Lidia Ruslanova (1900-1973), the Queen of Russian Folklore who revived old folk songs with her immense inner power and her marvelous vocal. It is in her performance that most folk songs are remembered by the audience of today. A strong, straightforward and stately woman, she was the symbol of Motherland for her compatriots, when her voice encouraged soldiers during the Great patriotic war and later, when she withstood the pressures of Soviet authorities and terrors of Stalinist reprisals.