Ekaterina Furtseva
WOMAN PLAYING MEN'S GAMES
After October revolution Women who helped this revolution take place came to power - Inessa Armand, Alexandra Kollontai, Larisa Reisner... Ordinary revolutionaries - former peasants, soldiers and workers - worshiped them like goddesses. But when the time of the revolutionary goddesses ended, only men were in power - those who managed to stay on top in complex behind-the-scenes games that were not designed for the weaker sex.
There was only one exception to this rule. A woman who has reached unprecedented career heights and managed to leave undefeated is Ekaterina Alekseevna Furtseva. Catherine the Third of Russian history.
Her life is often compared to the plot of the famous movie “The Shining Path”: a proletarian girl rises to the very top.
She was born on December 7, 1910 in a village near Vyshny Volochok. Her mother, Matryona Nikolaevna, became a widow in the First world war, moved to Vyshny Volochek, where she worked at a weaving factory. Illiterate, she had drive and remarkable temperament - thanks to which she was elected as a deputy of the city council. Before Matryona Nikolaevna, Katerina walked to the line all her life, following her advice in everything - or almost everything.
After graduating from seven-year school, Katerina goes to work at the same factory where her mother works. As a matter of fact, Ekaterina Furtseva’s work biography was short-lived: she worked at the factory for only two years, from 15 to 17 years. But the line in the questionnaire “weaver, from peasants” played a huge role in her life.
At twenty years old, Katerina joins the party. Management quickly notices her: she inherited her activity and efficiency to the full from her mother. Soon Katerina, as a party activist, was sent to work in the Kursk region - to improve agriculture, and then quite quickly transferred to Feodosia.
Ekaterina Furtseva with her mother, 1935
In the resort of Feodosia, Katerina, exhausted by a hungry life in a working-class town, literally blossoms. Both feminine and career-oriented. She becomes the secretary of the local city committee of the Komsomol, but party-Komsomol work does not occupy her completely. Ekaterina fell in love with the sea all her life and became an excellent swimmer. She took up volleyball - it will be her favorite game all her life. When she played, people stared at her - her movements were so graceful.
But Catherine did not manage to stay long in her beloved Feodosia. In the city committee she is awarded a new Komsomol voucher - to Leningrad, to the Leningrad Institute of Civil Air Fleet Engineers.
At that time, aviation was something heroic, with an aura of exclusivity. Pilots at that time were beings of a higher order - approximately the same as astronauts would be thirty years later. Everyone fell in love with the pilots - Furtseva was no exception.
Her chosen one, the instructor of her flight flight, was called Pyotr Ivanovich Bitkov. A prominent, handsome man who knew how to please women, a born leader, he quickly and for a long time won her heart. Their marriage was not officially registered - then it was not considered mandatory. They lived poorly, but happily: Furtseva’s Leningrad friends later remembered her “silver laughter” for a long time. The only thing that upset me was that I couldn’t have children.
In Feodosia, 1936
From Leningrad, Bitkov was first sent to Saratov to teach at an aviation technical school, and then transferred to Moscow. Here Ekaterina continues her Komsomol activities: she becomes an instructor in the student department in the apparatus of the Komsomol Central Committee. A year later, in 1937, she was sent on a Komsomol voucher to study at the Moscow Institute of Fine Chemical Technology. Lomonosov (now the Academy of Fine Chemical Technology). Here Katerina continues her active community service and after a year and a half she becomes the secretary of the institute’s party organization, which does not interfere with her studies: having successfully defended her diploma, Furtseva enters graduate school. As a party organizer, she was given a room in a communal apartment.
The Great Patriotic War found her already the secretary of the Frunzensky district party committee - the very center of the city, it was in this area that most of the large enterprises of Moscow belonged. In the very first days of the war, Pyotr Ivanovich, a professional military man, went to the front. And soon it turns out: Catherine is pregnant. The time was very difficult, Matryona Nikolaevna, to whom her daughter wrote about her doubts about whether she should give birth or not, insisted on continuing the pregnancy and even came from Vyshny Volochok to help her daughter. Soon the Furtsevs were evacuated to Kuibyshev - and it was here that Svetlana was born in May 1942. Soon the family returns to Moscow.
Four months after the birth of his daughter, Bitkov arrives from the front - and from the doorway declares that he has long fallen in love with another woman.
Proud Ekaterina Alekseevna took her daughter and mother and left. Almost to nowhere. Soon she, as the secretary of the district committee, is given a tiny, twenty-eight meters, apartment next to the district committee. Now the three of them live - Ekaterina Alekseevna, Svetlana and Matryona Nikolaevna Furtsev.
In the Frunzensky district committee, where she was in charge of personnel, her immediate superior - second secretary - was Pyotr Vladimirovich Boguslavsky. A historian, philosopher, excellent organizer, he became interested in Catherine. Unfortunately, he was married, and divorce for a party worker at that time (and even later) was almost impossible. Boguslavsky puts everything he knows and can into Ekaterina, promotes her to the top, teaches her the rules of the game - a man's game, in which Ekaterina, with the help of Boguslavsky, learned to use her ability to be a woman. Maria Andreeva, a former actress of the Art Theater and common-law wife Maxim Gorky, and at that time the director of the House of Scientists, located opposite the district committee. District committee workers constantly went to the House canteen for lunch. Maria Feodorovna sets Furtseva an example of elegance and good manners. With her help, Ekaterina found another role model - actress Vera Petrovna Maretskaya. A little similar to Maretskaya in appearance, Ekaterina Alekseevna began to imitate her manner of dressing, holding herself, and speaking. They say she even took lessons from her acting. Furtseva had an excellent memory and the makings of a good speaker.
