Ilskaia, Fatima Salikhovna

Born Dec. 31,1902 (Jan. 13, 1903), in Orenburg. Soviet Tatar actress. People’s Artist of the RSFSR (1967).

In 1915, Il’skaia began her dramatic career in the Shirkat Tatar Dramatic Company in Orenburg. In 1916 she joined the Saiar Company. She performed in the Tatar theater in Tashkent from 1921 to 1923 and since 1923 has worked at the G. Kamal Tatar Theater in Kazan. One of the founders of Tatar national dramatic arts, she established realism as a tradition in Tatar theater.

Il’skaia has played Dilbar in Tinchurin’s Without Sails, Zu-leikha in Kulakhmetov’s Young Life, Fatima in Amir’s Song of Life, Katerina in Ostrovskii’s Thunderstorm, Tat’iana and Sof ‘ia in Gorky’s Enemies and The Last Ones, and the title role in Arbuzov’s Tania. She has also performed in Shakespearean tragedies and in the comedies of Lope de Vega and Beaumar-chais. Il’skaia has been awarded four orders and several medals.