Liya Akhedzhakova

Liya Medzhidovna Akhedzhakova (Russian: Лия Меджидовна Ахеджакова, Ukrainian: Лія Меджидівна Ахеджакова; born 9 July 1938) is a Soviet and Russian film, stage and voice actress who received the title of People's Artist of Russia in 1994. She received two Nika Awards as the best supporting actress and the 2014 Nika Honorary Prize.

Liya Akhedzhakova People's Artist of Russia
Лия Меджидовна Ахеджакова
At the premiere of Generation P in 2011
Born	9 July 1938 Dnipropetrovsk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Citizenship	Soviet Union (1938–1991) →  Russia (1991–present)
Alma mater	Russian Academy of Theatre Arts
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1961–present
Notable work	The Irony of Fate (1975), Office Romance (1977), The Garage (1979), Sons of Bitches (1990), Promised Heaven (1991), Playing the Victim (2007)
Spouse(s)	Valery Nosik Boris Kocheishvili Vladimir Persiyanov
Parent(s)	Yuliya Akhedzhakova

Biography

Akhedzhakova was born in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukrainian SSR (modern-day Dnipro, Ukraine). She grew up in a theatrical family in Maykop, Russian SFSR. Her stepfather, Medzhid Salehovich Akhedzhakov (1914–2012), was a Circassian nobleman[1] who served as the Principal Director of the National Theatre of the Republic of Adygea. Her mother, Yuliya Alexandrovna Akhedzhakova (1916–1990), was also an actress at the same drama theatre. At the age of 10, when her mother and aunt was suffering from tuberculosis, she wrote a letter to Joseph Stalin with a request for help. In response, a rare drug was delivered to her family.[2]

In 1956 she entered the Moscow Institute of Nonferrous Metals and Gold where she studied for eighteen months. She first appeared on stage in 1961 at Moscow Youth Theatre. In 1962, she graduated from Lunacharsky State Institute for Theatre Arts (GITIS). Her first film appearance was in Ishchu cheloveka (1973) (Russian: Looking for a Man). Her debut in this drama was awarded several prizes at international film festivals in Locarno, Switzerland and Varna, Bulgaria.[3] In 1977 she joined the Sovremennik Theatre. In 1986 she played four main roles in the play Apartment Columbine directed by Roman Viktyuk.

As a film actress Liya Akhedzhakova became widely known due to her roles in Eldar Ryazanov's films, including Tania in The Irony of Fate (1975), Verochka in Office Romance (1977) and Fima in Promised Heaven (1991). In the 2000 film Old Hags she played alongside her stepfather.

Personal life

Akhedzhakova's first husband was Valery Nosik, an actor of Moscow Pushkin Drama Theatre and Maly Theatre. Her second husband was artist and poet Boris Kocheishvili. In the summer of 2001, Liya Akhedzhakova married the Moscow-based photographer Vladimir Persiyanov.

Political views

During the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis on the night before the storming of the White House happened Akhedzhakova, along with several other popular actors, attended a live broadcast at the "reserve studio" outside of the Ostankino Technical Center. She expressed support to Boris Yeltsin while also criticized the army for "not protecting us" from the old Soviet Constitution and encouraged people "to wake up", or "the Communists will return".[4][5] Yeltsin watched the broadcast in his office. He later wrote in his memoirs, "I will always remember Akhedhakova - shocked, fragile, but firm and courageous"[6] She was criticized for her speech by Alexander Prokhanov, Alexander Rutskoy, Stanislav Govorukhin and others who blamed intelligentsia for escalating the conflict.[7][8][9][10][11][12]

Akhedzhakova is a critic of the contemporary Russian politics. She protested against the law that prohibits adoption of Russian children by US citizens, persecution of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and incarceration of Vasily Aleksanyan.[10] Together with Eldar Ryazanov, Yuri Shevchuk, Andrey Makarevich, Andrey Konchalovsky and others, she protested against Russian policy towards Ukraine. Following the shootdown of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, she publicly read a poem by Andrey Orlov, Requiem for MH17 where he apologized as a Russian for shutting down the plane. In 2013, Akhedzhakova received a prize from the Moscow Helsinki Group for "the protection of human rights by means of culture and arts".[13]

