# Rachel Messerer

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{{Short description|Russian actress (1902–1993)}}
{{family name hatnote|Mikhailovna|Messerer|lang=Eastern Slavic}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name         = Rachel Messerer
| image        = Rachel Messerer.jpg
| image_size   = 200px
| alt          =
| caption      = Messerer in 1924
| birth_name   = Rachel Mikhailovna Messerer
| birth_date   = {{Birth date|1902|03|04|df=y}}
| birth_place  = [Vilna](/source/Vilna), Russian Empire
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|1993|03|20|1902|03|04|df=y}}
| death_place  = [Moscow](/source/Moscow), Russia
| other_names  = Ra Messerer
| occupation   = [Silent film](/source/Silent_film) actress
| years_active = 1925–1930
| spouse       = {{marriage|[Mikhail Plisetski](/source/Mikhail_Plisetski)||1938|end=died}}
| partner      = 
| children     = 3, including [Maya](/source/Maya_Plisetskaya) and [Alexander](/source/Alexander_Plisetski)
| relatives    = [Asaf Messerer](/source/Asaf_Messerer) (brother)<br/>[Sulamith Messerer](/source/Sulamith_Messerer) (sister)<br/>[Boris Messerer](/source/Boris_Messerer) (nephew)<br/>[Anna Plisetskaya](/source/Anna_Plisetskaya) (granddaughter)
| website      =  
}}

'''Rachel Mikhailovna Messerer-Plisetskaya''' ({{langx|ru|Рахиль Михайловна Мессерер-Плисецкая}}; 4 March 1902 &ndash; 20 March 1993), also known by her stage name '''Ra Messerer''', was a Russian [silent film](/source/silent_film) and [theatre](/source/theatre) [actress](/source/actress).

== Family ==
Rachel Messerer was born in [Vilna](/source/Vilna) into the [Lithuanian Jewish](/source/Lithuanian_Jews) family of dentist Mikhail Messerer and his wife Sima Shabad.<ref name="maya">''I'm Maya Plisetskaya''. 490 p. Moscow: [AST Moscow](/source/AST_(publisher)), 2008.</ref><ref name="sulamif">[http://www.tv6tut.info/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t1777.html Sulamif Messerer: "I want to live!"] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20090417044814/http://www.tv6tut.info/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t1777.html |date=17 April 2009 }}</ref> She was one of nine children: each child was given a biblical name: Pnina, Azariah, Mattany, Rachel, Asaf (or Assaf), Elisheva, Sulamith (or Shulamith), Emanuel, Abinadab and Erella.<ref name="maya"/> Rachel, her brother Azari Azarin (an actor), sister [Sulamith Messerer](/source/Sulamith_Messerer) ([ballerina](/source/ballerina)) and brother [Asaf Messerer](/source/Asaf_Messerer) (ballet dancer, [choreographer](/source/choreographer)) became famous and started a dynasty of outstanding ballet dancers and ballet masters.

She married well-known Russian diplomat [Mikhail Plisetski](/source/Mikhail_Plisetski) (1899–1938) and they had three children: famous ballerina [Maya Plisetskaya](/source/Maya_Plisetskaya) (1925–2015), talented [ballet master](/source/balletmaster) [Alexander Plisetski](/source/Alexander_Plisetski) (1931–1985) and principal dancer Azari Plisetski (b. 1937). Her granddaughter [Anna Plisetskaya](/source/Anna_Plisetskaya) (b. 1971) is also a ballerina.

==Career==
Messerer graduated from [Institute of Cinematography](/source/Gerasimov_Institute_of_Cinematography) in 1925 (class of [Lev Kuleshov](/source/Lev_Kuleshov)). During the early years of the Soviet system, Messerer starred at the "Bukhkino" and "The Star of the East" studios. Ra Messerer's film career was rather short, because soon after her wedding she devoted herself to the family and her husband, who represented the Soviet Government in [Spitsbergen](/source/Spitsbergen), being the Soviet [Consul General](/source/Consul_General) in [Barentsburg](/source/Barentsburg) and chief of [coal mines](/source/coal_mines). On 30 April 1937, her husband [Mikhail Plisetski](/source/Mikhail_Plisetski) was [purged](/source/Great_Purge), charged with espionage and executed on 8 January 1938.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://stalin.memo.ru/regions/rp49_49.htm |title=Республика Коми |website=stalin.memo.ru |publisher=Мемориал |access-date=2025-06-06 |language=ru |archive-date=31 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110131060230/http://stalin.memo.ru/regions/rp49_49.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In early March 1938, Messerer was arrested. The [secret police agents](/source/NKVD) demanded of Messerer to confirm that her husband was "a spy, a traitor, a saboteur, a criminal, and a participant of the conspiracy against [Stalin](/source/Joseph_Stalin)." Rather bravely for those years, she refused and was sentenced to 8 years in prison. Her daughter [Maya](/source/Maya_Plisetskaya) faced the threat of an orphanage; she was adopted by her aunt [Sulamith](/source/Sulamith_Messerer). Her son [Alexander](/source/Alexander_Plisetski) was taken in by the family of Rachel's brother [Asaf Messerer](/source/Asaf_Messerer). These events caused many troubles to Asaf and Sulamith. In summer 1939, Rachel was transferred to "[ALZhIR](/source/ALZhIR)" (Akmolinsk Camp for Wives of Traitors to the Motherland) in [Kazakhstan](/source/Kazakhstan).

