March 17, 2017: A new museum dedicated to Russian actress Faina Ranevskaya is set to open its doors in Taganrog. Recognized as one of the greatest comic actors of the 20th Century, she was born on August 27 (August 15 - Old Style), 1896 in the city of Taganrog in a wealthy Jewish family. Faina Feldmann attended the local school for girls and received regular home education - she was given music, singing, foreign languages lessons. In 1915 the young girl left her home city to pursue a theater career in Moscow.


August 29, 1986, a memorial plaque dedicated to Ranevskaya was placed on her birth house in Frunze Street. A monument to the outstanding Russian artist was unveiled in front of her home on May 16, 2008 within the framework of the First International Ranevskaya Drama Festival "The Great Province". Same year another tribute to Faina was paid when art-café FREKEN BOK opened in Taganrog's downtown area. This is a family-run business, which offers very nice food and drinks.

The atmosphere and decor of this cult establishment is dedicated to Faina Ranevskaya and Astrid Lindgren's Karlsson-on-the-Roof. Cafeteria became one of the major locations during various cultural events like Taganrog Film Festival, Taganrog International Book Festival, etc.

Last year, cultural project "The Umbrella Morning or Cultural Quake", dedicated to the Taganrog-native actress Faina Ranevskaya won "The Best Tourism Event dedicated to the Year of Cinema" nomination at the prestigious Russian Event Awards.

By October 2016 Russian businessman and politician Ivan Savvidis' philanthropy organization acquired all the remaining apartments for the future Ranevskaya museum, which is to become part of Taganrog Group of Museums managed by Mrs. Yelizaveta Lipovenko. Over the years numerous tenants of Faina Ranevskaya's birth home made architectural replannings, so that in 2017 Ivan Savvidis' foundation will be investing money into reconstruction of the building, to restore it to its original appearance.


Taganrog Group of Museums (Taganrog State Literary and Historical-Architectural Museum-Reserve) is working on the concept of the future museum and restoration of exhibit items. "The new museum will not be limited to the great artist's childhood and youth years, it is to feature her whole career from first film roles to her glory years, and also her entourage. Taganrog has over 500 depository items related to Faina Ranevskaya. As of today we have four topic sections dedicated to the actress. We exhibited some of these objects in Yalta, where it was very popular", told Yelizaveta Lipovenko.