Rufina Nifontova

Rufina Dmitriyevna Nifontova (Руфина Дмитриевна Нифонтова; 15 September 1931 – 27 November 1994) was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actress. People's Artist of the USSR (1978).

Biography
Rufina Nifontova was born in Moscow in a family with Greek roots.

Nifontova studied at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (course of Bibikov-Pyzhova). In 1955 she graduated from VGIK and was admitted to the Film Actor Theater Studio.

In 1957 Nifontova came into the troupe of the Maly Theatre, where she became a famous actress.

In 1986–1991 – Secretary of the Board Union of Theatre Workers of the Russian Federation.

Nifontova died in Moscow at the age of 63, and was buried at the Vagankovo Cemetery.

Personal life

 * Father – Dmitry Ivanovich Pitade
 * Mother – Darya Semyonovna Pitade
 * Brothers – Aleksandr, Boris, and twin Vyacheslav
 * Husband – Gleb Nifontov, filmmaker
 * Daughter – Olga, graduated from VGIK

Awards and honors

 * 1956 – Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Award for Best Actress, for film Volnitsa)
 * 1958 – Laureate Union Film Festival in First prize for the actors of the 1958
 * 1960 – Laureate Union Film Festival in First prize for Best Actress for the 1960
 * 1962 – Honored Artist of the RSFSR
 * 1966 – People's Artist of the RSFSR
 * 1967 – Order of the Badge of Honour
 * 1974 – Order of the Red Banner of Labour
 * 1978 – People's Artist of the USSR
 * 1981 – Order of Friendship of Peoples

Selected filmography

 * The Sisters (1957) as Katya Bulavina
 * The First Visitor (1965) as Alexandra Kollontai
 * Year as Long as Life (1966) as Jenny Marx
 * Intervention (1968) as Madam Tokarchuk, raider
 * Honoré de Balzac's Mistake (1968) as Ewelina Hańska
 * Do Not Part with Your Beloved (1979) as people's judge
 * Could One Imagine? (1980) as Tatyana Nikolayevna's mother
 * Time and the Conways (1984) as Mrs. Conway