Profile Text
Birth Name: Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev
Date of Birth: 17 March, 1938
Place of Birth: near Lake Baikal, Russian SFSR, USSR (now Russia)
Date of Death: 6 January, 1993
Place of Death: Levallois-Perret, France
Ethnicity: Tatar
Rudolf Nureyev was a Soviet/Russian ballet dancer, choreographer, and actor. He is often regarded as one of the greatest ballet dancers of all time, and the best male ballet dancer of the 20th century. He began his career with the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad, and defected to the west in 1961; the first prominent defection by a Soviet artist. He later danced with London’s The Royal Ballet, and was the director and chief choreographer of the Paris Opera Ballet. His productions included versions of Swan Lake , Giselle , and La Bayadère . He co-directed, wrote, and starred in the ballet film Don Quixote (1973); and starred in the films Valentino (1977) and Exposed (1983).
Rudolf was born on a Trans-Siberian train near Lake Baikal, in Siberia, Soviet Union, the son of Tatar parents, Farida Agliullovna (Agliullova) and Khamit/Hamet Fazleevich Nureyev, a Red Army political commissar. His father was from Asanovo, Sharipov volost of the Ufa District of the Ufa Governorate, now in the Republic of Bashkortostan. His mother was from Tatarskoye Tyugulbaevo, Kuznechikhinsky volost, Kazan Governorate, now Alkeyevsky District, in the Republic of Tatarstan. His mother was traveling to Vladivostok at the time of his birth, where his father was stationed. His family were secular Muslims. Rudolf enrolled at the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in Leningrad in 1955.
Rudolf died of AIDS.
Rudolf’s paternal grandfather was named Nurakhmet/Nuriakhamet Fazlievich/Fasliyevich Fazliev/Fasliyev. Nurakhmet was born in Tatarskoe Tiugul’Baevo, Alkeyevsky District.
Sources: Genealogy of Rudolf Nureyev (focusing on his father’s side) – https://www.geni.com