Maria Kapnist

[4] Kapnist received her first vocal lessons from an Opera singer Feodor Chaliapin who was the first to draw attention at her talent during her first stage performance in a home play.

[10] She was sentenced to 8 years in labor camps according to Article 58-10 part 1 (“Propaganda and agitation calling for overthrow of Soviet government”).

[14] In 1950, she gave birth to a daughter Radislava in the prison hospital Steplag in Kazakhstan, where she lived in exile and worked in coal mines.

[10] Kapnist was not allowed to take her daughter Radislava as she was issued a certificate stating she has a nervous system disorder.

[10] During this time, she has played more than a hundred roles and episodes, including Ruslan and Lyudmila, The Lost Letter, The Old Fortress, Bronze Bird, Gypsies Are Found Near Heaven, The Wild Hunt of King Stakh, Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka, Hearts of three, and many others.

[20] In October 1993, she was involved in a car accident when crossing Peremohy Avenue in Kyiv near Oleksandr Dovzhenko Film Studio.

[21] Maria Kapnists died of complications after the car accident on 25 October 1993 in Oleksandr Hospital in Kyiv.

[15] In 2009, Ukrainian director Serhiy Dariychuk dedicated his documentary “Proud Tear” (2009) to Maria Kapnist.

[22] In 2014 Ukrainian state postal service Ukrposhta issued the postage stamp #1370 “Maria Kapnist.

Kapnist' family coat of arms
Stamp of Ukraine dedicated to Maria Kapnist