Irina Levshakova

Irina Yuryevna Levshakova (née Kuznetsova; Russian: Ирина Юрьевна Левшакова; 6 May 1959 – 31 January 2016) was a Russian paleontologist, geologist, artist and musician. She is most famous for her deep involvement in the underground rock music scene in Leningrad during the 1980s and 1990s.

As a paleontologist, Levshakova studied trionychid turtles and other reptiles. In 1986 she named a new extinct species of monitor lizard, Varanus darevskii. Levshakova also spent several years in Central Asia doing geological surveys. In 1984, Levshakova inherited the Linnik Dacha, a house in Komarovo previously owned by her grandfather . She turned the dacha into a haven for rock musicians, converted one of the rooms into a recording studio, regularly held parties, and allowed bands to play concerts there. Levshakova rehearsed with several of the most famous local rock musicians of her time. In 1992 she survived a murder attempt by her then-boyfriend of the band .

Levshakova was also a talented artist, creating cover art for many rock albums and having her artwork shown at exhibitions in both Russia and internationally. Levshakova was in 2010 arrested for having grown the largest ever plantation of cannabis in northwestern Russia, though she was sentenced only to five years probation. She died in 2016, aged 56, due to heart failure.

Background and early life Irina Yuryevna Kuznetsova was born in Leningrad (modern Saint Petersburg) on 6 May 1959. She was born into a family of academics. Levshakova's mother was Irina Vladimirovna Linnik, an art historian specialized in Western European art. Her father, Yuri Ivanovich Kuznetsov, was also an art historian. and her uncle Yuri Linnik (1915–1972) was a mathematician. Her first marriage was to Sergey Levshakov. Already in the same year of their marriage, During her studies Levshakova wrote two unpublished student works (supervised by Khosatzky) on trionychid turtles, one on trionychids from Late Cretaceous Fergana (1980) and one on trionychids from Cretaceous and Paleogene Mongolia (1981). For her graduate thesis, Trionychids of the Cretaceous and Cenozoic of Middle Asia and Mongolia (1982), Her thesis did however contribute to the discovery of new species. Detailed descriptions by Levshakova of material she referred to the species Trionyx zakhidovi, Levshakova believed V. darevskii to be the ancestor of the modern desert monitor (V. griseus).

Leningrad rock scene

Involvement in underground rock

From 1980 onwards, Levshakova was in England, where she recorded several programmes with the Russian-language BBC presenter Seva Novgorodsev, In the 25 February programme she was titled as both a paleontologist and an ecologist. and the largest ever cannabis plantation in northwestern Russia.

Opinions on Levshakova among the residents of Komarovo were sharply divided. Some considered her an important and indispensable figure in the village whereas others (like Chistyakov had) derided her as a "witch", in large part due to the bad reputation her dacha had gathered during its time as a haven for rock music and drugs. Throughout her later years, Levshakova faced repeated harassment from ill-wishers. The most notable incident saw the killing of all but one of her dogs through poisoning their food. Levshakova also had a poor relationship with her eldest sons, who had grown up largely without her. At one point the twins reportedly attempted to burn down her dacha.

Levshakova did not watch television or read books, with the exception of the works of Kozma Prutkov, which she greatly enjoyed. She listened to the Echo of Moscow and Radio Liberty radio stations. In her later life, Levshakova largely stopped listening to Russian rock since it was "not very good", instead listening to the band Gipsy Kings and to Arabic music. She regularly received Arabic records from her brothers, one of whom worked in Kuwait and another who worked as an ambassador in Baghdad. Levshakova also enjoyed writing poetry.

Death and tribute Levshakova died of sudden heart failure on 31 January 2016, aged 56. Two days before her death, she called her long-time friend Andrei Tropillo and asked him to accompany her to buy medicines. Though Levshakova told him that she was believed she was dying, Tropillo did not give it much thought since she had often said the same before. Tropillo and Levshakova often took walks together and bought food for her dogs.

Levshakova was cremated on the morning of 9 February 2016. Half of her ashes were per her wishes scattered over in Komarovo on 7 May through being shot out of a cannon. The other half were scattered over the grave of one of her sons. The cannon ceremony was attended by numerous artists and bands formerly part of the Leningrad rock scene and coincided with a reunion festival of such artists and bands held in Saint Petersburg from 1 to 6 May. Among the attendees were Tropillo, and his band , and his bands Avtomaticheskie udovletvoriteli and Atskiye Uskoriteli, as well as Pispiska Style, a group composed of several of Levshakova's former close associates.

Legacy Levshakova continued to be remembered by the residents of Komarovo after her death, with some claiming that the Linnik Dacha remained "cursed" and "inhabited by an immortal witch".

In 2023, Natalia Jagielska published a short biography of Levshakova in the Palaeontology Newsletter'', published by the Palaeontological Association. Jagielska assessed Levshakova as follows: