The Frog Princess
Melekhina was born in Simferopol in 1991. She immigrated with her parents to the United States when she was only two months old. They originally settled in Brooklyn, New York while her father completed his dental re-accreditation. They moved to Philadelphia five years later, where Melekhina has resided since. Melekhina was taught to play chess by her father and only coach at age 5, and played in her first tournament when she was 7. She also began taking Vaganova-style ballet lessons at that age, and has been dancing ballet and pointe since. At age 6, she authored “The Frog Princess,” a translation of a popular Russian fairy tale, making her a published author at age 8.