Ekaterina Alekseevna had the chance to distinguish herself in September 1947, when the 800th anniversary of Moscow was celebrated with pomp. Furtseva took an active part in preparing for the holiday the most important part of the city - its center. The laying of the monument to Yuri Dolgoruky in front of the Moscow City Council - the main event of the anniversary celebrations - was carried out under her personal supervision. Furtseva took an active part in other events: the laying of a new high-rise university building on the Lenin Hills, sports festival at the Dynamo stadium... She is everywhere. It is impossible not to notice her, it is impossible not to remember her: a bright, beautiful, energetic, radiant woman is remembered by everyone.
Soon the affair with Boguslavsky ended on its own: the country began the “fight against cosmopolitanism” - an anti-Semitic campaign of purging personnel on ethnic grounds. The Jew Boguslavsky was sent for retraining - which in practice meant resignation. Furtseva is appointed first secretary of the district party committee.
Ekaterina Furtseva – secretary of the Frunzensky district party committee, 1940s.
Her organizational skills, ability to speak without a piece of paper and personal charm always attract the attention of higher authorities to her. But her finest hour came completely unexpectedly: in 1949, Nikolai Shvernik, a major party functionary, introduced her to Stalin. This was their only meeting, but Stalin remembered it - and with his blessing, Furtseva’s career took off sharply.
In December, Furtseva makes a report at an extended meeting of the city party committee, where she criticizes the work of her district committee - and herself personally. This smart, talented, feminine, passionate self-flagellation - permitted and even prescribed from above - immediately bears fruit.
Already at the beginning of 1950, Ekaterina Furtseva became the second secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee. The first secretary at that time was Nikita Khrushchev. There were persistent rumors among the people that Furtseva ended up in the city committee not by chance, they say, she was having an affair with Khrushchev. Khrushchev really values Furtseva very much - both for her ability to speak, and for her ability to work, and for her devotion. When, after the death of Stalin, Khrushchev becomes the first secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, he will leave Furtseva in his place as head of the Moscow party organization. But at that time she was having an affair with a completely different person.
Diplomat Nikolai Pavlovich Firyubin, at that time deputy chairman of the Moscow City Executive Committee, was very charming, handsome man, spoiled by female attention, and therefore rather arrogant and capricious. Excellent command of two foreign languages, I did sports. He fell in love with Furtseva passionately, and Ekaterina Alekseevna reciprocated. But he is married and has two teenage children. The flared up romance was kept secret from everyone - although, as always happens, many knew about it. The entire top party apparatus discussed their connection, and everyone condemned it. Matryona Nikolaevna was resolutely against Firyubin - but in this, practically the only case in her entire life, Ekaterina Alekseevna did not listen to her mother’s advice.
When Firyubin is appointed ambassador to Czechoslovakia, and then to Yugoslavia, Ekaterina Alekseevna flies to him at every opportunity - even for a day, for a few hours... She did not demand anything from Firyubin, who could not decide on a divorce, and this greatly attracted him . In the end, her union with Firyubin was blessed by Khrushchev himself - and in 1954 they got married. This was the first and only official marriage of Ekaterina Alekseevna. For the first five years, everything continued as before: he works abroad, she works in Moscow. Firyubin returned to Moscow when he was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. And Ekaterina Alekseevna quickly realized that their marriage was a mistake. But it was too late to change anything.
Nikolai Pavlovich was very jealous of his wife for her career successes - and took revenge on her for them at home. He humiliated her, did not listen to her, and could not notice her for several days. He complained to everyone he knew that they didn’t take care of him at home, didn’t feed him - and yet Ekaterina Alekseevna prepared pureed cranberries for him every evening and fulfilled all his whims. He did not get along with Svetlana - after her marriage she was practically not invited to the house of her mother and stepfather. Realizing that there will be no happiness in the family, Ekaterina Alekseevna throws herself into work.
Khrushchev did not forget Furtseva. When on February 25, 1956, he made his famous report at the 20th Party Congress, it was Ekaterina Alekseevna who was given the first word after the speaker. At this congress, Furtseva became a candidate member of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee - that is, she rose to the penultimate level in the Soviet party hierarchy.
Furtseva remained the first secretary of the Moscow City Committee of the CPSU until 1957. In the memory of Muscovites, her reign is associated with active urban planning, an attack on public utilities, and the fight for cleanliness and order on the streets. Western journalists note her appearance on the podium of the Mausoleum on November 7, 1955 - when Khrushchev personally called her to move from the lower podium, for “major officials,” to the upper one, “for leaders.” Slender, fit, in a strict but elegant suit, with a beautifully styled long brown braid - foreign publications tirelessly reported that a real woman had finally appeared among the gray Soviet officials. And in the evening, at a gala reception in the Kremlin, she danced a waltz with members of the Politburo in a luxurious ball gown with rare grace.
