Vera Alexandrovna Tiscenko Calder
Encyclopedia
Vera Alexandrovna Tiscenko (28 August 1902 - 13 October 1983) was a Russian
actress of Polish
descent and member of the Moscow Art Theatre
who lived through five revolutions. The 1905 Russian Revolution, the Russian Revolution (1917), the Spanish Civil War
, the Great Calcutta Killing
& Indian Independence Movement
, 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
who was the last Chief Minister
of United Bengal
(April 1946- August 1947) and subsequently became the fifth Prime Minister of Pakistan
(1956–1957).
(widow of Anton Chekov) who brought her to meet Constantin Stanislavski at the Moscow Art Theatre
.
She acted at the Moscow Art Theatre and in Prague
. 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
. They were married on May 20, 1931 and later settled in Madrid
. After the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War
the couple moved to Rome
via Vienna
where on January 27, 1937, she gave birth to a son, Oleg. In 1938 her husband went to Edinburgh, Scotland 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
an unrest. She decided to accept an invitation from Sir Hassan Suhrawardy
, an eminent surgeon and uncle of her English
professor and former director from the Moscow Art Theatre, Hasan Shahid Suhrawardy, to leave Europe
with her son and stay with him in Calcutta, India.
, 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
graduate and prominent lawyer (Gray's Inn
), and also a widower (his first wife Begum Niaz Fatima had died in 1922) who had recently been elected to the new Bengal
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
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
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
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
. A Polish
woman who was married to a Russian man in Germany trying to dissolve her marriage before a court in Calcutta.
for a second opinion, her marriage with Huseyn was dissolved.
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 film based on the novel by Maxim Gorky
and directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin
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 LAX
about to board a flight to New York
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
about the treatment of her luggage. She died on October 13, 1983 in Los Angeles
.
In her later years Vera had became a follower of the Bahá'í Faith
.
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
actress of Polish
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
descent and member of the Moscow Art Theatre
Moscow Art Theatre
The Moscow Art Theatre is a theatre company in Moscow that the seminal Russian theatre practitioner Constantin Stanislavski, together with the playwright and director Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, founded in 1898. It was conceived as a venue for naturalistic theatre, in contrast to the melodramas...
who lived through five revolutions. The 1905 Russian Revolution, the Russian Revolution (1917), the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
, the Great Calcutta Killing
Direct Action Day
Direct Action Day , also known as the Great Calcutta Killings, was a day of widespread riot and manslaughter in the city of Calcutta in the Bengal province of British India...
& Indian Independence Movement
Indian independence movement
The term Indian independence movement encompasses a wide area of political organisations, philosophies, and movements which had the common aim of ending first British East India Company rule, and then British imperial authority, in parts of South Asia...
, and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947
Indo-Pakistani War of 1947
The India-Pakistan War of 1947-48, sometimes known as the First Kashmir War, was fought between India and Pakistan over the princely state of Kashmir and Jammu from 1947 to 1948. It was the first of four wars fought between the two newly independent nations...
(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
Supreme Court of India
The Supreme Court of India is the highest judicial forum and final court of appeal as established by Part V, Chapter IV of the Constitution of India...
. She was the second wife of Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy
Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy
Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy was a Pakistani-Bengali politician and statesman who served as 5th Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1956 till 1957, and a close associate of Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Liaquat Ali Khan, first Prime minister of Pakistan...
who was the last Chief Minister
Chief Minister
A Chief Minister is the elected head of government of a sub-national state, provinces of Sri Lanka, Pakistan, notably a state of India, a territory of Australia or a British Overseas Territory that has attained self-government...
of United Bengal
United Bengal
The United Bengal proposal was the bid made by Bengali political leaders Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy and Sarat Chandra Bose to found a united and independent nation-state of in Bengal. The proposal was floated as an alternative to the partition of Bengal on communal lines...
(April 1946- August 1947) and subsequently became the fifth Prime Minister of Pakistan
Prime Minister of Pakistan
The Prime Minister of Pakistan , is the Head of Government of Pakistan who is designated to exercise as the country's Chief Executive. By the Constitution of Pakistan, Pakistan has the parliamentary democratic system of government...
(1956–1957).
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 KnipperOlga Knipper
Olga Leonardovna Knipper-Chekhova was a Russian stage actress. She was married to Anton Chekhov.Knipper was among the 39 original members of the Moscow Art Theatre when it was formed by Constantin Stanislavski in 1898...
(widow of Anton Chekov) who brought her to meet Constantin Stanislavski at the Moscow Art Theatre
Moscow Art Theatre
The Moscow Art Theatre is a theatre company in Moscow that the seminal Russian theatre practitioner Constantin Stanislavski, together with the playwright and director Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, founded in 1898. It was conceived as a venue for naturalistic theatre, in contrast to the melodramas...
.
