Years active 1873–1920s | ||
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Full Name Anna Chelishcheva Born April 7, 1848 ( 1848-04-07 ) Vladimir, Russian Empire Occupation stage actress, theatre entrepreneur, playwright, memoirist Died 15 November 1934, Moscow, Russia | ||
Anna Alekseyevna Chelishcheva (Russian: Анна Алексеевна Челищева, April 7, 1848, Vladimir, Russian Empire – November 15, 1934, Moscow, USSR), better known by her stage name Anna Brenko (Анна Бренко′), was a Russian, Soviet stage actress, theatre entrepreneur, playwright and memoirist, honored with the Meritorious Artist of RSFSR title in 1924.
Having made herself a name at the Maly Theatre, she went on to launch the first ever Russian private theatre in 1880 (officially called A.A. Brenko Drama Theatre, popularly known as the Pushkin Theatre, but only because it situated close to the Pushkin Square in Moscow). After it folded for financial reasons (to be later purchased by the entrepreneur Fyodor Korsh), Brenko taught drama (in 1890–1905 in her own theatre college) and in 1915 opened the free-for-all Workers' Theatre where in the course of two years 25 plays have been produced.
Not only did Anna Brenko embrace the 1917 October Revolution, but, as a 69-year-old, she enlisted in the Red Army to perform with some of her troupe's actors, at battle fronts. Anna Brenko authored four plays (1883–1916) and six books of memoirs (1924–1933).