Vera, One of the Chekov's Kin

Vera Chekhova, actress of Russian-German background, died on April 3d, this year. A grand- daughter of Michael Chekhov and Olga Chekhova (born Knipper), who both left this country in the 1920s. Grand niece of Anton Chekhov, the famous writer. The XX century scattered the representatives of the Chekhov’s kins around the world. Much less is known here in Russia about those of them, who lived abroad. Marina Litavrina, the author of this article, written in memoriam, dwells on her Berlin meetings and talks with Vera Chekhova — actress, film director and producer — referring to the circumstances, which dated back to the 1990s. Less is known by common spectators, as hardly only one out of 50 roles played by Vera and included into her filmography, appeared on the screen of the USSR and modern Russia. In spite of the fact that some of these films received prizes of Cannes film festival. As it is demonstrated by the case of Vera — beautiful woman, a person of gifts and skills, who as a director in her documentaries was well informed in current political agenda — any performer film career is highly dependent and fragile. Hardly had she implemented her cherished theatre aspirations, Chekhov’s roles among them, into being. Nevertheless, by shifting her activity to documentary cinema in her mature years, she managed to find herself and gained new field of creativity and inspiration. And moreover, throughout all her life Vera stayed true to her Chekhovian roots.