Her mother was an actress and her father was a public servant, who was executed in 1932 on charges of espionage.

In 1955 she began work at the Experimental Ceramic and Artistic Plant in Kyiv.

It was during this period that her original style became pronounced, and when she produced some of her finest work, with ceramics inspired by ballet and circus themes.

[2] The National Folk Decorative Art Museum in Kyiv has a collection of pieces by Zhnikrup.

[4][5][6] The similarity was first noted by the Georgian artist Lado Pochkhua, who posted a comparison of the works on social media.