Liubov Kositskaia

(married name, Nikulina). Born Aug. 16 (28), 1827, in the village of Zhdanovka, near Nizhny Novgorod, present-day Gorky; died Sept. 5 (17), 1868, in Moscow. Russian actress. A serf until the age of nine.

Kositskaia made her stage debut in 1843. She toured Nizhny Novgorod, Yaroslavl, and other cities in melodramas and vaudeville, as well as in opera (Agathe in Weber’s Der Freischiitz). In 1847 she joined the company of the Malyi Theater. A vivid dramatic temperament and a sincere portrayal of emotions guaranteed Kositskaia’s success in such roles as Luisa (Schiller’s Intrigue and Love) and Maria (A Mother’s Blessing, adapted from a French melodrama). Kositskaia’s original, profoundly national gift was best revealed in the plays of A. N. Ostrovskii —for example, in the role of Dunia (Don’t Get Into Another Man’s Sleigh) and Grusha (You Can’t Always Live as You Like). Kositskaia rose to her greatest dramatic heights in her inspired portrayal of Katerina (a role she created in 1859 in Ostrovskii’s The Thunderstorm), imbued with protest against oppression and coercion.