Vera Alexandrovna Tiscenko (28 August 1902 – 13 October 1983) was a
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
actress of
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
descent and member of the
Moscow Art Theatre who lived through four revolutions: the
1905 Russian Revolution, the
Russian Revolution (1917)
The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...
, the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...
, the
Direct Action Day
Direct Action Day (16 August 1946), also known as the 1946 Calcutta Killings, was a day of nationwide communal riots. It led to large-scale violence between Muslims and Hinduism in India, Hindus in the city of Calcutta (now known as Kolkata) ...
&
Indian Independence Movement
The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947.
The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...
, and the
Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 (also known as the First Kashmir War). In India, her divorce from her first husband, Eugene Tiscenko, has achieved the status of a constitutional precedent that has been deployed repeatedly by the
Supreme Court of India. She was the second wife of
Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy
Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy ( bn, হোসেন শহীদ সোহ্রাওয়ার্দী; ur, ; 8 September 18925 December 1963) was a Bengali barrister and politician. He served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1956 t ...
who was the last
Prime Minister of Bengal until the
Partition of India (April 1946- August 1947) and subsequently became the fifth
Prime Minister of Pakistan
The prime minister of Pakistan ( ur, , romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen cabinet, despite the president of Pa ...
(1956–1957). They had a son
Robert Ashby
Robert Ashby (born Rashid Suhrawardy; 1940 – 7 February 2019) was a British actor. He worked on stage, television and film.
Early life and career
Ashby was born in London 1940 as Rashid Suhrawardy to East Pakistani Bengali politician Huseyn S ...
was born as Rashid Suhrawardy, who worked in the British and American film industry.
Life
The second of three sisters, she pursued acting as a child against her parents wishes and when she was 19 caught the attention of
Olga Knipper
Olga Leonardovna Knipper-Chekhova (russian: Ольга Леонардовна Книппер-Чехова, link=no; – 22 March 1959) was a Russian and Soviet stage actress. She was married to Anton Chekhov.
Knipper was among the 39 o ...
(widow of
Anton Chekov) who brought her to meet
Constantin Stanislavski
Konstantin Sergeyevich Stanislavski ( Alekseyev; russian: Константин Сергеевич Станиславский, p=kənstɐnʲˈtʲin sʲɪrˈgʲejɪvʲɪtɕ stənʲɪˈslafskʲɪj; 7 August 1938) was a seminal Soviet Russian ...
at the
Moscow Art Theatre.
She acted at the Moscow Art Theatre and in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
. Always dynamic on stage she went on a European tour with
Moscow Art Theatre actress
Vera Baranovskaya, where she met the Russian émigré medical student Eugene Tiscenko who was then living in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
. They were married on May 20, 1931, and later settled in
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
. After the outbreak of the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...
the couple moved to
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
via
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
where on January 27, 1937, she gave birth to a son, Oleg. In 1938 her husband went to
Edinburgh, Scotland
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of ...
to qualify for a British medical degree. Vera's marriage to Eugene had not been not a happy one and left alone with her son in
Mussolini's Rome she became increasingly worried about the surrounding
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
an unrest. She decided to accept an invitation from
Sir Hassan Suhrawardy, an eminent surgeon and uncle of her
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
professor and former director from the Moscow Art Theatre,
Hasan Shahid Suhrawardy, to leave
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
with her son and stay with him in
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
, India.
The Tiscenko decision
On September 1, 1938, they arrived in Calcutta and
Hassan Hassan, Hasan, Hassane, Haasana, Hassaan, Asan, Hassun, Hasun, Hassen, Hasson or Hasani may refer to:
People
*Hassan (given name), Arabic given name and a list of people with that given name
*Hassan (surname), Arabic, Jewish, Irish, and Scottis ...
, a widower for a good many years, began to put the make on her. Vera promptly sought out his nephew,
Huseyn, to put a stop to his advances and in Huseyn she found a colorful, brilliant and witty man; an
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
graduate and prominent lawyer (
Gray's Inn
The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and W ...
), and also a widower (his first wife Begum Niaz Fatima had died in 1922) who had recently been elected to the new
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
Assembly in 1937. Vera, living in Calcutta with her son on her own earnings and without any support from her husband, found "relief and solace" in the teachings of
Islam. She cabled her husband with the news of her conversion to Islam and requested that he accept the Islamic faith. Eugene, a
Greek Orthodox
The term Greek Orthodox Church ( Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also cal ...
replied that his religious convictions were unshakable and "refused absolutely" to change his faith and insisted that their son remain Greek Orthodox. Vera, who had changed her name to Begum Noor Jehan at her conversion on 27 June 1940, applied to the
High Court of Calcutta
The Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in India. It is located in B.B.D. Bagh, Kolkata, West Bengal. It has jurisdiction over the state of West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The High Court build ...
on August 5, 1940, for a suit declaring dissolution of her marriage to Eugene Tiscenko. The
Calcutta High Court originally declared that her marriage to Eugene was dissolved. Despite a subsequent appeal that left the case unresolved, she married
Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy
Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy ( bn, হোসেন শহীদ সোহ্রাওয়ার্দী; ur, ; 8 September 18925 December 1963) was a Bengali barrister and politician. He served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1956 t ...
later in 1940 and they had one son, Rashid (aka Robert Ashby). One year later, on December 19, 1941, the Calcutta High Court overturned the dissolution of marriage. The "Tiscenko" decision came to affect the lives of women all over
South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...
. A
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
woman who was married to a Russian man in Germany trying to dissolve her marriage before a court in Calcutta.
Vera Vlasova
Vera, an
American citizen
Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constituti ...
, later went to live in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. Her younger sister, Lydia, was living in a
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
apartment building at
130 West 57th Street that her husband, Dr. David Jedwabnik had inherited from his brother, Abram, in 1949. Vera spent the rest of her life teaching acting lessons based on the
Stanislavski's system under the pseudonym ''Vera Vlasova'' at her studio in her flat on Orchid Avenue in Hollywood. Her professional name, "Vlasova", was the name of Vera Baranovskaya's character in
Mother
]
A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...
, a film based on the novel by
Maxim Gorky
Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and social ...
and directed by
Vsevolod Pudovkin
Vsevolod Illarionovich Pudovkin ( rus, Всеволод Илларионович Пудовкин, p=ˈfsʲevələt ɪlərʲɪˈonəvʲɪtɕ pʊˈdofkʲɪn; 16 February 1893 – 30 June 1953) was a Russian and Soviet film director, screenwrite ...
in 1926. For over twenty years she went on lecture tours around the world lecturing as the "Foremost authority on the
Stanislavski Method". On October 7, 1983, Vera was at
Los Angeles International Airport about to board a flight to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
to visit her sister, Lydia, en route to give a lecture at the
Moscow Art Theatre when she suffered a sudden stroke as she was arguing with the
baggage handler
In the airline industry, a baggage handler is a person who loads and unloads baggage (suitcases or luggage), and other cargo (airfreight, mail, counter-to-counter packages) for transport via aircraft. With most airlines, the formal job title i ...
about the treatment of her luggage. She died on October 13, 1983, in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
.
[''Variety'', October 14, 1983, p.8]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tiscenko, Vera Alexandrovna
1902 births
1983 deaths
Russian people of Polish descent
Moscow Art Theatre
Actors from Odesa
20th-century Russian actresses
Spouses of prime ministers of Pakistan
Pakistani people of Polish descent
Pakistani people of Russian descent
Soviet emigrants to Pakistan
Naturalised citizens of Pakistan
Suhrawardy family