Maria Fyodorovna Andreyeva (Russian:Мари́я Фёдоровна Андре́ева,Mariya Fyodorovna Andreyeva) was thestage name ofMaria Fyodorovna Yurkovskaya (Мари́я Фёдоровна Юрко́вская) (4 July 1868 – 8 December 1953), aRussian/Sovietactress andBolshevik administrator.
Her father, Fyodor Alexandrovich Fyodorov-Yurkovsky (Фёдор Александрович Фёдоров-Юрковский, 1842–1915) was the director of theAlexandrinsky Theatre, and her mother was an actress. She followed into the steps of her parents. After drama school she went toKazan, aged 18. She married Andrey Zhelyabuzhsky, who was her elder by 18 years. He was controller of theKursk andNizhny Novgorod railroads, but was also involved in theatre. The couple had two children,Yuri (1888–1955) and Yekaterina (born 1894). Yuri went on to become afilm director.
After Zhelyabuzhsky received a new post, the family moved toTiflis, where she had success as an actress. They next moved to Moscow, where Andreyeva worked withKonstantin Stanislavski at theMoscow Art Theatre. She made her Moscow debut on 15 December 1894. She enjoyed great success.
Andreyeva took an interest inMarxist literature and she secretly joined theRussian Social Democratic Labour Party. In 1902, she decided to leave acting. In 1900, she metMaxim Gorky inSevastopol the first time. In 1903 she became hiscommon-law wife.
Gorky and Andreyeva left Russia in 1906 and traveled around theUnited States, and then settled inCapri,Italy.[1] While in Capri, Gorky was involved in theVpered group but Andreyeva fell out with Anna Aleksandrovna Lunacharskaya, wife ofAnatoly Lunacharsky and sister ofAlexander Bogdanov.
Already by 1914, she was active in attempts to promote classical theatre to the masses. Only after theOctober Revolution did these endeavours bear fruits. Between 1918 and 1921, she was Commissar of Theaters and Public Shows in Petrograd. She was instrumental in the establishment of theBolshoi Drama Theater, which opened in 1919. In January that year,Anatoly Lunacharsky nominated her as his deputy in his role of head of art section of theNarkompros in Petrograd. The PetrogradSoviet refused to confirm her nomination, butVladimir Lenin intervened in her favor and the appointment went ahead.[1]
In 1920, Lunacharsky offered her the position of head ofTEO, the theatre department ofNarkompros, in Moscow, but she refused.
In 1921 she traveled abroad selling antiques and works of art, and from 1922 she represented the Commissariat of Foreign Trade in relation to the film industry, spending some time with theSoviet trade delegation inBerlin. During this period she separated from Gorky. Between 1931 and 1948, she held the post of Director of the House of Scientists in Moscow.[2]
