Stella Zoe von Meyendorff

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Stella Zoe von Meyendorff (Whishaw)

Russian: Стелла (Зоя) Романовна бар. Мейендорф (Уишоу)
Also Known As: "Стелла Арбенина", "Стелла-Зоя Романовна Вишау"
Birthdate:
Birthplace: Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
Death: April 26, 1976 (90)
London, United Kingdom
Immediate Family:

Daughter of Robert Cattley Whishaw and Emily Mary Whishaw
Wife of Paul / Pavel Bar. von Meyendorff
Mother of Georgi Bar. von Meyendorff; Private and Irina Bsse. von Meyendorff
Sister of Montague Whishaw

Occupation: British actress
Managed by: Private User
Last Updated:

About Stella Zoe von Meyendorff

Stella Arbenina (27 September 1885 – 26 April 1976) was a Russian-born English actress.[1]

Born Stella Zoe Whishaw in St. Petersburg, Russia into an Anglo-Russian English family who had made their home in Russia for several generations.[2] She was related to Montague Law Whishaw (b. 1890)[3] and James Whishaw, a British businessman in St Petersburg, who published his memoirs as A history of the Whishaw family in London in 1935.[4]

She was married in 1907 to Baron Paul Meyendorff, Captain in the Horse Guards and Aides-de-camp to Tsar Nicholas II in 1907 and then later Colonel in his Military Secretariat. Arbenina and Meyendorff had three children.[5]

During the Russian Revolution the family suffered greatly under the Bolsheviks.[6] Their possessions were seized and they were imprisoned. Through efforts by the Baltic Germans Committee they were released from prison and finally permitted to leave Russia at end of 1918. They settled briefly in Estonia where they lived on a remnant of the family estates. Arbenina acted in theatres in Tallinn and Tartu, and also in Berlin, in from 1921 to 1922. In 1923 she arrived with children to London, where she permanently settled, appearing in English stage and film roles.

In 1930, she released her memoirs, Through Terror to Freedom, which describes her experiences during the Russian Revolution.

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Stella Zoe von Meyendorff's Timeline

1885
September 27, 1885
Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
1908
July 7, 1908
St. Petersburg
1913
April 13, 1913
St. Petersburg
1976
April 26, 1976
Age 90
London, United Kingdom
1976
Age 90