Mariia Nikolaevna Stepanova

Born Jan. 19 (Feb. 1), 1916, in the village of Kuita, Alar’ Raion, Irkutsk Oblast. Soviet Buriat actress. People’s Artist of the USSR (1976). Member of the CPSU since 1941.

Stepanova joined the company of the Kh. N. Namsaraev Buriat Drama Theater in 1932, after her graduation from the Technicum of the Arts in Verkhneudinsk (now Ulan-Ude). She has played the roles of Sharakshan and Iamaakhan in Namsaraev’s The Key to Happiness and Tsyrempil, respectively. Stepanova’s other roles have included Katerina in A. N. Ostrovskii’s The Thunderstorm, Vassa in Gorky’s Vassa Zheleznova, Desdemona in Shakespeare’s Othello, and Mirandolina in Goldoni’s The Mistress of the Inn. She has also appeared in motion pictures.

Stepanova has been awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and various medals.