Victoria Fyodorova

For the retired Russian high jumper, see Viktoriya Fyodorova.
Fyodorova in Yulya's Diary (1980)

Victoria Fyodorova (formerly Pouy; January 18, 1946 – September 5, 2012)[1][2] was a Russian-American actress and author. She was born shortly after World War II to U.S. Admiral Jackson Tate (1898–1978) and Russian actress Zoya Fyodorova (1909–1981); the couple had had a brief affair before Tate was expelled from Moscow by Joseph Stalin. Victoria Fyodorova wrote the 1979 book, The Admiral's Daughter, which was about her experience attempting to reunite with her father.

Early life

Fyodorova's mother, Zoya Fyodorova, was a well-known Soviet actress starting in the 1930s. In 1945, she met United States Navy Captain Jackson R. Tate (died 1978), a State Department deputy attaché stationed in Moscow; and they had an affair. Tate was warned to end the relationship by the Soviet Secret Police.[3]

When Stalin learned of the affair, Tate was declared persona non grata and expelled from Russia. Zoya Fyodorova was arrested and sent to Siberia for eight years. Their daughter, Victoria, was named for V-E Day. Victoria lived with her mother's sister in Kazakhstan until she was 8 years old, when her mother was released, after Stalin's death. Victoria was also an actress in Russia, as her mother had been. She appeared in a number of well-received films, including a 1970 adaptation of Crime and Punishment. She was married briefly and divorced.[3]

Reunion

University of Connecticut professor Irene Kirk learned of Victoria's story in 1959 and spent years trying to find Tate in the United States.[3] Tate was unaware of having a daughter and of his former lover's arrest and imprisonment. When Kirk found Tate in 1973,[4] she carried correspondence back and forth between the two.

In 1974, Tate began a campaign to convince the Soviet government to allow his daughter to travel to see him. She was granted permission and arrived in the United States in March 1975 on a three-month travel visa. She spent several weeks in seclusion with her father in Florida. While in the United States, she met Frederick Pouy, a pilot for Pan American World Airways; and they married on June 7, 1975, in Stamford, Connecticut, days before her visa was to expire.[3][4][5] Their son, Christopher Alexander Fyodor Pouy, was born on May 3, 1976.[5] Zoya Fyodorova petitioned the Soviet government and was allowed to travel to the U.S. to be with her daughter for the birth. Zoya died from a gunshot wound in 1981 under circumstances never fully explained.[6]

Later life

Victoria Fyodorova settled in Stamford, Connecticut. She appeared as a Russian doctor in an episode of Medical Center in 1975,[7] and in the 1985 movie Target. She and Pouy divorced in 1990.[5]

Bibliography

See also

References

  1. ↑ Associated Press (1981-12-14). "Soviet Actress Was Figure in Incident of Wartime Romance". Los Angeles Times. p. C2.
  2. ↑
  3. 1 2 3 4 Clarity, James F. (1975-01-27). "A Soviet Child of War Wants to Visit U.S. Father". New York Times. p. 8.
  4. 1 2 "Adm. Jackson Tate Dies, Won Fight For Russian-Born Daughter to Visit". Washington Post. 1978-07-21. p. B4.
  5. 1 2 3 Victoria F. Pouy v. Frederick Pouy, FA89 0101955 S (Superior Court of Connecticut, Judicial District of Stamford/Norwalk, at Stamford 1990-06-25).
  6. ↑ Victoria Fyodorova profile, nytimes.com, November 29, 1985; accessed September 8, 2015.
  7. ↑ Thomas, Bob (1975-11-28). "Another Page in Fyodorova Saga". Los Angeles Times. p. E31.
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