Furtseva with Khrushchev and his wife, 1958
On the sidelines of the Kremlin, Furtseva was nicknamed Malvina for her beautiful appearance and constant elegance.
Furtseva personally supervised the construction of the stadium in Luzhniki - any builder knew her slender figure very well. Always smiling, with a knee-length skirt that reveals it Beautiful legs, in an Orenburg shawl - and always in shoes, in any weather. Those who were surprised by her appearance she answered: “What are you building? Beauty! And everything around should be beautiful!”
Furtseva understood perfectly well that she did not have enough knowledge to understand all the pressing issues. But she knows how and wants to learn - and will study all her life. Her favorite word was “specialist” - that is, someone who knows the issue thoroughly, who can figure it out. Although, still remaining a woman, sometimes she trusted only her taste.
Just before the opening of the stadium in Luzhniki - literally the night before - she ordered to cover up a huge, more than a hundred square meters, fresco on the facade of the stadium. Just because I didn't like it...
Soon this stadium will host the main events of the International Festival of Youth and Students - an event that was incredible just a few years ago, crowds of foreigners in Moscow, which until recently was fenced off from the rest of the world by the Iron Curtain. And again Furtseva is at the very center of events, standing out as a bright spot among the officials in gray suits.
With Budyonny and Voroshilov, late 1950s.
In addition to taking care of Moscow, Ekaterina Alekseevna’s responsibilities included constant meetings of the CPSU Central Committee and close communication with senior government officials. She was the only woman among high-ranking men who lived by long-established rules. Feasts all night, strong expressions in conversations, baths and hunting amusements are typically male entertainment, and no one was going to change the rules of the game because one woman appeared among several dozen men. Furtseva understood perfectly well that in order not to lose, she would have to adhere to all these rules, and no one would make any discounts for her.
Anyone could envy her position. But few could fully understand the problems she had to face. For example, such a simple thing as a toilet. Next to the room where the Presidium of the Central Committee met, there was only a men's toilet, and it was constantly busy: due to a certain lifestyle, members of the Presidium suffered from numerous illnesses. Ekaterina Alekseevna had to run far to the next wing, where in the secretariat (the secretaries were mostly female) there was a women's toilet.
But one day it was precisely this problem that played into Furtseva’s hands.
After Khrushchev came to power, his leadership methods quickly aroused dissatisfaction among some members of the Central Committee. At the head of the “conspiracy”, which aimed to overthrow Khrushchev - he was going to be “exiled” to minister Agriculture, - stood Georgy Malenkov, Vyacheslav Molotov, Lazar Kaganovich, Klim Voroshilov and Dmitry Shepilov. At the end of June 1957, they convened a meeting of the Presidium of the Central Committee, to which many powerful supporters of Khrushchev were “accidentally” not invited. Furtseva, noticing that the majority of those gathered were against Khrushchev, decided to act. She asked to go to the toilet. Everyone knew that it was quite a long walk to the women's restroom, which meant that no one would miss her for a while. Instead of going to the toilet, Furtseva rushed to her office and began calling Khrushchev’s supporters, many of whom were not in Moscow. Many regarded her call as a provocation - after all, one of the “conspirators” could be standing nearby and eavesdropping, checking the reliability of this or that person. But she persuaded, begged, persuaded them to come - and achieved her goal.
Brezhnev did the same trick - he rushed to call the Minister of Defense, Marshal Zhukov, and when he returned, he vividly described the indigestion that suddenly attacked him.
Furtseva moves from the Moscow City Committee to the Central Committee. Here she, together with Zhukov, is a member of the commission for the rehabilitation of prisoners of war (according to Stalin’s decree, all prisoners were considered traitors to the Motherland, and those released from German camps were immediately sent to Soviet camps), with him she is also developing a project for the construction of a memorial on Poklonnaya Hill.
But Zhukov soon fell into disgrace: his phrase about tanks frightened Khrushchev himself, too - and just four months after that fateful meeting, Zhukov was accused of instilling a cult of his personality in the army, removed from the post of minister and removed from the Politburo and the Central Committee. Khrushchev remembered to whom he owed his rise, and knew how to take revenge on those who saw his weakness.
For Furtseva, everything went well for several years. She was called the official heir of Khrushchev. In 1960, she was appointed Minister of Culture of the USSR - a prominent position, but not very enviable: the functions of the Minister of Culture are mainly representative. The best thing for a woman is to lead, to show off, and she won’t be able to spoil anything - in fact, culture in the USSR was managed by a special party committee, and not by a ministry at all. But it was Furtseva’s turn. Khrushchev's authoritarian, largely contradictory policies caused increasing discontent in high circles. There were no conspiracies - so, they washed his bones over the phone - but that was enough for Khrushchev. In 1961, a transcript of her telephone conversation with Central Committee member Aristov was placed on his desk, where Furtseva spoke unflatteringly about Nikita Sergeevich. At the next, extraordinary plenum of the Presidium, Ekaterina Alekseevna was removed from the post of secretary.
