Title

The mystery of Olga Chekhova.

Description

Looks at the life and career of Olga Chekhova, the niece of playwright Anton Chekhov, who fled Russia for Berlin in 1920, achieved fame as an actress and a position in Germany's Nazi party, and may have been an agent for the Soviet NKVD.

Identifier

1204217

670033405

Creator

Beevor, Antony

Source

Brian Lamb Booknotes Collection

Gift of Brian Lamb, 2011.

Catalog record

Language

eng

Date

2004

Program air date: October 24, 2004

Publisher

Viking

George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections & Archives

Text

Transcription of Annotations
Extensive notes on front and back end papers and half-title concerning the fall of the Romanov dynasty, the civil war and its aftermath, the rise of the Bolsheviks, Anton Chekhov's play The Cherry Orchard, Olga Chekhova's marriage to Mikhail Chekhov, Olga's movie career, life in Berlin, brief time in Hollywood, the Nazi takeover of Germany, her association with Adolf Hitler and Josef Goebbels, her marriage to Marcel Robyns, inconsistencies her personal anecdotes, the Kachalov theatrical group, the Moscow Art Theatre, Joseph Stalin and Vladimir Lenin's interest in the theatre, her brother Lev and his experiences as a spy, Olga's time as a spy for Russia, the Great Terror, Soviet arrests and purges, Lev's political development, the German assault on Russia during World War II, Olga's position in Germany questioned by Soviets, her return to Berlin, Lev and Olga's life after the war, her last words, "Life is Beautiful." Annotations by Brian Lamb in the margins and underlining of pertinent phrases throughout the book. Brian Lamb asks: "What was life like under the Tsar?" "What changed after the revolution? Food? Lodging?" "How did one family survive the Russian Revolution, the civil war, the rise of Hitler, the Stalinist Terror, and the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union?" "Was she a double agent?" "You seem to doubt a lot of what Olga writes in her memoirs?" "Where did you find all the letters?"

Subject

"Tschechowa, Olga, b. 1896."

"Actors--Soviet Union--Biography."

"Spies--Soviet Union--Biography."

Relation

Original Booknotes interview

Rights

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