Actress Maria Shukshina. Biography

Maria Shukshina is a Soviet and Russian film and television actress, TV presenter, Honored Artist of Russia, daughter of writer and director Vasily Shukshin and People's Artist of the RSFSR Lidiya Fedoseeva-Shukshina. She became widely known for her work on films, as well as in the program "Wait for Me". In recent years, her name has repeatedly appeared in the media in connection with property disputes with her younger sister Olga Shukshina. On November 11, the sisters demonstrated their closeness for the first time in a long time during their farewell to their mother, who had passed away earlier. About the life, career and family differences of Maria Shukshina — in the material of Izvestia.

Early years and education

Maria Vasilyevna Shukshina was born on May 27, 1967 in Moscow in the family of writer, actor and director Vasily Shukshin and actress Lidia Fedoseeva-Shukshina. By that time, her father had already gained fame thanks to the films "There is such a Guy" and "Your Son and Brother," and her mother actively starred in Soviet cinema. In 1968, Olga, the second daughter, was born in the family. Maria also has an older maternal sister, Anastasia Voronina-Francisco, who was born in Lidia Fedoseeva's previous marriage to actor Vyacheslav Voronin.

Maria spent her childhood in a creative atmosphere. Her parents often worked on film sets, so the future actress was familiar with the specifics of filmmaking from an early age. On October 2, 1974, when Maria was seven years old, her father died suddenly during the filming of Sergei Bondarchuk's film "They Fought for the Motherland." After Vasily Shukshin's death, Maria and Olga were mainly raised by their mother.

In 1984, Maria graduated from Moscow School and entered the translation department of the Maurice Thorez Moscow State Pedagogical Institute of Foreign Languages, now the Moscow State Linguistic University. During her studies, she studied English and Spanish. Unlike her parents, Maria initially did not plan to become a professional actress and decided to pursue a specialty unrelated to cinema. After graduation, she worked for a while as a translator and then as a broker on the Russian Commodity Exchange.

First film roles

In 1969, Maria Shukshina starred in Vasily Shukshin's film almanac "Strange People", based on his stories. In one of the novels, the girl played the role of Masha. She was about one and a half years old at the time of filming. In 1972, Maria, along with her younger sister Olga, appeared in the comedy "Stoves and Benches", which was also directed by their father.

In 1974, the young actress took part in the creation of the film "Birds over the City" directed by Sergei Nikonenko. In 1990, Maria starred in the film The Eternal Husband, based on the novel of the same name by Fyodor Dostoevsky. A turning point in her career was her acquaintance with director Peter Todorovsky, who offered her a role in the film "What a wonderful game."

Developing an acting career

In the late 1990s, Maria Shukshina continued acting in feature films. In 1998, she appeared in Vladimir Bortko's film "The Circus Burned Down and the Clowns Ran Away." In the early 2000s, the actress began to work actively on television. In 2004, Shukshina starred in the serial melodrama Dear Masha Berezina, dedicated to the life of a Russian model who returned to Moscow after working abroad.

In the same year, the melodrama "I love you" was released, where Shukshina played the main role. In 2005, she took part in the creation of the biographical series "Brezhnev", dedicated to the last years of the life of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU Leonid Brezhnev. In 2009, the crime drama "Terrorist Ivanova" was released, in which Shukshina played the main role.

In the same year, the actress starred in the film adaptation of Pavel Sanaev's autobiographical novel "Bury Me behind the Baseboard" directed by Sergei Snezhkin. Shukshina played Olga, the mother of Sasha, a boy raised by his grandparents. In 2010, for this role, Maria Shukshina received the national cinematography award "Nika" in the nomination "Best Supporting Actress".

Working on television

In addition to her acting career, Maria Shukshina gained fame as a TV presenter. In October 1999, she began hosting the program "Wait for Me" on Channel One. Over the years, the TV presenter has participated in hundreds of episodes, telling the stories of people separated by wars, relocations, family conflicts and other circumstances.

Shukshina herself has repeatedly admitted that working on the program required considerable emotional effort. The stories related to the search for missing children were especially difficult for her. She worked in the "Wait for Me" program until December 2014.

In 2018, the actress returned to Channel One with the author's project "Visiting in the morning." The program was based around conversations with famous cultural figures at home.

The personal life of Maria Shukshina

Maria Shukshina was in several long-term relationships and gave birth to four children. The actress' first husband was translator Artem Tregubenko, whom she met in her youth. In July 1989, the couple had a daughter, Anna. However, a few years later, the couple divorced.

