A Slovenian Actress of Russian Origin – Maria Nablotskaya

Russian actress Maria Nikolaevna Borislavska, better known as Maria Nablotskaya, was carried by love and an emigration wave to Ljubljana in 1922, where she became a member of Ljubljana’s Drama Theatre after her very first performance. With the help of her second husband, actor and director Boris Putyata, she transferred the knowledge acquired in Russian imperial theatres to the Slovenian territory, where she further developed her talent. Her acting was modern and direct, and her most outstanding roles were those of psychologically realistic tragic and tragicomic female characters. Her humorous gift, on the other hand, was given free scope in European Renaissance comedies. The purpose of this text is to present the career of Maria Nablotskaya from its promising, affluent, carefree beginnings to the great actress’s final years spent in a cramped room, as well as to outline her rich legacy to the Slovenian theatre.