Alla Nazimova

Nazimova in 1925, Library of Congress, ggbain.38366; Bain News Service/George Grantham Bain Collection

Birth Name: Marem-Ides/Adelaida Yakovlevna Leventon

Date of Birth: 3 June, 1879 [O.S. 22 May]

Place of Birth: Yalta, Crimea, Russian Empire

Date of Death: July 13, 1945

Place of Death: Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Ethnicity: Ashkenazi Jewish

Alla Nazimova was a Russian and American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. She was known for her Broadway roles, and her film Salome (1923). She was also known as Nazimova and Alia Nasimoff.

Alla was born in Yalta, Crimea, to a Jewish family, the daughter of Sofia/Sophie/Sarah Leivievna/Lvovna (Gorowitz/Gorovitz/Horovitz/Herowitz) and Yakov Abramovich Leventon, a pharmacist. Her parents were from Kishinev, Moldova. She was a major stage star in Moscow and St. Petersburg in the early 1900s, and moved to New York City, New York, U.S., in 1905, where she founded a Russian-language theatre. She became a U.S. citizen in 1927.

Her stage name was after Nadezhda Nazimova, the heroine of the Russian novel Children of the Streets.

Alla’s paternal grandfather was named Abram Leventon.

Alla’s maternal grandfather was named Leo Borysovych Horovyts/Horowitz (the son of Boris Horowitz).

Alla’s maternal grandmother was named Henrietta.

Sources: https://www.tabletmag.com

Genealogy of Alla Nazimova – https://www.geni.com