Everything was arranged quietly: during the next meeting, a man came to Furtseva’s office, turned off the connection, took away the “turntable” - the government communications phone - and that’s all. Silence. Nobody explained anything to anyone.
Ekaterina Alekseevna came home, lay down in the bath and opened her veins.
She was saved by a friend who came to visit. Surprised by the silence outside the door, she called the relevant authorities. The arriving team broke down the door and took Ekaterina Alekseevna to the hospital.
They said that Furtseva tried to commit suicide because of wounded ambition. But an equally important role was played by personal resentment towards the man who owed her so much, to whom she trusted boundlessly and who betrayed her so vilely...
Khrushchev reacted simply: at a meeting of the Central Committee, of which Furtseva was still a member, he declared: “Ladies’ whims! What do you want - menopause! Don't pay attention."
After leaving the hospital, where she was treated for a long time nervous stress, Ekaterina Alekseevna throws herself into the work of the minister. The time of Khrushchev's thaw brought to life many innovations in culture - and Ekaterina Alekseevna tried her best to understand what was happening in the environment under her jurisdiction. For the first time in several decades, the Ministry of Culture was headed by such a high-ranking nomenklatura-party worker - and such an interested woman. Ekaterina Alekseevna, who started out as a party functionary with all the corresponding views, was able to change and become one of the best - if not the best - minister of culture in the entire history of the USSR.
At first, people greeted her appointment with anecdotes. As a matter of fact, few people have received such a number of anecdotes about themselves - except perhaps the head of state. And here is a simple minister. Especially at first, the jokes were evil: they say, an uncultured woman came from a terrible outback and let’s manage the artists. One of the most popular jokes was this. Vernissage. Pablo Picasso is not allowed in because he forgot his invitation card. Then, to confirm that he is Picasso, he draws his famous dove of peace on the asphalt. They let him through. A woman follows, and also without an invitation. "Who are you?" - “I am the Minister of Culture of the USSR Furtseva!” - “How can you prove it? Picasso forgot his ticket, he drew a dove...” - “Excuse me, but who is Picasso?” - “Come in, Madam Minister!”
There are also anecdotal stories about how she actually led the culture. When Grigorovich staged at the Bolshoi Theater " Swan Lake“According to the libretto, Odette was supposed to die. Furtseva said: “Our ballet should be optimistic!” – and the swan girl was revived. But years later, Yuri Georgievich remembers Furtseva warmly and gratefully. She most often went to meet him halfway. I appreciated Galina Ulanova and the famous Moscow Art Theater actresses Tarasova and Stepanova. She was friends with Maretskaya.
With Leonid Brezhnev, 1965
As a very active person who cares about her work, she tried to participate in everything. She personally made decisions on raising salaries, banning or allowing performances, and assigning roles. She defended her decisions in a purely feminine way - she could burst into tears, flirt, fall at the feet of her superior comrades, only for the film to be released, the appointment approved, the title given... She considered all workers of cultural institutions to be soldiers of her army - actors and writers, librarians and lecturers, museum workers and circus performers - and treated them equally. Although, of course, she had her own preferences - Rodion Shchedrin, Maya Plisetskaya, Lyudmila Zykina, David Oistrakh, Svyatoslav Richter, for whom she arranged an urgent trip to Germany to say goodbye to his dying mother... She loved the Moscow Art Theater - on her initiative, Oleg Efremov, who had previously worked in Sovremennik, was appointed chief director of the Moscow Art Theater, and under her personal supervision a new theater building was built on Tverskoy Boulevard.
As a leader, she was not an easy person. She did not tolerate answers “I don’t know”, she demanded that everyone thoroughly know their business - like she did. In the heat of an argument, she could shout and kick her out - but then she got worried and tried to do something good in return. She was respected because it was possible to argue with her, to talk to her, that she could be convinced - whereas the rules of the men's game required adhering to the principle: “there are two opinions, one is mine, the other is wrong.”
It was under Furtseva that the International Tchaikovsky Competition began to be held - and she personally insisted that the first prize be allowed to be given to the American pianist Van Cliburn, which absolutely contradicted all ideological guidelines. Under her, the International Ballet Competition and the Moscow International Film Festival began to be held. According to her note to Suslov, the Taganka Theater was established, through her efforts the Moscow Choreographic School and ten cultural universities were opened throughout the country, the buildings of the Library of Foreign Literature, the Natalya Sats Children's Musical Theater, a new circus on Vernadsky Avenue (and ten more stationary circuses throughout the country) were built. country), the storage building of the Lenin Library in Khimki, the Moscow Art Theater, the Mossovet Theater and the Operetta Theater received new premises...
With Nadia Léger in Antibes, 1960s.
Back in 1961, on her first trip as Minister of Culture to the Cannes Film Festival, she met the widow of the artist Fernand Léger, Nadia. This acquaintance, which grew into a close friendship, largely determined Furtseva’s cultural ties. Nadya Léger introduced her to the circle of the French communist intelligentsia - Louis Aragon (married to Lily Brik's sister Elsa Triolet), Pablo Picasso (so the joke was wrong - Furtseva knew not only the name of the great artist, but also him personally), Maurice Thorez... Under the influence of Nadia Leger, Furtseva discovered French haute couture - she especially liked things from Lanvin. Nadya's friends - emigrants from Russia - began to donate their collections to Soviet museums. The artist's widow Savelia Sorina donated part of her most valuable collection to the Tretyakov Gallery, and Marc Chagall even came to the USSR in person and donated 75 of his paintings to the Pushkin Museum.