She acted at the Moscow Art Theatre and in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
. Always dynamic on stage she went on a European tour with Moscow Art Theatre
Moscow Art Theatre
The Moscow Art Theatre is a theatre company in Moscow that the seminal Russian theatre practitioner Constantin Stanislavski, together with the playwright and director Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, founded in 1898. It was conceived as a venue for naturalistic theatre, in contrast to the melodramas...
actress Vera Baranovskaya, where she met the Russian émigré medical student Eugene Tiscenko who was then living in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. They were married on May 20, 1931 and later settled in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
. After the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
the couple moved to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
via Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
where on January 27, 1937, she gave birth to a son, Oleg. In 1938 her husband went to Edinburgh, Scotland 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
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
she became increasingly worried about the surrounding Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an unrest. She decided to accept an invitation from Sir Hassan Suhrawardy
Hassan Suhrawardy
Lt. Col. Dr. Hassan Suhrawardy, D.Sc., M.D., D.P.H., F.R.C.S. was a noted surgeon, politician and public servant in India.-Life and family:...
, an eminent surgeon and uncle of her English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
professor and former director from the Moscow Art Theatre, Hasan Shahid Suhrawardy, to leave Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
with her son and stay with him in Calcutta, India.
The Tiscenko decision
On September 1, 1938, they arrived in Calcutta and HassanHassan Suhrawardy
Lt. Col. Dr. Hassan Suhrawardy, D.Sc., M.D., D.P.H., F.R.C.S. was a noted surgeon, politician and public servant in India.-Life and family:...
, a widower for a good many years, began to put the make on her. Vera promptly sought out his nephew, Huseyn
Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy
Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy was a Pakistani-Bengali politician and statesman who served as 5th Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1956 till 1957, and a close associate of Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Liaquat Ali Khan, first Prime minister of Pakistan...
, to put a stop to his advances and in Huseyn she found a colorful, brilliant and witty man; an Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
graduate and prominent lawyer (Gray's Inn
Gray's Inn
The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
), and also a widower (his first wife Begum Niaz Fatima had died in 1922) who had recently been elected to the new Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
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
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. She cabled her husband with the news of her conversion to Islam and requested that he accept the Islamic faith. Eugene, a Greek Orthodox
Greek Orthodox Church
The Greek Orthodox Church is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity sharing a common cultural tradition whose liturgy is also traditionally conducted in Koine Greek, the original language of the New Testament...
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
Calcutta High Court
The Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in India. It was established as the High Court of Judicature at Fort William on 1 July 1862 under the High Courts Act, 1861. It has jurisdiction over the state of West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The High Court...
on August 5, 1940 for a suit declaring dissolution of her marriage to Eugene Tiscenko. The Calcutta High Court
Calcutta High Court
The Calcutta High Court is the oldest High Court in India. It was established as the High Court of Judicature at Fort William on 1 July 1862 under the High Courts Act, 1861. It has jurisdiction over the state of West Bengal and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The 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
Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy was a Pakistani-Bengali politician and statesman who served as 5th Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1956 till 1957, and a close associate of Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Liaquat Ali Khan, first Prime minister of Pakistan...
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
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
. A Polish
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
woman who was married to a Russian man in Germany trying to dissolve her marriage before a court in Calcutta.
Epilogue
Vera was a white woman married to an Oxford educated man of India who was prominent in the Indian political arena and there were always opposing political factions conspiring against her. In 1951 her physician diagnosed her with cancer and, while she was in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
for a second opinion, her marriage with Huseyn was dissolved.
Vera Vlasova
Vera, an American citizen, later went to live in the United States. Her younger sister, Lydia, was living in a ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
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
Mother (1926 film)
Mother is a 1926 Soviet film directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin depicting one woman's struggle against Tsarist rule during the Russian Revolution of 1905. The film is based on a novel of the same title by Maxim Gorky....
, a film based on the novel by Maxim Gorky
Maxim Gorky
Alexei Maximovich Peshkov , primarily known as Maxim Gorky , was a Russian and Soviet author, a founder of the Socialist Realism literary method and a political activist.-Early years:...
and directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin
Vsevolod Pudovkin
Vsevolod Illarionovich Pudovkin was a Russian and Soviet film director, screenwriter and actor who developed influential theories of montage...
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 LAX
Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport is the primary airport serving the Greater Los Angeles Area, the second-most populated metropolitan area in the United States. It is most often referred to by its IATA airport code LAX, with the letters pronounced individually...
about to board a flight to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
to visit her sister, Lydia, en route to give a lecture at the Moscow Art Theatre
Moscow Art Theatre
The Moscow Art Theatre is a theatre company in Moscow that the seminal Russian theatre practitioner Constantin Stanislavski, together with the playwright and director Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, founded in 1898. It was conceived as a venue for naturalistic theatre, in contrast to the melodramas...
when she suffered a sudden stroke as she was arguing with the baggage handler
Baggage handler
In the airline industry, a baggage handler is a person who loads and unloads baggage , and other cargo for transport via aircraft...
about the treatment of her luggage. She died on October 13, 1983 in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
In her later years Vera had became a follower of the Bahá'í Faith
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
.