Yanka Dyagileva

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Yanka Dyagileva
Yanka Dyagileva in Zelenograd. September 1, 1990
Background information
Birth name	Yana Stanislavovna Dyagileva
Born	September 4, 1966(1966-09-04)
Origin	Novosibirsk, USSR
Died	May 9, 1991 (aged 24)
Genres	Folk rock, Russian rock, punk rock, underground
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Singing, guitar, bass guitar, glockenspiel
Years active	1988—1991
Associated acts	Grazhdanskaya Oborona Velikiye Oktyabri etc.

Yanka Dyagileva (full name Yana Stanislavovna Dyagileva, Russian: Яна Станиславовна Дягилева) (September 4, 1966 - May 9(?), 1991; the exact date and place of her death are unknown) was a Russian poet and singer-songwriter.
Dyagileva was born in Novosibirsk. She was one of the brightest figures in Russia's underground punk scene. She both played solo and performed with others, including Egor Letov and Velikiye Oktyabri (the Great Octobers), a rock band. Dyagileva was greatly influenced by Alexander Bashlachev, who was her friend, and Letov, her lover and mentor. Her songs were a mixture of desperate, punk-style nihilism and folk-like lamentations.
On May 9, 1991, she disappeared from her countryside home, where she lived with her family. On May 17, she was found dead in the Inya River, far away from the place where she had disappeared. It is thought she probably committed suicide after a long bout with depression, although no formal finding of suicide was made; the official point of view is that she accidentally drowned. There were also some rumours that Yanka as a matter of fact had been killed, as there had been no water in her lungs and that her skull had been fractured. There is no documental evidence of these rumours.
It was only after her death that her records became known to the general public in Russia.