Maria Mordasova

Maria Nikolayevna Mordasova (; 14 February 1915 – 25 September 1997) was a Soviet and Russian singer, known for her renditions of folk song and chastushkas. People's Artist of the USSR and Hero of Socialist Labour (1987).

Early life Maria Nikolaevna Yarkina was born on 14 February 1915 in the village of Nizhnyaya Mazovka in Tambovsky Uyezd, one of several children in a peasant family. Her mother, Praskovia Prokofievna, was an acclaimed local singer.

Yarkina performed in the school choir and in the village club. Even as a schoolchild, she worked as a milkmaid. After finishing school, she joined an amateur theatrical group in Tambov.

Before the Second World War, she was married and widowed. Having taken her husband's surname, she would henceforth be called Maria Mordasova. In 1945, she married the Voronezh chorus' bayan player, Ivan Mikhailovich Rudenko. The marriage was a personal and professional success.

Following World War II, Mordasova began to tour the Soviet Union.

She died in Voronezh on 25 September 1997, and was interred in the Kominternovsk cemetery in the same town.

Awards and honors Honored Artist of the RSFSR (1955) People’s Artist of the RSFSR (1958) Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1960) People's Artist of the USSR (1981) Order of Lenin (1987) Hero of Socialist Labour (1987) Order of the Badge of Honour