Furtseva organized the most fantastic exhibition of that time: “Mona Lisa” by Leonardo da Vinci in Moscow. The painting was exhibited in Japan and had to be transported back through Moscow. The idea arose to keep the Mona Lisa in Moscow for several days. Furtseva phoned the French ambassador, received his consent - but she had to pay huge insurance, make a bulletproof display window... Ekaterina Alekseevna persuaded the country's leadership: “They are offering to show us La Gioconda, and we will return the money. Let’s send Moiseev on tour, he’ll make money.” They agreed with her. Furtseva turned to defense designers - and in seven days they made a display case, which the French later took as a model. Special glass was urgently transported from Ukraine, it was damaged on the way, and they barely had time to replace it. “La Gioconda” was brought at night, under heavy security. Those who were lucky enough to see it during the few days when the painting was exhibited at the Pushkin Museum still remember this.
With Elsa Triolet, 1960s.
Furtseva was very friendly with Armand Hammer - she even gave him Malevich’s “Black Square” from the vaults of the Russian Museum.
At the Cannes Film Festival, 1960s.
Furtseva invited the La Scala theater to the USSR, having never been to Russia before. A cooperation agreement was signed between the Bolshoi and La Scala - since then, many Russian opera singers have trained in Milan. Theater director Antonio Ghiringelli was delighted both with the reception of his troupe and with Furtseva herself. For the next ten years - until her death - Dr. Ghiringelli seriously courted Ekaterina Alekseevna, constantly sent her small gifts, and ordered her portrait from one of the fashionable artists.
She continued to be a very attractive woman - despite everything. After any drinking, obligatory in the environment senior officials, she remained fresh and full of energy. Ekaterina Alekseevna took great care of herself - when possible, she followed a strict regime and diet, walked for a long time, played a lot of sports, and specially brought diet pills from France. Her femininity and charm were noted by everyone she encountered, even those who had every reason to dislike her. She constantly followed fashion. She wore almost no jewelry—they were not accepted among high-ranking officials—but she dressed very elegantly. It was Furtseva who was the first in the USSR to wear a small black dress– above the knees, with pumps and a string of pearls. She also followed Soviet fashion: it was Furtseva who was behind the organization of fashion houses in the country and contributed to the career of Slava Zaitsev. When the workers of one atelier wrote her a letter about the shortcomings in the clothing industry, she called a meeting where she discussed with full knowledge of the matter fashionable styles, fabrics, spoke about the need to use fashion magazines in my work.
With daughter Svetlana on vacation in the south
On her desk was a photograph of Queen Elizabeth II of England, with a simple inscription: “To Catherine from Elizabeth.” They said that after just a few minutes of personal communication, the queen asked Furtseva: “Don’t call me “Your Majesty,” just say “Comrade Elizabeth!” And the Belgian Queen Fabiola once said that she would like to do as much for her country as Furtseva did for hers.
Only in my personal life, not everything was smooth. With Firyubin, they were moving further and further away from each other - love had long passed, he had another woman, and Ekaterina Alekseevna knew about it. But they still could not get a divorce. The only meaning of life - besides her favorite work - for Furtseva was her daughter Svetlana and granddaughter Marina. “If it weren’t for you and Marishka, I would have nothing to live for,” she told Svetlana.
Having started her career as a party functionary, Ekaterina Alekseevna changed a lot during her ministry. Her personal, sincere friendship with many prominent cultural figures, whose views largely did not coincide with the ideological guidelines of the CPSU Central Committee, increasingly alienated Furtseva from her colleagues in the party apparatus. Unlike the bulk of major functionaries, she was an extraordinary person, and they could not forgive her for this.
Another unpleasant story happened. Svetlana and her husband really wanted to have a dacha. Under pressure from her daughter, Furtseva took up construction - she bought building materials through the production department of the Bolshoi Theater: they were cheap there. The dacha turned out to be, by today's standards, tiny - 61 square meter, but the scandal was created into a terrible one. Furtseva was accused of abuse of official position, severely reprimanded, and almost expelled from the party. They took the dacha, but they returned the money spent on construction. Ekaterina Alekseevna was very worried and asked to create a commission to sort everything out, but nothing was done. She suffered a lot - public opinion was very important to her.
When in 1973 she was not recommended as a deputy to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, she realized that her career was close to decline and that her removal from the post of minister was not far off. She told Lyudmila Zykina, one of her friends: “No matter what, I will die as a minister!”
And so it happened. On the night of October 24-25, 1974, Firyubin called Svetlana Furtseva: “Ekaterina Alekseevna is no more.” Svetlana, who only said goodbye to her mother a few hours ago, did not have time to understand anything...
According to the official medical report, Ekaterina Alekseevna’s heart stopped. However, rumor persistently insists that Furtseva was poisoned with potassium cyanide.
