Olga Knipper

Olga Knipper
Born	Olga Leonardovna Knipper 21 September [O.S. 9 September] 1868 Glazov, Vyatka Governorate, Russian Empire
Died	22 March 1959 (aged 90) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Spouse	Anton Chekhov ​ ​ (m. 1901; died 1904)​
Relatives	Olga Chekhova (niece) Lev Knipper (nephew) Marina Ried (great-niece) Vera Tschechowa (great-great niece)

Olga Leonardovna Knipper-Chekhova (Russian: Ольга Леонардовна Книппер-Чехова; 21 September [O.S. 9 September] 1868 – 22 March 1959) was a Russian and Soviet stage actress. She was married to Anton Chekhov.^[1]

Knipper was among the 39^[2] original members of the Moscow Art Theatre when it was formed by Konstantin Stanislavski in 1898. She played Arkadina in The Seagull (1898), played Elena in the Moscow premiere of Uncle Vanya (1899), and was the first to play Masha in Three Sisters (1901) and Madame Ranevskaya in The Cherry Orchard (1904). She married Anton Chekhov, the author of these plays, in 1901. She played Ranevskaya again in 1943, when the theatre marked the 300th performance of The Cherry Orchard.