Liya Akhedzhakova is a Soviet and Russian film, stage, and voice actress who received the title of People's Artist of Russia in 1994. She received two Nika Awards as the best-supporting actress and the 2014 Nika Honorary Prize. Akhedzhakova was born in the Ukrainian SSR. She grew up in a theatrical family in Maykop, Russian SFSR. Her stepfather, Medzhid Akhedzhako was a Circassian nobleman who served as the Principal Director of the National Theatre of the Republic of Adygea. Her mother, Yuliya Akhedzhakova was also an actress at the same drama theatre. At the age of 10, when her mother and aunt were suffering from tuberculosis, she wrote a letter to Joseph Stalin with a request for help. In response, a rare drug was delivered to her family. In 1956 she entered the Moscow Institute of Nonferrous Metals and Gold where she studied for eighteen months. She first appeared on stage in 1961 at Moscow Youth Theatre. In 1962, she graduated from Lunacharsky State Institute for Theatre Arts. Her first film appearance was in 1973. Her debut in this drama was awarded several prizes at international film festivals in Locarno, Switzerland and Varna, Bulgaria. In 1977 she joined the Sovremennik Theatre. In 1986 she played four main roles. As a film actress, Liya Akhedzhakova became a widely known Soviet and Russian film, stage, and voice actress who received the title of People's Artist of Russia in 1994. She won two Nika Awards for Best Actress for her performances in Promised Heaven 1991 and Playing the Victim in 2006. She was also awarded the Nika Honorary Prize in 2015. She has been also known for her political and social activism since the early 1990s. She was also awarded the Nika Honorary Prize in 2015. Her debut in this drama was awarded several prizes at international film festivals in Locarno, Switzerland and Varna, Bulgaria. In 2013, she received a prize from the Moscow Helsinki Group for "the protection of human rights by means of culture and arts". During the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis on the night before the storming of the White House happened she, along with several other popular actors, attended a live broadcast at the "reserve studio" outside of the Ostankino Technical Center. She expressed support to Boris Yeltsin while also criticized the army for "not protecting us" from the old Soviet Constitution and encouraged people "to wake up", or "the Communists will return". Yeltsin watched the broadcast in his office. He later wrote in his memoirs, "I will always remember Akhedhakova - shocked, fragile, but firm and courageous. Akhedzhakova is a critic of contemporary Russian politics. She protested against the law that prohibits the adoption of Russian children by US citizens, Akhedzhakova received a prize from the Moscow Helsinki Group for "the protection of human rights by means of culture and arts".

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