Maria Ivanovna Babanova was a Soviet actress, People’s Artist of the USSR (1954). She was born on 29 October (11 November) 1900 in Moscow. The future actress’s mother, Ekaterina Vasilyevna, came from a merchant family. Her father, Ivan Ivanovich Babanov, was a lathe operator at a metallurgical plant. In 1916, Maria Babanova graduated from the school of the Moscow Society for the Dissemination of Commercial Education and enrolled in the natural sciences department of the Moscow Commercial Institute. She later transferred to the Moscow Higher Women’s Courses, which in September 1918 were reorganized into the Second Moscow State University. In 1920, she graduated from the studio attached to the HPSRO Theatre (the Artistic and Educational Union of Workers’ Organizations), led by Fyodor Komissarzhevsky. The theatre was housed in the building of the former "Zon Theatre", where Babanova made her debut as Fanchette in "The Marriage of Figaro" by Pierre Beaumarchais. In 1920, the theatre building was transferred to the RSFSR Theatre No. 1, founded by Vsevolod Meyerhold and later renamed the Meyerhold Theatre; most of the company moved there, including Babanova. Around the same time, she entered Vsevolod Meyerhold’s Higher Directing Workshops, which were later incorporated into the State Higher Theatre Workshops. In 1922, the premiere of "The Magnanimous Cuckold" by Fernand Crommelynck, staged by Vsevolod Meyerhold, took place; in this production Babanova played her first major role. Her Stella was beloved by both audiences and connoisseurs of theatrical art. Among her other most significant works were the Chinese boy-servant ("Roar, China!" by Sergei Tretyakov, 1926) and Marya Antonovna ("The Government Inspector" by Nikolai Gogol, 1926). She worked at the Meyerhold Theatre until 1927. In 1923, while working at the Meyerhold Theatre, Maria Babanova simultaneously made her debut on the stage of the Theatre of the Revolution (now the Moscow Theatre named after Vladimir Mayakovsky), playing Polina in "A Profitable Position" by Alexander Ostrovsky, in a production staged by Vsevolod Meyerhold. After the performance, critics began writing about her as an established master. In 1928, she played Goga ("The Man with a Briefcase" by Alexey Faiko), profoundly revealing the complex emotions of her small hero. The affirmation of human dignity, love for people, and faith in them became central themes in the actress’s work. Among her roles that entered the history of Russian theatre were Anka ("Poem about an Axe" by Nikolai Pogodin, 1931), Juliet ("Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, 1935), Diana ("The Dog in the Manger" by Lope de Vega, 1937), Tanya ("Tanya" by Alexey Arbuzov, 1939), Larisa ("Without a Dowry" by Alexander Ostrovsky, 1940), Marie ("Sons of Three Rivers" by Viktor Gusev, 1944), Ophelia ("Hamlet" by William Shakespeare, 1954), Ranevskaya ("The Cherry Orchard" by Anton Chekhov, 1956), Lidiya Samoylovna ("Maria" by Afanasy Salynsky, 1970), Marya Alexandrovna Moskaleva ("Uncle’s Dream" by Fyodor Dostoevsky, 1971), Lidiya Vasilyevna Zherber ("Old-Fashioned Comedy" by Alexey Arbuzov, 1975), and others. In 1972, for her performance as Lidiya Samoylovna in "Maria" by Afanasy Salynsky, Maria Ivanovna Babanova was awarded the RSFSR State Prize named after Konstantin Stanislavsky. She appeared on the stage of the Moscow Theatre named after Vladimir Mayakovsky for the last time in 1975. In 1979, at the invitation of Oleg Efremov, on the eve of her 80th birthday, Maria Babanova performed the role of the Wife in "All Over" by Edward Albee on the stage of the Moscow Art Theatre. Her stage partners in this production were the “great old men” of the second generation of the Art Theatre: Angelina Stepanova and Mark Prudkin. It was her final role. A special place in Maria Ivanovna’s work was occupied by radio theatre. She had a unique voice rich in timbre, capable of conveying the finest psychological nuances. She took part in radio programmes and radio plays ("Ole-Lukoye", "Thumbelina", "Cinderella", "Tom Sawyer", "The Little Prince", "The Picture of Dorian Gray", and others), as well as in dubbing live-action films ("Alisher Navoi") and voicing animated films ("The Tale of Tsar Saltan", "The Geese and the Swans", "The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish", "Orange Neck", "The Snow Queen", and others). Maria Ivanovna Babanova died on 20 March 1983 in Moscow. She was buried at Novodevichy Cemetery. The collection of the Bakhrushin Theatre Museum holds letters, photographs, costume elements, and other materials related to Maria Babanova’s life and work.