Marina Yurlova

Marina Yurlova (; 25 February 1900 – 1 April 1984) was a Russian female child soldier and author. She fought in World War I and later in the Russian Civil War on the side of the anti-communist White movement. Wounded several times, she won the Russian Cross of Saint George for bravery three times. She eventually made her way to Vladivostok, then to Japan and finally to the United States, where she performed as a dancer.

Yurlova published her autobiography in three parts: Cossack Girl (1934, republished in 2010), Russia Farewell (1936) and The Only Woman (1937).

Biography

She was born in Raevskaya, a small village near Krasnodar. She was treated at the Red Cross hospital in Baku and then returned to the Eastern Front, where she trained as an auto mechanic and became a military driver. She married filmmaker William C. Hyer in December 1925 and became a U.S. citizen in 1926.

In popular culture Yurlova's wartime experiences are described in Women Heroes of World War I: 16 Remarkable Resisters, Soldiers, Spies, and Medics by Kathryn J. Atwood.

She is one of the 14 main characters of the 2014 documentary drama series 14 - Diaries of the Great War where she is played by actress Natalia Witmer. She is also one of the main characters in the 8-part 2018 documentary drama series Clash of Futures.