She was buried on Novodevichy Cemetery- among the artists and writers she led, not far from Khrushchev, who betrayed her.
After the funeral, Pyotr Bitkov told Svetlana: “All my life I loved only her...”
A few weeks later, Firyubin married again. A few years later, Svetlana moved to Spain. But she could not live away from Russia and in 1998 she returned to Moscow. Svetlana Furtseva died in early October 2005. She had cancer.
There is no longer either the party to which she was devoted, or the state to which she served. All that remains is the memory of a woman who knew how to play men's games - and win.
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Khrushchev and Furtseva After the death of Stalin, Khrushchev was elected first secretary of the party's Central Committee, Furtseva became first secretary of the Moscow city party committee. Khrushchev's sincere affection for her could not go unnoticed. Indeed, there were rumors that they were connected
Ambiguous Furtseva...Many note the common origin of Ekaterina Alekseevna, they say: what to take from her - a weaver! N. S. Anislavsky, for example, was a manufacturer, and Chaliapin and Gorky had a chance to wear barge haulers. So what? Politician Alexander Yakovlev thought
Furtseva, Efremov and the Moscow Art Theater Of course, the Gorky Moscow Art Theater has always occupied a special position. No other theater has received so much attention from the Ministry and the Culture Department of the Central Committee. Such close attention was explained by the fact that all over the world the Stanislavsky system
Mikhalkov, Glazunov and Furtseva Sergei Mikhalkov said that Furtseva did not understand everything and, without understanding, sometimes made ridiculous decisions. He recalled, for example, her performance at the Leningrad Comedy Theater, where a sharp, very funny satirical performance by the playwright was staged
Having climbed to the top of the political Olympus with great difficulty, USSR Minister of Culture Ekaterina Furtseva preferred not to remember what remained at its foot. But three decades after her death, the archives of the village of Korenevo revealed one of the secrets of a powerful woman. AND official biography"Catherine III" has changed.
The first marriage lasted three months
Even the authors of the most famous books about Furtseva claim: the first lady of the USSR married twice. And both times it was unsuccessful. The woman, on whose decisions the life of the country largely depended, was unable to change her own destiny. The first husband, pilot Pyotr Bitkov, left the family immediately after the birth of his daughter. “I’m tired of living with your job!” he said to Furtseva before slamming the door. The second husband, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikolai Firyubin, according to the recollections of relatives, in last years life together, he never missed an opportunity to humiliate his wife. And a month after Furtseva’s death, he married someone else. There were also rumors about the special relationship between the first lady of the USSR and Khrushchev.
It is not surprising that among the representatives of the party elite, biographers did not notice the Korenev carpenter, Furtseva’s first husband. However, so that no one would know about him, Ekaterina Alekseevna herself tried a lot. However, it was not possible to delete it from the archives.
“A year after she started working in Korenevo, Furtseva got married. The marriage was registered on August 25, 1931 in our village council,” says Korenevo local historian Valentin PISARYUK. “True, they did not live long - only 3 months. Furtseva left for Moscow, and from there to Crimea. Then she said that her first husband was Bitkov. She didn’t even like to remember her work in Korenevo, so that the fact of an unsuccessful marriage would not accidentally come up."
If Ekaterina Furtseva chose to forget about the Kursk outback and the mistakes of her youth, then the residents of Korenevo, on the contrary, carefully preserve documents associated with the name influential woman. In 2006, by decision of the head of the administration, the district cultural center was named after Furtseva. It was in this building, the former regional committee of the Komsomol, that the future member of the Politburo took her first steps up the career ladder. And it was in Korenevo that Furtseva joined the party.
The rural archive contains many documents reflecting the activities of the proactive first secretary of the regional Komsomol committee: “On convening a rally of collective farm youth”, “On mobilizing forces for logging”... Ten years later, she will have to solve issues of a different scale, and her subordinates will be world-famous cultural figures . Most of them will remember Furtseva with gratitude. Even though she did not open a “window to Europe” for the creative intelligentsia, she still opened the “window”. Weeks of Italian and French cinema and exhibitions of French impressionists opened in Moscow. A new ballet school building, a new Moscow Art Theater, a children's musical theater under the direction of Natalia Sats, the Obraztsov Theater and Sovremennik were built.
Joseph Kobzon is going to Korenevo
On December 7, 2006, the memorial hall of Ekaterina Furtseva was solemnly opened in Moscow. Yuri Luzhkov named one of the capital's libraries after her. The Korenev delegation was also invited to the celebration. Valentin Pisaryuk, whose speech was loudly applauded by Joseph Kobzon, gave his granddaughter Furtseva a photo of her famous grandmother at the regional congress of collective farmers, and spoke about the opening of a memorial plaque at the village cultural center. Having learned that the institution was named after the Minister of the USSR, Joseph Kobzon promised its leaders the support of the state and the Ekaterina Furtseva Foundation. And he even expressed a desire to come to Korenevo in person.
The guests also visited the Novodevichy Cemetery, where the ashes of the one who was once known as the “woman in the Mausoleum” rest. “On the marble slab there is only the name and years of life,” says Vasily Pisaryuk. “It feels like someone specially made such an inconspicuous tombstone so that people would not think about who she was during her life or about her death.”