Subsequently, Maria married businessman Alexei Kasatkin, an acquaintance of her first husband. In November 1997, their son Makar was born. This marriage also ended in divorce.

In the early 2000s, the actress began a relationship with businessman and lawyer Boris Vishnyakov. On July 31, 2005, the couple had twin sons, Thomas and Foka. Later, Shukshina and Vishnyakov broke up.

The beginning of family disagreements

For many years, Maria Shukshina's relationship with her younger sister Olga remained strained. One of the main causes of the conflict was disagreements regarding the disposal of the family's property and the creative legacy of their father Vasily Shukshin.

One of the first public conflicts was the proceedings surrounding the Moscow apartment where the Shukshin family lived. In 2013-2014, Olga got into a dispute with her mother regarding her share in real estate. Olga intended to achieve the allocation of her part of the apartment. Lydia Fedoseeva-Shukshina wanted to save her home to create a museum in memory of her husband.

Another tense issue was the distribution of the rights to the writer's literary works and scripts, which passed to his heirs after his death. Disagreements about the use of creative heritage gradually led to public recriminations and court proceedings.

The dispute over the play "Kalina Krasnaya"

In 2017, the premiere of the musical play "Kalina Krasnaya" took place at the Russian Song Theater, in which Maria Shukshina played one of the main roles. However, later some of the heirs opposed the further performance of the play. The claims were made by Olga Shukshina and Ekaterina Shukshina, Vasily Shukshin's daughter from a previous relationship with Victoria Sofronova. According to the heiresses, the permission to show the production has ceased to be valid.

In 2022, Olga and Ekaterina appealed to the court, demanding to ban the performance and pay compensation for the violation of exclusive copyrights. Maria Shukshina did not join the lawsuit and continued to play the role of Lyuba Baykalova. In February 2023, the Basmanny District Court of Moscow partially satisfied the claims of the heiresses. The theater was ordered to pay compensation to Olga and Ekaterina for a total amount of more than 600 thousand rubles. At the same time, the court refused to ban the performance.

The proceedings intensified the disagreements between the relatives. Maria continued to participate in the production, while Olga and Ekaterina insisted on the need to comply with the terms of use of Vasily Shukshin's works.

Disputes over the apartment and mother's care

Another reason for the conflict between the sisters was the Moscow apartment associated with the life and work of Vasily Shukshin. The family received housing in a house on Bochkova Street in the early 1970s. The apartment has preserved personal belongings, books and materials of the writer. In recent years, Lidia Fedoseeva-Shukshina has repeatedly spoken about her desire to create a memorial museum of her husband here.

However, the implementation of the project was complicated by the fact that several family members were the owners of the housing. Half of the apartment belonged to Olga Shukshina, and the other half to Maria Anna Tregubenko's daughter. Earlier, Maria handed over her daughter's share.

According to lawyer Lidia Fedoseeva-Shukshina, Olga supported the idea of creating a museum and was ready to preserve the memorial space. Anna Tregubenko opposed this decision and considered the possibility of disposing of her share in another way.

A conflict over the care of an elderly mother has been added to the property issues. In recent years, Lydia Fedoseeva-Shukshina's health has been deteriorating. In 2023, she underwent a serious hospitalization, after which she needed regular help. Olga, who lived with her, took over the main care of her mother, dealt with household issues and accompanied her during treatment.

The death of Lidia Fedoseeva-Shukshina

Lidiya Fedoseeva-Shukshina died on November 7, 2026 at the age of 88. The People's Artist of the RSFSR spent the last weeks of her life in the hospital. After the death of the actress, the question of the fate of her property and the creative legacy of Vasily Shukshin arose again.

It was reported that the actress transferred a significant part of the property to her children and grandchildren during her lifetime. At the same time, part of the property, including the apartment in New Moscow, could become part of the inheritance. The representative of the actress also noted that one of the last wishes of Fedoseeva-Shukshina was the reconciliation of her daughters.

Reconciliation of Maria and Olga Shukshin at her mother's funeral

On November 11, 2026, a farewell to Lidia Fedoseeva-Shukshina took place at the Church of the Resurrection of the Living on Uspensky Vrazhka in Moscow. Relatives, friends and colleagues of the actress came to the ceremony. Among those present were her daughters Maria and Olga Shukshin.

At the beginning of the ceremony, Maria and Olga did not greet each other at the meeting and took their places on opposite sides of their mother's coffin. However, the sisters eventually approached each other. Maria hugged Olga, after which both burst into tears. When Lydia Fedoseeva-Shukshina's coffin was carried out of the church, the sisters walked side by side, holding hands.