According to Eldar Ryazanov, "She sympathizes with the weak, and despises the cruel. In that her artistic credo coincides with the stance of the great Chaplin".[14]

Honours and selected awards

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
1970	Honored Artist of the RSFSR	Meritorious Artist		Won
1973	Prize of the 8th International Film Screening in the Red Cross and Red Crescent in Varna[14]			Won
1975	Prize of the 8th All-Union Film Festival in Chișinău[14]	Sports Films		Won
1979	Vasilyev Brothers State Prize of the RSFSR[14]	Laureate of RSFSR State Prize	Office Romance	Won
1991	Nika Award[15]	Best Supporting Actress	Promised Heaven	Won
1994	People's Artist of Russia[14]			Won
1999	Order of Honour[14]			Won
2001	"Olmypia" National Award[14]	National Prize of Public Recognition for Women's Achievements		Won
2006	Order "For Merit to the Fatherland"[14]	Cavalière (4th class)		Won
2006	Nika Award[16]	Best Supporting Actress	Playing the Victim	Won
2008	Star of Theatre Prize[14]			Won
2008	Award of "Star teatral"	Civic Courage		Won
2013	Award of "Star teatral"	Best Actress		Won
2013	Award of the Moscow Helsinki Group			Won
2014	Nika Award[17]	Honorary Prize		Won

Selected filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1968	Vozvrashchenie	Petya
1970	The Blue Bird	Young boy	Voice
1970	Valiant Robin Hood	Little John	Voice
1973	Glasha and Kikimora	Pioneer cyclist	Voice
1973	Ishchu cheloveka	Anna Kuznetsova
1974	Tanya	Mistress, housekeeper
1974	Ivan da Mariya	Princess Agrippina
1975	The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath!	Tanya, Nadya’s friend	Television film
1975	Poshekhonskaya starina	Polka
1975	U samogo Chernogo morya	Viola Smyr
1976	Po sekretu vsemu svetu	Yelizaveta Nikolaevna, geography teacher
1976	Twenty Days Without War	Clock woman
1977	Zhikharka		Voice
1977	Dva klyona	Ivanushka	Voice
1977	Zhuravl v nebe
1977	Office Romance	Vera "Verochka", secretary
1978	The Handsome Man	Lupacheva	Television film
1978	When I Will Become a Giant	Julietta Ashotovna, nicknamed “Smiley”, English teacher
1978	Podarok chyornogo kolduna	Pugalitsa
1979	Pogovori na moyom yazyke	Claudia
1979	Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears	Olga Pavlovna, club manager
1979	The Garage	Malaeva
1980	Say a Word for the Poor Hussar	Loulou	Television film
1981	Vosmoe chudo sveta	Yuliya Yermolina
1981	Kuda ischez Fomenko?	Alina	Television film
1981	Otpusk za svoy schyot	Irina	Television film
1982	Alice Through the Looking Glass	The White Queen
1983	Koe-chto iz gubernskoy zhizni	Merchutkina	Television film
1983	Talisman	Grandmother
1983	Koe-chto iz gubernskoy zhizni	Merchutkina	Television film
1983	Mama Anush	Anush
1984	Malenkoe odolzhenie	Toma	Television film
1984	Copper Angel	Rosita
1984	Osenniy podarok fey	Fairy of sorrow
1986	Ara, bara, pukh!		Voice
1986	Igra khameliona	Irma
1986	Povod	Violetta
1986	Razmakh krylyev	First-class passenger (herself)
1987	Dialog. Krot i yaytso	Egg	Voice
1987	Drugaya zhizn	Roza
1988	Svirepyi Bambr	Mouse	Voice
1988	Greshnik	Zina
1989	Vagrant Bus	Zina, administrator
1989	Sofia Petrovna
1990	Yozhik dolzhen byt kolyuchim?	Mother hedgehog	Voice
1990	Po sledam Bambra	Mouse	Voice
1990	Doping dlya angelov	Nina
1990	Sons of Bitches	Nanaytseva
1990	Mordashka	Zoya Nikolaevna, Yuliya's mother
1991	Glasha and Kikimora		Voice
1991	Lovushka dlya Bambra	Mouse	Voice
1991	Na chyornyy den		Voice
1991	Promised Heaven	Afimya "Fima" Stepanovna	Nika Award for Best Actress (1991)
1992	Rozhdenie Gerakla		Voice
1992	Ya khotela uvidet angelov	Zhenya’s mother
1992	Sem sorok	Tkachuk
1993	Muravinyy yozhik		Voice
1993	Bezdna, krug sedmoy
1994	Tren bren	Masha
1995	Moskovskiye kanikuly	Speculator
1995	Bred vdvoyom
1997	Dandelion Wine	Lena Auffmann
2000	Old Hags	Lyuba
2006	Playing the Victim	Waitress in Japanese restaurant	Nika Award for Best Actress (2007)
2006	Andersen. Zhizn bez lyubvi	Gadalkal
2006	Strannoe rodzdestvo	Lucia	Television film
2007	Potapov, k doske!	Taisiya Ivanovna
2007	Vetka sireni	Anna Sergeevna, Zverev’s wife
2007	Dyuymovochka	Mouse
2007	Foto moey devushki	Lyubov Grigorevna, Paul’s mother
2007	The Funeral Party	Mariya Ignatyevna, healer
2008	Chetyre vozrasta lyubvi	Zima
2009	The Book of Masters	Baba Yaga
2009	Bankrot	Matchmaker
2010	Love-Carrot 3	Yelizaveta Nikolaevna
2011	Ivan Tsarevich and the Grey Wolf	Baba Yaga	Voice
2012	Moms	Svetlana Semyonovna