The death of Ekaterina Furtseva really raised many questions. The official reason is heart failure. However, many believe that the Minister of Culture died on her own, without waiting for her to “leave” her high post. “Be that as it may, no matter what they say about me, I will die as a minister!” - said “Catherine III” shortly before her death. And so it happened. Furtseva died at the end of October 1974, a month shy of her sixtieth birthday. fourth day birth.
Ekaterina Alekseevna Furtseva. Born on November 24 (December 7), 1910 in Vyshny Volochyok, Tver province - died on October 24, 1974 in Moscow. Soviet statesman and party leader. First Secretary of the Moscow City Committee of the CPSU (1954-1957). Member of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee (1957-1961). Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee (1956-1960). Minister of Culture of the USSR (1960-1974).
Ekaterina Furtseva was born on November 24 (December 7), 1910 in Vyshny Volochek, Tver province, into a working-class family.
Father - Alexey Gavrilovich Furtsev, a worker, died in 1914 during the First World War.
Mother - Matryona Nikolaevna Furtseva (1890-1972), worked as a weaver in a factory.
Ekaterina with early years showed herself to be an active and smart girl. At the age of 14 she joined the Komsomol. She was involved in the school drama club and had an excellent memory.
She graduated from a seven-year school, then a factory apprenticeship school (FZU), and received the profession of a weaver.
Since 1928, she worked as a weaver at the Bolshevichka factory in Vyshny Volochyok.
She actively participated in Komsomol work. At the factory, Katya was elected secretary of the Komsomol organization.
In 1929, by decision of the Komsomol Central Committee, a large group of Komsomol activists from industrial areas was sent to provide assistance to rural areas of the Central Black Earth Region. She was sent to the Kursk region, where she became secretary of the Korenevsky district committee of the Komsomol. Ekaterina Furtseva was an active promoter of the collectivization policy, showed good organizational skills, as well as firmness and rigidity in implementing party decisions.
In 1930, Furtseva was accepted as a member of the Communist Party.
Then she was transferred to Crimea, where she became the secretary of the Feodosiya city committee of the Komsomol. Then - head of the organizational department and member of the bureau of the Crimean regional committee of the Komsomol. I often went to Koktebel, where the first Soviet glider pilots had their base. I also became interested in gliding. In addition, she was a good swimmer. In Koktebel I met a future designer spaceships.
The regional party committee recommended her to the Higher Academic Courses of Aeroflot, the lists of students of which were approved by the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. I studied at these courses in Leningrad for three years. After graduation, she was sent to the Saratov Aviation College as an assistant to the head of the political department for the Komsomol.
In 1936, Catherine was offered a job at the Komsomol Central Committee as an instructor in the student youth department. With a Komsomol permit, without a matriculation certificate, she entered the Lomonosov Moscow Institute of Fine Chemical Technology, which she graduated from in 1941. Received a diploma in chemical engineering. Although she was a very mediocre student, she excelled in social activities. She was elected secretary of the institute's party organization and entered graduate school.
In 1933-1938 - student at the Moscow Institute of Fine Chemical Technologies named after M.V. Lomonosov. At the same time, in 1933-1935 and 1937-1938 - secretary of the Komsomol Committee of the Institute, in 1935-1937 - employee of the apparatus of the Komsomol Central Committee. In 1937-1941 - secretary of the party organization of the Moscow Institute of Fine Chemical Technologies named after M.V. Lomonosov.
In 1941, she took part in measures to ensure the defense of Moscow.
In 1942, Furtseva and the institute were evacuated to Kuibyshev, where she worked as an instructor for the city party committee.
In August 1942 she returned to Moscow, and in November she was elected secretary of the Frunzensky district party committee for personnel. It is known that Ekaterina Furtseva was intensively promoted by Pyotr Boguslavsky, the first secretary of the district committee. She later replaced Boguslavsky in this post.
Furtseva worked a lot on herself, rehearsed her performances, memorized the texts by heart, rehearsed in front of the mirror. As a result, her performances were lively, emotional, artistic, and resonated with listeners who were impressed by speeches without paper. They differed from the speeches of many functionaries who read out reports.
In 1948, Furtseva graduated in absentia from the Higher Party School under the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks).
In 1942-1950 - second secretary, first secretary of the Frunzensky district committee of the CPSU (b) of Moscow.
Furtseva enjoyed the favor and support of the then first secretary of the Moscow regional committee and city party committee, Georgy Popov. In 1949, he carried out another cleaning of the party apparatus. Popov was replaced by , who was recalled from Ukraine. On January 21, 1949, at a solemn mourning meeting dedicated to the 25th anniversary of Lenin’s death, N. Shvernik introduced Furtsev to Stalin. The leader honored her with a compliment.
In January 1950, Furtseva made a report at a meeting of party activists in the Frunzensky district in connection with the resolution of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) “On shortcomings in the work of comrade. Popov, removed from the posts of first secretary of the Moscow Committee and the Moscow City Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)” and, without sparing swear words, furiously denounced her mentor. Khrushchev attended the Frunzensky regional party conference, where he met Furtseva and developed a liking for her. In 1950, he nominated her as second secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee. She oversaw issues of ideology, culture and science, as well as administrative bodies.
