Yermolova Museum

The Yermolova Museum exhibits artifacts pertaining to the life and incredibly successful career of the pioneering Russian dramatic actress Maria Yermolova. Born in 1853, Yermolova trained at the Moscow Stage School. She made her dramatic debut at the tender age of 17 in the title role of the German playwright Gotthold Lessing's Emilia Galotti at Moscow's Maly Theatre. Her performance was held to great acclaim for her groundbreaking portrayal of the character as a willful romantic rather than the traditional passive figure of previous productions. This part was merely the beginning of a glittering 50-year career in which she excelled in the depiction of characters in heroic tragedy.

The famous Russian actor, director, producer and founder of the Moscow Art Theater Konstantin Stanislavsky believed Yermolova to be the greatest actress he had ever seen and this sentiment was echoed when the actress became the first person in the Soviet Union to be proclaimed a People's Artist of the Republic in 1920.