ABSTRACT
When Polina Antipevna Strepetova lay dying of stomach cancer in 1903, sympathetic friends and admirers sought to console the embittered actress by reminding her of the remarkable service she had performed for Russian theatre. Not in the least comforted by their well-intentioned banalities, the perpetually pugnacious Strepetova responded with self-righteous indignation: “Savina served the theatre, I served the people.” 1
