Elena Drapeko: biography, personal life, family, husband, children

Elena Drapeko's childhood. Family and education

Elena Drapeko was born in the small town of Uralsk in western Kazakhstan.
The parents of the future actress were not connected with the artistic world. Her mother taught history and literature at school, came from a family of Old Believers and was raised in strict rules. In her interviews, Elena often emphasized that it was from her mother that she inherited her strong and decisive character. The father of the future actress was a career military man, a lieutenant colonel. Elena’s ancestors on her father’s side are Ukrainians, people from the Chernihiv region. Due to his father's profession, the family was forced to frequently move from place to place. A few months after the birth of their daughter, they moved to Ufa, and later to the Leningrad region, first to Pavlovsk, then to Pushkin. When Elena was 16 years old, her father died. The girl was left alone with her mother, who at that time worked in the library.

Young Elena Drapeko

Elena graduated from school in Pushkin, after school she entered the Leningrad Institute of Culture. Krupskaya (now called St. Petersburg State Institute of Cinematography), from which she successfully graduated in 1968, receiving a diploma in folk dance director. But the girl did not stop there and continued her studies at the Leningrad State Institute of Theatre, Music and Cinematography (Russian State Institute of Performing Arts), which she graduated in 1972.

Acting career of Elena Drapeko

Elena Drapeko's debut in cinema became truly stellar and lightning fast. The young actress’s first film was Stanislav Rostotsky’s cult film “The Dawns Here Are Quiet,” which was filmed in 1972. Elena received an invitation to film while she was a final year student at a theater institute. The role of the young Siberian Liza Brichkina brought the aspiring actress national fame and the love of millions of viewers. Her partner on the set was Olga Ostroumova, already known to the general public after participating in the film “We’ll Live Until Monday.” The role of Lisa Brichkina has become Elena Drapeko's calling card and is still, according to many critics, the most successful in her career.

Elena Drapeko played Lisa Brichkina in “And the Dawns Here Are Quiet...”

After filming Rostotsky’s film, the actress began to regularly receive invitations from popular film studios. In subsequent years, she starred in quite famous films, but mostly these were small cameo roles. So, she played Vera Inyutina in the film “Eternal Call”, Varvara in the film “The Boyfriend”, Dusya in “Old Friends”, Zoya in the drama “The Hottest Month”, a hotel attendant in the science fiction film “The Collapse of Engineer Garin”. Drama “Fatherless” with Elena Drapeko, trailer In 1976, Elena Drapeko played the main role in the film “Fatherless” directed by Vladimir Shamshurin. The tragic fate of its heroine, orphanage Olga Muromtseva, as well as the soulful performance of Elena Drapeko, forever immortalized this film in the golden fund of Soviet cinema. The actress herself was awarded the Lenin Komsomol Prize.

“Russian Beauty” Elena Drapeko

In subsequent years, Elena Drapeko acted a lot, mainly at the Lenfilm studio. Among the especially notable images of her “late” period are Nina from the drama “The Singles Are Provided with a Hostel” with Natalya Gundareva in the title role, Katya from the collection of film novels “A Step Towards”, which also featured Lev Durov, Lyudmila Gurchenko and many other bright Soviet actors, as well as the head teacher of the “business lyceum” from the Russian-French comedy Window to Paris.” In the early 90s, the woman switched to political activity.

In the 90s, Elena Drapeko switched from cinema to politics

Awards and prizes

Order of Friendship (June 12, 2013) - for his great contribution to the development of Russian parliamentarism and active legislative activity
[1]
Lenin Komsomol Prize (1979) - for playing the role of Olga Muromtseva in the film “Fatherless” (1976)
medal "In memory of the 850th anniversary of Moscow" (1997)
medal “In memory of the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg” (2003)
medal "To the 100th anniversary of Sholokhov"
certificate of honor
memorial sign of the State Duma

Political activities of Elena Drapeko

Even during the heyday of her creative career, Elena Drapeko was not a stranger to social activities. She always tried to take an active part in social life. So, in 1978, she joined the Union of Cinematographers of the USSR, in 1980 she became a member of the Central Committee of the Trade Union of Cultural Workers, and in 1989, just before the collapse of the USSR, the actress took part in the creation of the Guild of Soviet Cinema Actors. In 1984, Elena, together with other actors (Evgeny Leonov-Gladyshev and the star of the film “Crew” Alexandra Yakovleva), went to give concerts in Afghanistan to raise the morale of Soviet soldiers. Elena Drapeko in the program “Private History” In 1992, Elena Drapeko became the chairman of the Committee on Tourism and Culture at the City Hall of St. Petersburg. In 1999, a woman was elected to the federal assembly of the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the third convocation. At the same time, she was engaged in active social activities, being a member of the State Duma Commission on Geopolitics, a member of the inter-factional group “Solidarity”, and a member of the Standing Commission of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the CIS States on Culture, Information, Tourism and Sports. For her active position and great contribution to legislative projects, she was awarded the Order of Friendship.

