Galina Pavlovna Ivanova, later known as Galina Vishnevskaya, was a renowned Russian opera singer and public figure. Born on October 25, 1926, in Leningrad, now Saint Petersburg, Russia, she was abandoned by her parents during Stalin's dictatorship and raised by her grandmother. Her father was imprisoned, and she later learned of his fate.
During World War II, Vishnevskaya refused to evacuate from Leningrad, which was besieged by the Nazis. She joined the resistance and, after two years of fighting, was decorated for her courage in defending her city from the Nazis. Her father's imprisonment and her experiences during the war had a profound impact on her life.
At age 18, Vishnevskaya married naval officer Georgi Vishnevsky, but the marriage ended in divorce due to his objections to her opera career. She retained the surname Vishnevskaya. In 1944, she joined a small operetta company led by Mark Rubin, who became her second husband. The couple had one son who died in 1945.
Vishnevskaya and Rubin toured together until she joined the Bolshoi Theatre Opera in Moscow. There, she met and married Mstislav Rostropovich, a talented cellist and conductor, in 1955. The couple had two daughters, Olga and Elena.
During the 1950s and 1960s, Vishnevskaya and Rostropovich made significant contributions to the performing arts in the USSR. However, their involvement in the cultural liberalization movement known as "The Thaw" ended with the arrest of Nikita Khrushchev.
In 1969, Vishnevskaya and Rostropovich helped dissident writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn evade prosecution by allowing him to live secretly at their dacha. This act of defiance angered the Soviet authorities, and Rostropovich and Vishnevskaya were banned from international tours and royalties.
In 1974, Rostropovich and Vishnevskaya fled the Soviet Union with their daughters, seeking artistic freedom. They eventually settled in Washington, D.C., where Rostropovich became the Music Director of the National Symphony Orchestra.
Vishnevskaya continued to perform and direct operas internationally, including a successful production of Rimsky-Korsakov's "The Tzar's Bride" in Washington D.C. In 1984, she published her memoir, "Galina: A Russian Story," which became an international bestseller.
In 1990, Mikhail Gorbachev restored their Soviet citizenship, allowing Rostropovich and Vishnevskaya to return to Russia. They divided their time between Moscow and St. Petersburg, remaining active in the country's cultural and political life.
Vishnevskaya established her own opera theatre in Moscow, the "Galina Vishnevskaya Opera Centre," in 2002. She also appeared in several films, including Aleksandr Sokurov's documentaries and feature films.
Throughout her life, Vishnevskaya received numerous awards and decorations, including the Order of Lenin, the Diamond Medal of the city of Paris, and the Order of the Fatherland of III and II degrees. She was designated People's Artist of the USSR in 1963 and was made Grand-Officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1982.
Galina Vishnevskaya passed away on December 11, 2012, at the age of 86. She was interred in Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow, Russia.
