Pavlova, Anna

DANCER (RUSSIA)
BORN 12 Feb 1881, St. Petersburg - DIED 23 Jan 1931, Den Haag, Zuid-Holland: Hotel des Indes
CAUSE OF DEATH pleurisy
GRAVE LOCATION London: Golders Green, 62 Hoop Lane ((ashes))

The famous classical ballerina Anna Pavlova was the illegitimate daughter of a laundry-woman. After seeing "the Sleeping Beauty" she wanted to be a ballet dancer herself. She was trained at the Imperial Ballet School and started performing at the Maryinsky Theatre in 1899.

She toured from 1907 onwards and in 1914 she was abroad with her own company when the First World War broke out. She set up home in London, where she lived with her manager Victor Dandré. It's unclear if they were ever married.

She toured the world for the rest of her life and appeared in the movie "The Immortal Swan" (1926). Her last performance was in England in 1930. In 1931 she died in the Netherlands of pleurisy.

She was cremated near the place she lived at Golders Green Crematorium. In 2000 her ashes were supposed to be moved to Moscow, but since some saw her as a defector for leaving Russia, president Putin stopped the transfer and her urn can still be seen at Golders Green.

Images

The ashes of Anna Pavlova inside the columbarium of Golders Green Crematorium, London.
Picture by Androom (17 Mar 2006)

 

Sources
The Times
Anna Pavlova


Pavlovic-Barili, Milena

Published: 14 Apr 2006
Last update: 15 Jun 2023