Person    | Male  Born 17/3/1938  Died 6/1/1993

Rudolf Nureyev

Categories: Dance, Seriously Famous

Countries: France, Russia

Ballet dancer. Born Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev on a Trans-Siberian train near Irkutsk, Siberia, while his mother was travelling to Vladivostok. In 1958, he joined the Kirov (later renamed as Mariinsky) Ballet and was immediately given solo roles.

In 1961, whilst performing in Paris he applied for asylum. In London he was offered a contract with the Royal Ballet, where he started his enduring partnership with Dame Margot Fonteyn. In 1983, he was appointed director of the Paris Opera Ballet.

He tested positive for HIV in 1984, but for years denied that anything was wrong. His health eventually declined and he died in the hospital of Notre Dame du Perpétuel Secours in Levallois-Perret, France.

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Rudolf Nureyev

Commemorated ati

Rudolf Nureyev

Rudolf Nureyev, 1938 - 1993, ballet dancer, lived here. English Heritage

Read More

Other Subjects

David Norman

David Norman

Businessman and management consultant. He has held posts at many companies, and has been chairman of the Royal Ballet School and the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew. This photo comes from the Kew A...

Person, Commerce, Dance, Gardens / Agriculture, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Royal Ballet School

Royal Ballet School

Originally founded by Ninette de Valois as the Academy of Choreographic Art. Its students are chosen purely for their dancing talent and not for any academic ability. Famous dancers and choreograph...

Group, Children, Dance, Education

1 memorial
Bolshoi Ballet

Bolshoi Ballet

Dance company. A school for a Moscow orphanage was created in 1773, and its pupils were employed by Prince Pyotr Urusov and the English theatrical entrepreneur Michael Maddox, to form part of a new...

Group, Dance, Theatre, Russia

1 memorial
Tamara Karsavina

Tamara Karsavina

Ballerina. Born in St Petersburg, Russia. Leading ballerina with Sergey Diaghilev's Ballets Russes from its beginning in 1909 until 1922, often paired with Nijinsky. Married British diplomat  Henry...

Person, Dance, Russia

1 memorial
Royal Opera House

Royal Opera House

Home of the Royal Ballet and Royal Opera. Originally built in 1732 as a playhouse. The current building is the third on the site, following the fires that destroyed the first two.

Building, Dance, Music / songs

1 memorial