Zinaida Reich

Zinaida Nikolayevna Reich (the last name also spelled Raikh or Raih; Russian: Зинаида Николаевна Райх; 3 July [O.S.21 June] 1894 – 15 July 1939)[1] was a Russian actress and one of the main stars of the Meyerhold Theatre until it was closed under Joseph Stalin.[1] August Reich was an early social democrat and had been twice politically exiled to the North of Russia prior to meeting Anna.[1] Zinaida Reich studied in a gymnasium in Bendery but was expelled for her political activities before completing the eighth (last) grade.[1][4] In September 1917 the couple returned to Saint Petersburg, where Reich worked for the People's Commissariat for Food (NarkomProd).[4] The story of the couple is known from the memoir Novel without Lies (1926)[6] (Роман без вранья) written by Yesenin's close friend, room-mate and allegedly homosexual lover[7][8] Anatoly Marienhof.Reich studied at the State Experimental Theatre Workshops, headed by famous theatrical director Vsevolod Meyerhold.[10] The actor Igor Ilyinsky was so upset that Reich received all the major roles that he left the Meyerhold Theater.[5] In the early 1930s, as Stalin repressed all avant-garde art and experimentation, the government declared Meyerhold's work as antagonistic and alien to the Soviet people.[12][13][14][15] According to Arkadiy Vaksberg, "Beria needed this sadistic farce" because the actress was extraordinarily popular, independent, outspoken and known for saying: "if Stalin can make no sense of art, let him ask Meyerhold, and he will explain".
Zinaida Reich with her father, Nikolay (August) Reich, 1917
Sergey Yesenin, 1922
Sergey Yesenin in his coffin, 1925. The second woman on the left, hand raised, is Zinaida Reich. Her second husband Vsevolod Meyerhold is to her right, slightly behind.
Vsevolod Meyerhold and Zinaida Reich
OdessaRussian EmpireMoscowRussian SFSRSoviet UnionMurderSergey YeseninVsevolod MeyerholdTatyana YeseninaKonstantin YeseninRussianJoseph Stalinlinguistarchaeologistrailroad engineerRoman CatholicOrthodox Christianitysocial democratRussian Revolution of 1905BenderygymnasiumSocialist-Revolutionary PartyDelo NarodaWhite SeaVologdaPeople's Commissariat for FoodTatianaAnatoly MarienhofbiomechanicsIgor IlyinskyStalinavant-gardeConstantin StanislavskiStanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music TheatreexsanguinationArkadiy VaksbergVagankovo CemeteryLavrenti BeriaKonstantinKrugosvetMarienhof, AnatolySimon Sebag MontefioreArgumenty i FaktyKomsomolskaya PravdaFind a Grave