Lepeshinskaya graduated from Bolshoi Choreographic School and started working the Bolshoi Theatre. She started as Rosina in a ballet of
The Barber of Seville (
Тщетная предосторожность) performed by the second stage of the theater. In 1935, she performed the main role in the
Three Fat Men ballet by
Yury Olesha. The ballet became very popular and the 18-year-old ballerina became famous. Lepeshinskaya was known as the favourite ballerina of
Joseph Stalin and even rumoured to be his mistress. In 1943, she became a member of the
Communist Party. Lepeshinskaya married a Soviet intelligence
MGB general
Leonid Raykhman (known as the handler of
Nikolai Kuznetsov). He was arrested on 19 October 1951 as an alleged participant in the fabricated
Zionist Plot in MGB. Lepeshinskaya claimed that her appeals to Stalin saved the life of her husband. In March 1953, after Stalin's death, Raykhman was freed, rehabilitated and appointed the head of
MVD Control Commission. In August 1953, he was arrested again that time for his own fabrications of criminal cases, tortures of prison inmates and other violations of the "Socialist Law". He was sentenced to five years in prison in August 1956 but amnestied in November 1956. After that, he did research work in
astronomy. In February 1940, the
Kirov Ballet in
Leningrad first performed their
Don Quixote ballet with Lepeshinskaya as Kitry. The ballet was a great success. In 1941, when the
Stalin Prize was established, Lepeshinskaya was among the first laureates of the prize for her performance in
Don Quixote. Altogether Lepesinskaya received four Stalin Prizes. In 1942, the Soviet Youth Anti-Fascist Committee was organized. Lepeshinskaya was its Deputy chairperson. In 1943, she starred as
Assol in the Bolshoi premiere of
Scarlet Sails. On
9 May, she was with her Bolshoi brigade with Soviet troops in
Warsaw. The next day she received her invitation to perform in the Bolshoi's production of
Cinderella. The ballet, first performed on 21 November 1945, was the first post-war show at the Bolshoi. Lepeshinskaya won her second Stalin prize for her performance. She received her third Stalin prize for her performance in the
Flames of Paris and the fourth prize for the Tao-Hoa role in
The Red Poppy. In 1951, she received the
People's Artist of the USSR title along with
Galina Ulanova. ==Teacher==