Maria Fyodorovna Andreyeva

Maria Fyodorovna Andreyeva (Russian: Мари́я Фёдоровна Андре́ева, Mariya Fyodorovna Andreyeva) was the stage name of Maria Fyodorovna Yurkovskaya (Мари́я Фёдоровна Юрко́вская) (July 4, 1868 – December 8, 1953), a Russian/Soviet actress and Bolshevik administrator.

Her father, Fyodor Alexandrovich Fyodorov-Yurkovsky (Фёдор Александрович Фёдоров-Юрковский, 1842–1915) was the director of the Alexandrinsky Theater, and her mother was an actress. She followed into the steps of her parents. After drama school she went to Kazan, aged 18. She married Andrey Zhelyabuzhsky, who was her elder by 18 years. He was controller of the Kursk and Nizhny Novgorod railroads, but was also involved in theatre. The couple had two children, Yuri (1888–1955) and Yekaterina (born 1894). Yuri went on to become a film director.

After Zhelyabuzhsky received a new post, the family moved to Tiflis, where she had success as an actress. They next moved to Moscow, where Andreyeva worked with Konstantin Stanislavsky at the Moscow Art Theatre. She made her Moscow debut on December 15, 1894. She enjoyed great success.

Andreyeva took an interest in Marxist literature and she secretly joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. In 1902, she decided to leave acting. In 1900, she met Maxim Gorky in Sevastopol the first time. In 1903 she became his common law wife.

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