MOSCOW, August 7 Farewell ceremony for People's Artist of the RSFSR Irina Miroshnichenko ended at the Moscow Art Theater, the correspondent reports.
Miroshnichenko died on August 3 at the age of 82 after a long illness.
«The theater completely replaced Irina Petrovna's home and completely replaced her family … Until the last days, how much she wanted to participate. How she reached out to be close to the youth: not only performances, but also creative evenings, and poetry evenings, and Christmas evenings — in the forefront,» said the rector of the Moscow Art Theater School Igor Zolotovitsky at the farewell ceremony.
Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for International Cultural Cooperation Mikhail Shvydkoy, General Director of Channel One Konstantin Ernst and his wife Sofia Ernst, People's Artist of the RSFSR Stanislav Lyubshin, People's Artist of Russia Lev Leshchenko, Artistic Director of the Chekhov Moscow Art Theater Konstantin Khabensky, People's Artist of the Russian Federation Avangrad also came to say goodbye to the artist Leontiev, as well as relatives and colleagues.
The farewell ended with applause.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin sent condolences in connection with the death of Miroshnichenko. The head of state noted that she belonged to a brilliant cohort of real actors, the legendary “MKhAT” members who devoted their lives to theater and creativity. According to him, talent, internal culture and dignity, respect for colleagues and viewers «gained her the highest professional recognition and truly people's love.»
President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, head of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs Grigory Karasin, People's Artist of the RSFSR, film director and actor Nikita Mikhalkov, artistic director of the Et Cetera theater, artist Alexander Kalyagin and many others also expressed their condolences to the artist's relatives.
Irina Miroshnichenko was born on July 24, 1942 in Barnaul. In 1965 she graduated from the Moscow Art Theater School and was immediately accepted into the troupe of the Moscow Art Academic Theatre. After the separation of the troupe in 1987, she remained in the team under the direction of Oleg Efremov (now the Moscow Art Theater named after A.P. Chekhov). She is known for her roles in the films «I walk around Moscow», «Andrei Rublev», «You never dreamed of …», «Winter Cherry 2», as well as numerous roles in the theater.