Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: Official website of the State –
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Exactly one hundred years ago, on November 25, 1925, in Konstantinovka, Donetsk Oblast, a girl was born. Her father named her Noyabrina, and the entire country came to know and love her as Nonna Viktorovna Mordyukova. Above all, for her truly folk Cossack character—unbending, proud, and free, spiced with a fiery sense of humor. A great actress, her long life was full of light and shadow, love and loneliness, glory and loss.
Free Cossack
She grew up in Kuban, in a large, working-class family: six children, her mother a collective farm chairwoman, her father a military man. It was her mother, Irina Petrovna, who instilled in her a love of song, of the stage, of what would later become her destiny. And Nonna, still a schoolgirl, would sneak off to the cinema—not just for fun, but to watch, to listen, to dream: if only they'd show me too. And one day, seeing the name of actor Nikolai Mordvinov on a poster for "Bohdan Khmelnitsky," she wrote him a letter. She received a reply: first finish tenth grade, then apply to VGIK. And although studying was difficult for her, she obeyed.
After the war, Nonna went to Moscow to enroll in drama school: no rehearsals, no preparation, with only a burning passion within her. During the entrance exams, she improvised: she talked about Kuban, gesticulated, laughed, and cried. And the VGIK admissions committee saw an actress before them. While still a student, in 1948, she made her debut in Sergei Gerasimov's film "The Young Guard," playing Ulyana Gromova—a real person, a girl from a partisan detachment tortured by the Nazis. Nonna visited Ulyana's parents, walked around her room, and memorized details. The writer Alexander Fadeyev later admitted that if he had known Mordyukova when he wrote the novel, Gromova would have turned out differently. The film earned her the First Degree Stalin Prize and eternal fame. To the end of her life, the actress called this role her most precious.
Thorny film path
After "The Young Guard," Nonna Mordyukova experienced five years of silence. Her only escape from the agonizing wait for new film roles was her work at the Film Actors' Studio Theatre. Then came a small role in "The Return of Vasily Bortnikov," and finally, demand and success arrived.
Over the course of half a century, Nonna Viktorovna played more than fifty roles, some tragic, some humorous. She effortlessly transformed herself from a collective farm chairwoman (A Simple Story) to a languid merchant's wife (The Marriage of Balzaminov) or a stern Red Army commander (The Commissar). And each time, she was not just a character, but a living person.
"Commissar" became a special drama for her, as the film was banned immediately after filming. Mordyukova's character, a Red Army commissar, ends up in the home of a Jewish family on the eve of giving birth, where she finds unexpected support. But alas, director Askoldov was fired, and the copies of the film were destroyed, although, as it turns out, Gerasimova managed to hide one in a safe. Twenty years later, the film was shown, and the world gasped. The scene where the commissar breastfeeds her child became iconic: Nonna Mordyukova was one of the first Soviet actresses to allow herself to be naked on screen, not for effect, but for the sake of truth.
My own, my dear
After the resounding international success of "Commissar," Nonna Viktorovna was invited to appear in Hollywood, but she didn't want to play someone "outside." Soviet audiences, however, found many beloved roles. In "The Diamond Arm," Mordyukova played the vigilant building manager Varvara Sergeyevna Plyushch, and her lines were truly folksy, like "Our people don't take taxis to the bakery!" Director Gaidai championed her character—the bosses wanted to edit the vengeful utility worker out of the script. He even introduced the actress's last name into the fictional language of the smugglers: when they quarrel, the word "mordyuk" is clearly heard.
In Mikhalkov's "Kindred," she's a down-to-earth, suffering mother who came from the countryside to save her daughter from divorce. On set, the director harshly criticized and provoked Mordyukova to evoke strong emotions, forcing her to get an awkward perm and wear metal teeth. She even hit him once, but her performance was brilliant. And the dance scene, after which she was taken away in an ambulance, will forever remain etched in cinematic history.
Sad soul
Nonna Viktorovna dreamed of playing Aksinya in "And Quiet Flows the Don," but the role went to someone else, which deeply hurt her. In the 1990s, she wrote an autobiography, "Don't Cry, Cossack Girl!" It recounts her entire life: reserved, proud, sparing in pity, yet full of dignity and suffering, as the actress twice had to bury her son. On screen, in the film "Russian Field," where they brilliantly portrayed the tragedy of a mother and her adult child, and in real life, Vladimir Tikhonov, whose father was the famous actor Vyacheslav Tikhonov, the legendary Stirlitz from "Seventeen Moments of Spring," passed away at the age of 40.
She herself left this world on July 6, 2008, remembered for her brilliant film roles and a lonely star in the sky—asteroid 4022 Nonna, discovered by the Crimean Observatory, bears her name. There were no official funeral announcements, but people somehow found out, came with flowers, stood and wept, and whispered lines from her films. Because Nonna Mordyukova was ours—not in the sense of power or ideology, but in the sense of soul, character, and truth.
Today, on the centenary of Mordyukova's birth, viewers of the Mosfilm. Golden Collection channel recalled her leading roles. In first place was the building manager, Varvara Sergeevna Plyushch (47%), followed by Maria from "Rodnya" (46%). And behind these numbers lies not ratings, but love. Because Nonna Viktorovna, like no one else, knew how to be authentic—as simple and relatable, yet monumental and solemn as the melody of a song about the Volga, powerfully performed by another folk favorite, Lyudmila Zykina.
Subscribe to the "Our GUU" Telegram channel. Publication date: November 25, 2025.
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