masha. Knipper was to play the middle of three sisters and one brother. The only married sibling of the foursome and "the most original and talented of the three sisters. To portray a young woman of culture and refinement, who speaks French, German and English, and is a first-class pianist" was no problem for Knipper who already acquired those skills. Knipper received much praise for her portrayal as Masha, much to Chekhov's amusement.
Anton Chekhov and Olga Knipper eventually married on 25 May 1901 at the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross. It was a spur of the moment, small wedding about which hardly anyone knew, including Chekhov's mother and sister, and Olga's mother. Many close friends and family were hurt by the secrecy. Their marriage ended when Chekhov died of tuberculosis
in 1904.
Olga Leonardovna Knipper-Chekhova continued her very successful work with the Moscow Art Theatre
for the rest of her life. On 22 March 1959, Knipper died in Moscow, USSR.
Glazov
Glazov is a town located in the north of the Udmurt Republic, Russia along the Trans-Siberian Railway. Population: It was founded in the 16th century as a village; town status was granted to it in 1780. Olga Knipper, wife of the famous Russian writer Anton Chekhov, was born in Glazov. During the...
– 22 March 1959 in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
) was a Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n stage actress. She was married to Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
.
Knipper was among the 39 original members of the Moscow Art Theatre
Moscow Art Theatre
The Moscow Art Theatre is a theatre company in Moscow that the seminal Russian theatre practitioner Constantin Stanislavski, together with the playwright and director Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, founded in 1898. It was conceived as a venue for naturalistic theatre, in contrast to the melodramas...
when it was formed by Constantin Stanislavski in 1898. She played Arkadina in The Seagull
The Seagull
The Seagull is the first of what are generally considered to be the four major plays by the Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov. The Seagull was written in 1895 and first produced in 1896...
(1898), played Elena in the Moscow premiere of Uncle Vanya
Uncle Vanya
Uncle Vanya is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1897 and received its Moscow première in 1899 in a production by the Moscow Art Theatre, under the direction of Konstantin Stanislavski....
(1899), and was the first to play Masha in Three Sisters
Three Sisters (play)
Three Sisters is a play by Russian author and playwright Anton Chekhov, perhaps partially inspired by the situation of the three Brontë sisters, but most probably by the three Zimmermann sisters in Perm...
(1901) and Madame Ranevskaya in The Cherry Orchard
The Cherry Orchard
The Cherry Orchard is Russian playwright Anton Chekhov's last play. It premiered at the Moscow Art Theatre 17 January 1904 in a production directed by Constantin Stanislavski. Chekhov intended this play as a comedy and it does contain some elements of farce; however, Stanislavski insisted on...
(1904). Knipper married Anton Chekhov, the author of these plays, in 1901. Knipper-Chekhova played Ranevskaya again in 1943, when the theatre marked the 300th performance of The Cherry Orchard. The German actress Olga Chekhova
Olga Chekhova
Olga Konstantinovna Chekhova, née Knipper — 9 March 1980, Berlin, Germany) was a Russian-German actress. Her film roles include the female lead in Alfred Hitchcock's Mary .- Biography :...
was her niece and the Soviet composer Lev Knipper
Lev Knipper
Lev Konstantinovich Knipper , a Russian composer of partially German descent and an active OGPU - NKVD agent.Lev Knipper was the nephew of the actress Olga Knipper...
was her nephew.
Biography
Olga Leonardovna Knipper was born on the to Leonard and Anna Knipper. Though both of her parents were of German origin, her father wasted no time in claiming Russia as their family heritage. Around the time of Olga's birth, her father, Leonard, was in charge of a factory in a small town north-east of European Russia called Glazov. Two years after Olga was born, her family moved to Moscow where they became accustomed to an upper-middle-class lifestyle. Growing up in between her two brothers, Konstantin and Vladimir, Olga was pampered extensively. She attended a private school for girls, was fluent in French, German, and English, and took music and singing lessons after rigorous schooling days. Olga showed considerable promise as a painter and was her own accompanist on the piano when she entertained friends and family at dinner parties. Her father, however, who was anxious to conform to the social conventions of his adopted country, made it very clear at an early age that Olga's aspirations in life should be confined to marrying well and becoming a house-wife. Her mother, Anna Ivanovna, though very talented as a singer and pianist, was also forced to give up any hopes of pursuing a professional career in the arts and felt that Olga had to do the same.In 1894, Olga's father died unexpectedly, leaving the 25 year old and her mother troubled by the outstanding debts he left behind from living well beyond their means. Olga and her mother both began giving music and singing lessons to make ends meet. They also dismissed four of their five servants, and moved into a smaller flat. Olga's hopes of becoming a successful stage actress had not yet diminished. Going ahead with her intentions without her mother's approval and giving up her social circle relations was a sacrifice Olga was willing to make: "Whenever in my life I really wanted something, and really believed in the possibility of achieving what I wanted and acted energetically, I always succeeded and never regretted going my own way", she wrote.
