Sarra Lebedeva

Sarra Dmitrievna Lebedeva (; December 11 (23), 1892 – March 7, 1967) was a Soviet sculptor, mainly of portraits, but also of statuettes, figures for porcelain and delft ware.

Life Born Sara Darmolatova into a wealthy Saint Petersburg family, Her elder sister was the writer and socialite Anna Radlova. Lebedeva was educated privately in her youth. She studied for a time at the School of the Society of for the Encouragement of the Arts in her native city before entering Mikhail Bernshtein's school in 1910; she became a sculptor two years later, studying with Leonid Sherwood from 1912 until 1914. During this time she also travelled to France, Germany, Austria and Italy, travels which introduced her to the work of the artists of the Italian Renaissance, of whom Donatello was to become a favorite. In 1914 she designed masks and reliefs for the Yusupov Palace while working with the sculptor Vasili Kuznetsov as a pupil and, later, assistant. After this she transitioned mainly to portrait and figure work. In 1915 she married the painter and graphic artist Vladimir Lebedev. She also produced portrait sculptures of industrial workers. She continued exhibiting in Moscow and Leningrad, becoming a close friend of Tatlin's and donating a large collection of his papers and artwork to the Central State Archive of Art and Literature in the 1960s. She died in Moscow; memorial exhibits were held at the Tretyakov Gallery and at the State Russian Museum. as are numerous other works; she is also well-represented in the collection of the State Tretyakov Gallery. She was also responsible for the profile image of Boris Pasternak, a lifelong friend, which graces his grave marker at Peredelkino.

Lebedeva is the namesake of a crater on Venus.