Tamara Toumanova

Tamara Toumanova
1940s promotional portrait photo
Born	(1919-03-02)2 March 1919 Tyumen, Russian SFSR
Died	29 May 1996(1996-05-29) (aged 77) Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Occupation	Ballerina, actress
Spouse(s)	Casey Robinson (1944–55; div.)

Tamara Toumanova (Russian: Тамара Туманова, Georgian: თამარა თუმანოვა, Armenian: Թամար Թումանեան; 2 March 1919 – 29 May 1996) was a Russian-born Americanprima ballerina and actress. A child of exiles in Paris after the Russian Revolution of 1917, she made her debut at the age of 10 at the children's ballet of the Paris Opera.

She became known internationally as one of the Baby Ballerinas of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, after being discovered by her fellow émigré, balletmaster and choreographer George Balanchine. She was featured in numerous ballets in Europe. Balanchine also featured her in his productions at Ballet Theatre, New York, making her the star of his performances in the United States. While most of Toumanova's career was dedicated to ballet, she appeared as a ballet dancer in several films, beginning in 1944. She became a naturalized United States citizen in 1943 in Los Angeles, California.

Toumanova was the daughter of Yevgenia (or Eugenia) Dmitrievna Toumanishvili, who was half-Armenian, on her father (Dmitri Toumanov, originally Toumanishvili)'s side, and half-Georgian (on her mother, Yelizaveta Chkheidze)'s side.

At the time of her daughter's birth, Yevgenia was married to Konstantin Zakharov (a Russian). Both Tamara and her mother used the surname Khassidovitch (Yevgenia's second husband was Vladimir Khassidovitch (akas: Vladimir Khassidovitch-Boretsky/Vladimir Khazidovich-Boretsky) for most of their lives following the end of Yevgenia's first marriage, including on their paperwork for naturalization as citizens of the United States.