Famous Russian actress Elina Bystritskaya died April 26 at the age of 91. From 1953 to 1958 she was an actress at the Russian Drama Theater in Vilnius. Her father was the military doctor Abraham Bystritsky and her mother was Ester. Both are buried at the Jewish cemetery in Vilnius.

She passed away following prolonged illness.

She was born April 4, 1928, in Kiev. Her father hoped she would become a doctor or teacher and she was graduated with a degree in medicine, later working as a midwife and gynecologist. After delivering 15 babies, she decided to go into drama instead, and matriculated at the Kiev Theater Institute. A great beauty, her friends nicknamed her the Blue Sock. Initially following graduation she wasn’t able to find work, but began working in Vilnius in 1953. Fame shone on her when she acted in the film adaption of And Quietly Flows the Down (released in parts in 1957 and 1958). She was sent to Moscow to act and did so on the stage and film.

She and her husband lived the good life by Soviet standards for 27 years in Moscow. They didn’t have children. Later in life and divorced, she moved to a Moscow suburb and enjoyed entertaining guests. She was President of the USSR and Russian rhythmic gymnastics Federation from 1975 to 1992. On February 20, 2014, Bystritskaya and a group of Ukrainians in Russia appealed to Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych to end the Maidan protests and arrest its participants whom they accused of being anti-Russian and followers of Stepan Bandera. She received the order “For Merit to the Fatherland,” first degree, from Vladimir Putin in 2008. A minor planet, 6180 Bystritskaya,–just 4.5 kilometers wide–is named after her.