Popular female Russian singer (1884-1940) who worked as a Soviet intelligence agent, infamously involved in the 1937 abduction of a White Army general, Yevgeny Miller, who was kidnapped in Paris, drugged and smuggled to Moscow, then tortured and killed. Plevitskaya was captured and convicted of espionage in France, and sentenced to twenty years in prison. Rare vintage matte-finish 7.5 x 9.5 photo of the singer in Russian folk costume, signed and inscribed in fountain pen in Cyrillic to the great composer and pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff, "To esteemed Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninov, from N. Plevitskaya who is caressed, deeply touched by his grand Russian soul," and dated March 16, 1924. In fine condition, with trimmed edges. Accompanied by an unsigned photo of Plevitskaya in a different costume.
Rachmaninoff composed 'Powder and Paint' (No. 3 from Three Russian Songs, Op. 41), especially for Plevitskaya. She performed the song during a benefit concert for financially struggling Russian emigres on February 16, 1926, at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, and they later recorded it together at Victor Studios in New York. Her story is told in Stalin's Singing Spy: The Life and Exile of Nadezhda Plevitskaya by Pamela A. Jordan, and Vladimir Nabokov's short story 'The Assistant Producer' drew inspiration from her unusual and fascinating life.
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