She enrolled briefly into the Maly Theatre's drama school, although she dropped out one month later. With the help of her reluctant mother, Olga enrolled at the Philharmonic School, where she was taught by the future co-founder of the Moscow Art Theatre
Moscow Art Theatre
The Moscow Art Theatre is a theatre company in Moscow that the seminal Russian theatre practitioner Constantin Stanislavski, together with the playwright and director Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, founded in 1898. It was conceived as a venue for naturalistic theatre, in contrast to the melodramas...
, Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko
Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko
Vladimir Ivanovich Nemirovich-Danchenko was a Georgian-born Russian theatre director, writer, pedagogue, playwright, producer and theatre organizer, who founded the Moscow Art Theatre with his colleague, Konstantin Stanislavsky, in 1898.-Biography:Vladimir Ivanovich Nemirovich-Danchenko was born...
. Nemirovich introduced Knipper and fellow student Vsevolod Meierhold (who would later become one of the most prominent figures of Russian theatre after the Revolution) to Constantin Stanislavski.
Told in strict confidence, Nemirovich confessed to Knipper and Meierhold that he and Stanislavski were planning the creation of a new theatre company. Nemirovich assured the two actors that they would be invited to join this company and to help lead it to greatness. After many weeks, enough capital was finally secured to found the new company. The company gathered in Pushkino
Pushkino
Pushkino may refer to:*Pushkino, Armenia, an inhabited locality in Armenia*Pushkino, Russia, name of several inhabited localities in Russia*Pushkino, former name of the city of Biləsuvar in Azerbaijan...
, where Stanislavski addressed Knipper and the other members, telling them that he hoped they had all come to dedicate their lives to creating the "first rational, moral, and universally accessible theatre in Russia."
Yalta
Yalta is a city in Crimea, southern Ukraine, on the north coast of the Black Sea.The city is located on the site of an ancient Greek colony, said to have been founded by Greek sailors who were looking for a safe shore on which to land. It is situated on a deep bay facing south towards the Black...
and headed to Moscow, with a new play that he had written with a 'dear actress' in mind. "What a part I’ve got for you in Three Sisters. Give me ten rubles and you can have it, otherwise I’ll give it to another actress", Chekhov wrote to Olga.
Many similarities existed between Olga Knipper and the character Chekhov wrote for her in Three Sisters, Masha. Knipper was to play the middle of three sisters and one brother. The only married sibling of the foursome and "the most original and talented of the three sisters. To portray a young woman of culture and refinement, who speaks French, German and English, and is a first-class pianist" was no problem for Knipper who already acquired those skills. Knipper received much praise for her portrayal as Masha, much to Chekhov's amusement.
Anton Chekhov and Olga Knipper eventually married on 25 May 1901 at the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross. It was a spur of the moment, small wedding about which hardly anyone knew, including Chekhov's mother and sister, and Olga's mother. Many close friends and family were hurt by the secrecy. Their marriage ended when Chekhov died of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
in 1904.
Olga Leonardovna Knipper-Chekhova continued her very successful work with the Moscow Art Theatre
Moscow Art Theatre
The Moscow Art Theatre is a theatre company in Moscow that the seminal Russian theatre practitioner Constantin Stanislavski, together with the playwright and director Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, founded in 1898. It was conceived as a venue for naturalistic theatre, in contrast to the melodramas...
for the rest of her life. On 22 March 1959, Knipper died in Moscow, USSR.