Mariya Kuznetsova (singer)

Maria Nikolayevna Kuznetsova (Template:Lang-ru) (1880-1966), also spelled Kousnetzova or Kouznetzoff, a famous 20th century Russian opera singer (soprano). Maria was born in Odessa, Ukraine, the daughter of portrait painter Nikolai Dmitrievich Kuznetsov (1850-1929). She first studied ballet in St. Petersburg, but her interest later shifted to music, and she began studying with baritone Joachim Tartakov. In 1905, she made her debut as Marguerite at the Marijinsky Theater, in St. Petersburg. She married the architect Nikolai Albertovich Benois in 1915, a member of the prominent artistic Benois family. She fled Russia in 1918 after the October Revolution of the previous year, and settled in Paris, France near her father. After the death of Nikolai Benois she wed a French banker, Alfred Massenet, the nephew of composer Jules Massenet.