In Taraz Hesed, on December 22 there was a meeting of Family Club Ahdut. The Literary saloon was devoted to Faina Ranevskaya. Gleb Skorokhodov, who wrote the wonderful book "Conversations with Faina Ranevskaya" called Faina Girshevna Feldman "Actress of all times".

There was a very warm friendly atmosphere in the saloon. Everybody was listening with great attention to the story of the actress’s life, which was full of loneliness and losses. The heiress of the multimillion fortune was starving after the revolution. She parted with her family forever when her family emigrated to the U.S. Friends who made the meaning of her life were dying. Faina Ranevskaya were friends with Vasiliy Kachalov, Anna Akhmatova, Alexandr Tairov, Alisa Koonen, Mikhail Rom, Dmitriy Shostakovich, Boris Pasternak. They all noted her unique but non-demanded talent. She was very lonely. Faina Ranevskaya is famous for her wonderful sense of humor. "Goodness, how old I am! I have met and still remember decent people"; "To play in a bad film is the same as to spit in the eternity"; "Loneliness as a state of mood cannot be cured"; "If a sick person would like to live, doctors are helpless."

She was fanatically loyal to the theater and could substitute any actor in her theater. But we know only her small speechless at the beginning roles. There were very few main roles during her long professional life. The actress would say sadly, "when I am not given roles I feel as if I am a pianist with severed hands." In 1961 Faina Ranevskaya was granted with a people's actress of USSR award.

The British Encyclopedia included Faina Ranevskaya to top 10 greatest actors of the XX century. She died on August 19, 1984, but she is still loved by people because she could make any movie a great one if she played even a small role in it. With a great pleasure, we recollected her heroines, aphorisms, jokes and were sorry that our favorite actress could not fully fulfill her talent to the full extent.

Ida Bukina