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Zinaida Reich – wife and muse

Zinaida Reich

Zinaida Reich – Russian actress


Zinaida Reich was a Russian actress, the woman, who won the hearts of two geniuses – Sergei Yesenin and Vsevolod Meyerhold. She was called the demon woman who destroyed the lives of two brilliant men.
Pretty girl was born on June 21, 1894 in Rostov-on-Don. Her father was a Social Democrat. In 1907, due to his participation in the revolutionary events, family was expelled from Odessa. Later, in 1913, the girl became a member of the Socialist Revolutionary Party. It was difficult for her mother to get a certificate of secondary education for the daughter. After that Zinaida went to Petrograd, and her parents moved to Orel.
In Petrograd Zinaida entered the Faculty of History and Literature, where she studied foreign languages and took lessons in sculpture. After graduation, the girl worked as a secretary-typist for the Delo Naroda newspaper, where she met her future husband, Sergei Yesenin. To tell the truth, she was the muse of the poet not so long – they got married in 1918 and 4 years later the marriage broke up.

Wedding night disappointed Yesenin. Zinaida told him that he was her first man. And she lied. Yesenin could never forgive her. They lived apart for a while. In early 1918, Yesenin left Petrograd. In April 1918, pregnant Zinaida went to Orel to her parents. There on May 29, 1918 she gave birth to a daughter who was named Tatiana. Sometime later Zinaida with her daughter went to her husband who lived in Moscow. Soon the couple broke up. On February 3, 1920 Zinaida gave birth to a son named Konstantin. The child immediately fell ill, and Zinaida took him to Kislovodsk.
On October 5, 1921 their marriage was officially dissolved.
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Sergei Yesenin and Zinaida Reich


In the same year Zinaida entered the theater school in Moscow, where she met her second great love – Vsevolod Meyerhold. He was very much in love, so he even took her name. Enamored director did his wife the leading actress of the theater and fulfilled any wish. Meyerhold adopted Tatiana and Konstantin, loved and took care of them as a father.
On January 19, 1924 Reich made her debut as an actress in the play The Forest by Alexander Ostrovsky. Actually, she was one of the most famous actresses in Moscow. And in the 1930s she became a leading actress of the Meyerhold Theater.
Zinaida Reich died a month after the arrest of her husband. On July 15, 1939 the famous actress was brutally murdered. She was stabbed at night in her apartment on Bryusov Lane.
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Vsevolod Meyerhold and Zinaida Reich


Historians believe it was a contract killing. Shortly before the tragic event Zinaida wrote a letter to Stalin, in which she hinted than she knew the circumstances of the death of her first husband, Sergei Yesenin, and that she was ready to prove that the popular and beloved poet was killed.
Zinaida Reich was buried at the Vagankovo Cemetery in Yesenin’s grave.
Renowned director Meyerhold and actress Reich’s apartment is a museum now.
Source: www.m24.ru

Zinaida Reich – wife and muse

yesenin reich meyerhold

Love triangle – Yesenin – Reich – Meyerhold

Meyerhold children

Vsevolod Meyerhold and Sergei Yesenin’s children – Tatiana and Konstantin

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Meyerhold and Zinaida’s portrait

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Great actress Zinaida Reich and her children

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Yuri Pimenov, 1934. Zinaida Reich in the play The Lady of the Camellias

Zinaida Reich – wife and muse

Astonishing actress Reich Zinaida

Zinaida Reich – wife and muse

Attractive actress Zinaida

Zinaida Reich – wife and muse

Awesome actress Zinaida

Zinaida Reich – wife and muse

Bright actress Zinaida

Zinaida Reich – wife and muse

Brilliant actress Reich Zinaida and Meyerhold

Zinaida Reich – wife and muse

Charming actress Zinaida

Zinaida Reich – wife and muse

Fabulous actress Reich Zinaida and Meyerhold

Zinaida Reich – wife and muse

Gorgeous actress Zinaida

Zinaida Reich – wife and muse

Pretty actress Zinaida

Zinaida Reich – wife and muse

Successful actress Zinaida

Zinaida Reich – wife and muse

Young Zinaida