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1977	Neznaika v Solnechnom gorode		Episode 7–8
2003	Pyatyy angel	Sara
2004	Uzkiy most	Nina Petrovna	TV mini-series
2005	Kazaroza	Mariya Antonovna
2011	Dorogoy moy chelovek

References

1. "Leah Akhedzhakova". movie-space.
2. Interview at Hard Day's Night, Dozhd TV channel, 5 March 2013 (in Russian)
3. Film and Theatre Star Liya Akhedzhakova Turns 70
4. White House, Black Smoke documentary by NTV (Russia), archive footage at 57:50 (in Russian)
5. Zheleznova N. L., Panova A. G., Surkov A. P. (1994). Moscow. Autumn-93. Chroincles of the Confrontation // From the speech by Lia Akhedzhakova given on central television on October 4, 1993. — Moscow: Respublika, p. 396-397 ISBN 5-250-02452-1
6. The Invention of Russia: The Rise of Putin and the Age of Fake News, by Arkady Ostrovsky, Penguin, Jun 7, 2016 - History, page 159.
7. Dmitri Furman (2010). Spiral Motion: The Russian Political System alongside Other Political Systems. — Moscow: Ves Mir, p. 71-72 ISBN 978-5-7777-0480-1 (Russian pdf at the official Dmitriy Furman's website)
8. Alexander Rutskoy (1995). The Bloody Autumn: Diary of 21 September - 4 October 1993. — Moscow, p. 256 ISBN 5-900248-27-5
9. Personal Opinion with Alexander Prokhanov at Echo of Moscow, March 16, 2011 (in Russian)
10. Yuri Saprykin. Council of Ancients: Lia Akhedzhakova interview at Afisha, February 4, 2013 archived (in Russian)
11. Oleg Kashin (2013). Putin's Reaction. What Is Good and What Is Bad. — Moscow: Algorithm ISBN 978-5-4438-0517-7
12. Stanislav Govorukhin. "People are protesting, that's good, but I don't trust the leaders of opposition" interview at Argumenty i Fakty, 10/02/2012 (in Russian)
13. https://www.svoboda.org/a/25293190.html
14. "Ахеджакова Лия Меджидовна" (in Russian). Kino-teatr.ru. 3 October 2014. Retrieved 24 Dec 2014.
15. 1991 Laureates at the official Nika Award website (in Russian)
16. 2006 Laureates at the official Nika Award website (in Russian)
17. 2014 Laureates at the official Nika Award website (in Russian)

External links

• Liya Akhedzhakova at IMDb