Personal life of Elena Drapeko

Elena Drapeko has always tried to hide the details of her personal life.
It is known that she was married 3 times. Little is known about the actress’s first marriage. Elena Drapeko got married for the first time during her student years. This union was fleeting and quickly fell apart, as often happens in youth. Elena Drapeko herself considers her first marriage a youthful mistake. Elena Drapeko's second husband was Leningrad actor Oleg Belov, whom they met while studying at the theater institute. Their union lasted from 1978 to 1991. In this marriage, Elena Drapeko had a daughter, Anastasia (born 1983). Oleg Belov was 14 years older than Elena Drapeko. He began acting in the 60s, but, unlike his wife, achieved less success in the acting field. Perhaps Oleg Belov’s most famous work is the role of Cromwell in the famous saga about the musketeers by Yungvald-Khilkevich “The Musketeers 20 Years Later” (1992).

Oleg Belov, ex-husband of Elena Drapeko, as Oliver Cromwell

The marriage to Oleg Belov broke up in 1991, when their daughter was 6 years old. According to the actress’s ex-husband, their life together was interfered with by Drapeko’s active political activities. After the divorce, the spouses were unable to maintain a warm relationship. In his interviews, Oleg Belov often reproaches his ex-wife for preventing him from communicating with his daughter after the divorce, as well as for trying to take away his dacha.

Anastasia Drapeko, daughter of Oleg Belov and Elena Drapeko

Anastasia Belova chose a career as a journalist. She graduated from the Faculty of Journalism of St. Petersburg State University with honors, worked on radio and television, hosted her own shows on the radio stations “MAXIMUM” and “Radio Mayak” (the show “Nuzhdin, Mikhailov, Drapeko”), and worked for some time on Andrei Malakhov’s program. In 2020, Anastasia Drapeko worked at the Velvet Music production center and was the press attache of the popular singer Vera Brezhneva. In 2013, Elena Drapeko became a grandmother - her daughter gave her the long-awaited granddaughter Varvara. “Alone with everyone”: Elena Drapeko Almost nothing is known about the actress’s third husband. According to rumors, he was a man of power, a big and responsible boss, and later became involved in business. The marriage with him also did not work out. According to Elena Drapeko, she did not get along with her third husband due to political differences.

Elena Drapeko today

Today Elena Drapeko is a successful politician and public figure. In St. Petersburg, she represents the A Just Russia party, led by Sergei Mironov. He is a deputy of the State Duma, as well as a member of the State Commission for UNESCO.

Today Elena Drapeko is an influential politician, a member of A Just Russia.
The former actress, the favorite of millions of Soviet viewers, really misses her acting work. Occasionally she manages to appear in episodic roles in one or another project. The actress herself speaks about it this way: “I miss, of course, the cinema, the theater. But I’m afraid to even think about the theater, because deputy work takes a lot of time.”

Selected works

Books

Bogdanov E.I., Bolshakova G.I., Drapeko E.G., Isaev N.V.
Economics and management of a tourism enterprise. - Solikamsk: SGPI, 2011. - 356 p.
Drapeko E. G.
Liza Brichkina - forever. - M.: Eksmo, 2005. - 352 p.

Articles

Drapeko E. G.
On improving the regulatory framework for the preservation and development of tourist and excursion sites of historical and cultural monuments in the Russian Federation // Tourist companies. National tourism magazine. - 2004. - Issue. 34(2). - pp. 40-43.
Drapeko E. G.
Modern legislative aspects of the protection of cultural heritage objects // Cultural heritage of the Russian state. - St. Petersburg, 2000. - Issue. 2. - pp. 47-50.
Drapeko E. G.
Art education in the conditions of modern society // Proceedings of the St. Petersburg State University of Culture and Art. - 2012. - T. 194. - P. 8-12.
Drapeko E. G., Azarov S. O.
Improving the criminal procedure code and law enforcement practice - an indicator of the stability of the state structure // Sociology and Law. - 2011. - No. 1 (7). - pp. 74-77.
Drapeko E. G., Glushchenko P. P.
Institute of Law Enforcement: Theory and Practice, History and Modernity // Sociology and Law. - 2012. - No. 3 (15). - pp. 31-38.
Drapeko E. G., Glushchenko P. P.
Constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens in the mechanism of cultural and legal relations // Scientific notes of the St. Petersburg Academy of Management and Economics. - 2011. - No. 1 (31). — P. 110-119.
Drapeko E. G., Nadirov A. N., Bogdanov E. I.
Tourism in St. Petersburg: problems, ways to solve them // RTV-Press. - 1993. - No. 6.
Drapeko E.
On improving the legislative regulation of the powers of regional and local authorities in the field of culture // Self-government. - 2013. - No. 11. - P. 10-11.
Drapeko E.
I am responsible for everything... // Regional economics: Theory and practice. - 2004. - No. 3. - P. 10-13.
Prikhodko V., Vasilyev S., Drapeko E., Sokolov A.
Public hearings on the draft federal law “On Education in the Russian Federation” in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation // University Lawyer. - 2011. - No. 4. - P. 14-22.