Olha Khokhlova

Olga Picasso (born Olga Stepanovna Khokhlova; ; 17 June 1891 – 11 February 1955) was a Russian ballet dancer in the Ballets Russes, directed by Sergei Diaghilev and based in Paris. There she met and married the artist Pablo Picasso, served as one of his early muses, and was the mother of their son, Paul (Paulo). thumb

Early life Khokhlova was born in the town of Nizhyn, Chernigov Governorate, Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine) on 17 June 1891. Her father, Stepan Khokhlov, was a colonel in the Imperial Russian Army. Her mother Lydia Zinchenko was of Ukrainian descent. The Khokhlov family had three sons and two daughters. Olga decided to be a ballerina after being encouraged by a friend's sister who had joined the Diaghilev ballet. She studied in Saint Petersburg at a private ballet school and successfully auditioned to join the Ballets Russes of impresario Sergei Diaghilev, based in Paris. She performed in Europe and later America as a member of the company. After seeing Khokhlova dance in rehearsals for a ballet named Les Femmes de Bonne Humeur in Italy, he fell in love with her. The wedding had been postponed from May 1918, due to Khokhlova experiencing pain from a foot injury. The injury forced her to undergo an operation that resulted in having to wear plaster encasing her right leg. It was only when the leg had healed that the marriage could take place. After the wedding, the Picassos spent their honeymoon at the villa of Eugenia Errázuriz in Biarritz, where Picasso made drawings of his wife. By September 1918, Khokhlova had recovered from her injury, but required rehabilitation. She never danced again in public. By October 1918, the couple returned to Paris in search of an apartment. Picasso's dealer, Paul Rosenberg, found a suitable apartment next to his own home, at 23, Rue La Boétie, into which the Picassos moved the week before Christmas 1918. She was mistakenly buried in an English rather than a Russian cemetery. was married to Emilienne Lotte 10 May 1950. They divorced in 1953. They had two children: Pablito (born 5 May 1949 – died by suicide 2 July 1973) and Marina (born 14 November 1950). Later, Paulo married Christine Pauplin on 9 March 1962. The couple's only child, Bernard Ruiz-Picasso, co-founded the Picasso Museum in Malaga along with his mother.