Stevens, Anastasia

She was the second child in the family of the American journalist Edmund Stevens and his wife Nina (nee Bondarenko). Elder brother - Edmund Jr. (born 1936), architect, president of Edmund Stevens Associates, Inc. ^[one]

The parents of Anastasia Stevens lived for several years in Moscow in the thirties and forties, and finally settled here at the beginning of the Khrushchev thaw . They were allowed to rent a 19th-century mansion , which became a real salon where the metropolitan elite gathered.

Stevens was fluent in English, Italian, Russian and French. Studied painting in Italy. In 1957 she entered the Bolshoi Ballet School of Dance . Three years later, she was accepted into the troupe of the Bolshoi Theater , as part of which she toured the United States and Canada in 1962 ^[2] . The American press repeatedly wrote about Stevens ^{[3] [4]} , and a small film dedicated to her was released on the NBC television channel ^[5] . However, she could not achieve great success in the ballet, leaving the stage due to a broken leg, a tendency to overweight and problems with alcohol.

In 1965, she married the Italian Marquis Aurelio Ferrari di Collellape. Subsequently, the husband ended up in prison on charges of tax evasion.

Well-acquainted with the Stephens family, Boris Messerer recalled:

Their daughter Asya was a reckless creature - a red beast, all in hemp, charming and a true friend. She spoke sharply, abruptly behaved, abruptly drove the car. Stevens had four cars, and Asya could decide which car she should drive today. More often she chose the sports “ Volvo ” and raced at wild speeds, always on the verge of a disaster, because she drove badly and also often drank ^[6] .

December 19, 1991 she died from the consequences of injuries sustained in a car accident. The funeral service was held according to the Orthodox rite in the Church of the Resurrection of the Word on the Assumption War . She was buried at the Peredelkino cemetery .

• Photo of the grave at the Peredelkino cemetery