Elina Bystritskaya is a Soviet and Russian actress best known for her role of Aksiniya in Sergei Gerasimov's epic screening of Mikhail Sholokhov's novel And Quiet Flows the Don (1958). Jewish by ethnicity and a native of Kiev, Bystritskaya was chosen to play Aksiniya by Sholokhov himself over several distinguished candidates, notably Nonna Mordyukova. Before that, she co-starred with Sergey Bondarchuk in the Unfinished Story, an archetypal Socialist Realist film. In the 1960's, Bystritskaya turn...