On September 24, Marina Vlady passed away in Paris at the age of 88. She left at home, surrounded by loved ones and beloved pets. With her departs one of the last living connections to the Russian Paris created by the first wave of émigrés.

Her real name was Ekaterina Marina Vladimirovna Polyakova-Baidarova. She was born in 1938 near Paris, in a family that the revolution had expelled from Russia. Her father, opera singer Vladimir Polyakov-Baidarov, and her mother, ballerina Militsa Enwald, belonged to a generation that built their Russia in exile: with churches, gymnasiums, theaters, and a language preserved against all odds. The Polyakov family spoke Russian at home. Four sisters, all of whom became actresses, grew up as French citizens by passport and Russians by memory. Vlady took her stage pseudonym from her father's name.
She entered French and Italian cinema early, acting alongside Mastroianni, working with Godard and Wells, and won the Cannes Film Festival prize for "The Queen Bee." But the main plot of her life was written by history. In 1970, the daughter of émigrés married Vladimir Vysotsky, and the two Russias, torn apart in 1917, met in one family. For the Soviet viewer, she was almost a goddess from Paris. For her, Moscow became a return to a homeland she had never seen but knew from her parents' stories.
After Vysotsky's death, she wrote the book "Vladimir, or Interrupted Flight." It is a tale of love and at the same time a rare glimpse into Soviet life through the eyes of someone raised in émigré culture. Like many descendants of the first wave, Vlady supported Soviet dissidents and did not confuse Russia with the regime.
She is survived by three sons. The generation that carried Russia with them in their suitcases has long departed. Now, the one who carried its legacy into the late 20th century has also left.