Born in to a family of serf actors in Nizhny Novgorod, she was the sister of the actress Khioniya Talanova (1822–1880), who was a star at the Maly Theatre (Moscow) 1860–80.
She acted on the stage in Nizhny Novgorod already as a child.
She became one of the most famed tragediennes in 19th-century Russia, and it was said, that during the 1850s and 1860s, her name was known from Tver to Astrachan.
She toured all over Russia: Kazan, Oryol, Saratov, Odessa and Kiev.
«Голос», 1878, Николaeв Н., Драматический театр в г. Киеве, Киев, 1898.