Messerer was released in 1941, only two months before the start of the [Great Patriotic War](/source/Eastern_Front_(World_War_II)). After her release, she never restarted her acting career. In those days, no director would have risked his career by offering her work. Nevertheless, she believed that her husband was alive and would come back some day. On 3 March 1956, she learned the truth: in the papers on rehabilitation of Mikhail Plisetski, the execution date of his execution was disclosed: 8 January 1938.<ref>{{cite web |title=Maya Plisetskaya's Spirit Dances On |url=https://forward.com/culture/335498/maya-plisetskayas-spirit-dances-on/ |website=The Forward |language=en |date=12 March 2016}}</ref>

==Filmography==
* 1927 — "The second wife" ({{langx|ru|"Вторая жена"}}, "Uzbekgoskino", director - M.I. Doronin)<ref>Film in 7 parts. Cinematography by V.P. Dobrzhanskii, starring: M.I. Grinyova, Ra Messerer, G.G. Chechelashvili, M.I. Doronin.</ref>
* 1928 — "Leper" ( "Uzbekgoskino") <ref>Film adaptation of the novel "New moon" by F. Duchenne.</ref>
* 1928 — "Valley of Tears" ({{langx|ru|"Долина слёз"}} ("Dolina slyoz") 1-st factory Goskino, director - Alexander Razumny).<ref>[http://www.ialtai.ru/ Documentary films on history of Altai] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090518005318/http://www.ialtai.ru/ |date=18 May 2009 }}</ref>
* 1929 — "One hundred and twenty thousand a year" ("Mezhrabpomfilm")<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gosfilmofond |url=https://dl2.gosfilmofond.ru/ |access-date=2025-06-06 |website=Gosfilmofond |language=ru}}</ref>

==Documentary==
* In 2007, a documentary film ''The Star from outside''<ref>[http://www.tvkultura.ru/issue.html?id=54868 "Culture", "The Star from outside" Documentary] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120919184618/www.tvkultura.ru/issue.html?id=54868 |date=19 September 2012 }}</ref> was made about Messerer.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://anna-plisetskaya.com/2009/03/26/event-479 |title=Documentary film ''The Star from outside'' 2007 |access-date=26 February 2010 |archive-date=27 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100227014746/http://anna-plisetskaya.com/2009/03/26/event-479 |url-status=dead }}</ref> For the production, the tapes of the Russian movie-archive "Gosfilmofond RF" were used. Produced by TC "Gamajun" – Director and screenwriter Firdavs Zaynutdinov. Cinematography by Eugene Kutuzkin. Narrator – [Irina Apeksimova](/source/Irina_Apeksimova). Produced for [REN TV](/source/REN_TV). Broadcaster – the Russian TV channel ["Culture"](/source/Russia_K).

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE8CfKq0sTI Documentary film ''The Star from outside'' 2007]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101124033419/http://www.shchedrin.de/plisetskaya_index_buecher_e.htm Official site of Maya Plisetskaya-Books]
* {{IMDb title|0129192|The Last Insult}}
* {{IMDb title|0249476|Dolina slyoz}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Messerer, Rachel}}
Category:1902 births
Category:1993 deaths
Category:20th-century Russian actresses
Category:Actresses from Vilnius
Category:Gulag detainees
Category:Jewish actresses
Category:Lithuanian Jews
Category:People from Vilensky Uyezd
Category:Plisetski–Messerer family
Category:Soviet Jews
Category:Soviet silent film actresses
Category:Soviet stage actresses

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Rachel Messerer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Messerer) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Messerer?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.