Kira Grigorieva Ukrainian illustrator. Date of Birth: 29.04.1917 Country: Ukraine

Biography of Kira Grigoryeva

Kira Grigoryeva was a Ukrainian artist and illustrator. She lived in Estonia in the 1930s and studied at the Tallinn Higher Art School. During this time, she became acquainted with writer Leonid Zurov and became the prototype for the heroine of his story "Ivan and Marya".

During the Great Patriotic War, Grigoryeva lived in Ulyanovsk, where she worked as an artist in various genres, including landscape (oil and watercolor), portrait, and still life. She was a member of the Union of Artists of the Ukrainian SSR and participated in local art exhibitions in Kiev.

In 1949, she met artist Viktor Grigoryev, and their joint family and creative life began. Together, the Grigoryevs illustrated books about the adventures of Buratino, Neznaika, Chipollino, and Barvinok for the Kiev publishing house "Veselka" and the magazine "Barvinok". Kira Borisovna successfully applied her experience in depicting flowers in the design of the children's book "Kvity-Kvitonky". Books with illustrations by the Grigoryevs were printed in large editions.

In addition to her work as an illustrator, Kira Grigoryeva also created greeting cards. After the deaths of the Grigoryev couple, over 1000 of their joint works were donated to the local history museum in Boyarka.