Valentina Mikhaylovna Leontyeva (russian: Валентина Михайловна Леонтьева; 1 August 1923 in

Petrograd Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

– 20 May 2007 in

Ulyanovsk Ulyanovsk, known until 1924 as Simbirsk, is a city and the administrative center of Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Volga River east of Moscow. Population: The city, founded as Simbirsk (), was the birthplace of Vladimir Lenin (born ...

) was a famous anchor on Soviet TV. She was one of the first television presenters in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. Leontyeva survived the

Siege of Leningrad The siege of Leningrad (russian: links=no, translit=Blokada Leningrada, Блокада Ленинграда; german: links=no, Leningrader Blockade; ) was a prolonged military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the Soviet city of L ...

, which claimed the life of her father. After a brief stint at the Mendeleyev Institute, she attended the

Vakhtangov Theatre Yevgeny Bagrationovich Vakhtangov (also spelled Evgeny or Eugene; russian: Евге́ний Багратио́нович Вахта́нгов; 13 February 1883 – 29 May 1922) was a Russian-Armenian actor and theatre director who founded the ...

School in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. In 1948, she joined a theatre in

Tambov Tambov (, ; rus, Тамбов, p=tɐmˈbof) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, Central Federal District, central Russia, at the confluence of the Tsna River (Moksha basin), Tsna and ...

. As a TV anchor, she became famous for her deeply felt manner of presentation. Among her most popular shows was "Ot Vsei Dushi" ("From the Bottom of My Heart"), which has been praised for its honesty and emotional depth. She toured 54 cities of the Soviet Union with a stage version of the show. She was also the host of the '' Goluboy ogonyok'' ("Blue Light"), a

New Year New Year is the time or day currently at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system to ...

's Eve variety show, and '' Spokoinoi Nochi, Malyshi'' ("Good Night, Little Ones"), a daily program for children. In 1975, Leontyeva was awarded the

USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, Gosudarstvennaya premiya SSSR) was the Soviet Union's state honor. It was established on 9 September 1966. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, t ...

. In the 1980s, she hosted '' Visit to Fairy Tales'', a children's show, and became popularly known as simply "Aunt Valya" (russian: Тётя Валя). Her popularity led to her being awarded the title of

People's Artist of the USSR People's Artist of the USSR ( rus, Народный артист СССР, Narodny artist SSSR), also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. Nomenclature and significan ...

(1982), the highest honor that could be bestowed on a television presenter. On 12 March 2004 the

Federation Council of Russia The Federation Council (russian: Сове́т Федера́ции – ''Soviet Federatsii'', common abbreviation: Совфед – ''Sovfed''), or Senate (officially, starting from July 1, 2020) ( ru , Сенат , translit = Senat), is th ...

presented to her the medal "For Contributions", revived from the 19th century. After her retirement from Channel One in 1991, Valentina Leontyeva lived with her sister in the

Ulyanovsk Oblast Ulyanovsk Oblast (russian: Ульяновская область, ''Ul’janovskaja oblast’'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It is located in the Volga Federal District. Its administrative center is the city of Ulyanovsk. Populatio ...

up until her death. Pamyatnik Leontievoi

There is a statue of her more than 2m in height on the Goncharov street in

unveiled on 1 August 2008 in the garden of the Ulyanovskiy Regional Muppets Theater, which was recently named after Leontyeva.Monument to Valentina Leontyeva will be opened in Ulyanovsk on Friday

RIAN RIA Novosti (russian: РИА Новости), sometimes referred to as RIAN () or RIA (russian: РИА, label=none) is a Russian state-owned domestic news agency. On 9 December 2013 by a decree of Vladimir Putin it was liquidated and its asset ...

, 01.08.2008 02:30

MST The Master of Studies or Master in Studies (M.St. or MSt; ) is a postgraduate degree at the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of St Andrews, the Australian National University, University of Dublin and the University of Ne ...

References

External links

Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leontyeva, Valentina People's Artists of the USSR Soviet television presenters 1923 births 2007 deaths People's Artists of the RSFSR Radio and television announcers Russian women television presenters 20th-century Russian women