At the moment when the “Leningrad affair” arose, Furtseva carried out a purge of Leningraders in the party and Soviet apparatus and even in universities. During the “Doctors' Plot,” Furtseva organized its propaganda support in Moscow, gave instructions to hold rallies, meetings, and publish angry responses from workers.
At the same time, 1950-1962 - deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
On XIX Congress CPSU (1952) was elected as a candidate member of the CPSU Central Committee.
After Stalin's death, Nikita Khrushchev was elected first secretary of the CPSU Central Committee and began to place his people in key positions. On March 29, 1954, Ekaterina Furtseva became the first secretary of the Moscow City Committee of the CPSU.
There were rumors that Khrushchev and Furtseva had a close relationship - that’s why, they say, he promoted her. However, this is a fiction, the spread of which was also facilitated by the fact that Khrushchev sent Firyubin (Furtseva’s second husband) first as ambassador to Czechoslovakia and then to Yugoslavia.
Heading the Moscow City Committee, Ekaterina Alekseevna developed vigorous activity. With its support, construction began in Moscow of a number of large medical centers, Mossovet Theater, Operetta Theater, new cinemas appeared. The scale of housing and utility construction has expanded.
In 1956-1960 she was Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee.
Occupying high party positions, she carefully monitored her appearance. She was tall and slender. Beautiful. Every day I did gymnastics, ran, played tennis. She dressed in the latest fashion of the time with great taste. She was constantly advised by the artist Nadezhda Leger. I made some models for her. On November 7, 1955, on the anniversary of the October Revolution, the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee held the first big reception in the Kremlin. Furtseva came in a ballgown.
At the famous XX Congress of the CPSU, Furtseva was the first to speak in the debate on Khrushchev’s report. She behaved freely on the podium. Unlike other speakers, I almost didn’t look into the text prepared in advance.
In June 1957, a serious internal party crisis arose in the leadership of the CPSU. At a meeting of the Presidium of the Central Committee, Molotov and then Malenkov, disrupting the discussion of current routine affairs, unexpectedly raised the question of removing Khrushchev from the post of First Secretary. He was accused of ignoring the Presidium of the Central Committee, economic illiteracy, and a tendency to impulsive, ill-considered actions. They were supported by Kaganovich, Voroshilov, Bulganin, Pervukhin and Saburov. Molotov and Malenkov's proposal to remove Khrushchev from the post of first secretary passed by seven votes to four. Khrushchev's supporters - Zhukov, Brezhnev, Furtseva, the then KGB chairman Serov and others - managed to ensure the convening of the plenum. Members of the Central Committee were transported to Moscow by military aircraft. Khrushchev was saved. Ekaterina Alekseevna took an active part in this.
In 1960, Ekaterina Furtseva was appointed Minister of Culture of the USSR and held this position until her death in 1974.
In October 1961, the XXII Congress of the CPSU took place. She became a member of the newly elected Central Committee. However, she was not elected as a member of the Presidium and secretary of the Central Committee. For Ekaterina Alekseevna this was a terrible blow. Returning home after the meeting, she opened her veins and lost a lot of blood, but the doctors saved her. As a sign of protest, she did not appear at the final meeting of the congress, angering Khrushchev. She was summoned for explanations to the Presidium of the Central Committee. Former Secretary of the Central Committee N. Mukhitdinov, who was present at this meeting, said: “She could barely speak from excitement and tears. Her husband Firyubin, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, who was elected at this congress as a candidate member of the Central Committee, was also summoned. It turned out that he, too, was not present at the final meeting of the congress. Nikita Sergeevich strongly scolded him. He said: “As a party worker in the past, as a husband, you had to show will and intelligence - not only to appear at the congress, but also to prevent the shameful actions of your wife.” He apologized and expressed remorse."
Minister of Culture of the USSR Ekaterina Furtseva
Although, in comparison with the post of Secretary of the Central Committee, the post of Minister of Culture meant a clear demotion in the Soviet and party hierarchy, but for Furtseva it became her finest hour. She held this post for 14 years and everyone remembered Furtseva for a long time. Ekaterina Alekseevna had little understanding of culture and art. But she greatly valued specialists and experts and always listened to their opinions and recommendations.
While still at the post of first secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee, she paid great attention to culture. She oversaw the installation of the monument to Yuri Dolgoruky on Tverskaya, the construction of the Luzhniki sports complex, the design and construction of the Children's World, the reconstruction of the All-Russia Agricultural Exhibition (VDNKh) complex, and the holding of the Moscow Festival of Youth and Students.
On Furtseva’s initiative, the International Tchaikovsky Competition was held for the first time (it was thanks to the persistence of Furtseva and Emil Gilels that the First Prize was awarded to Van Cliburn), the Moscow International Film Festival (it was thanks to the persistence of Furtseva and Grigory Chukhrai that the Grand Prize 1963 was awarded for the film “8 1/2"), International Ballet Competition (first chairman of the jury - ).
On the initiative of Furtseva, the Moscow bookstore was opened on Tverskaya Street, and a new one was created educational institution"Higher Screenwriting Courses", the City Palace of Children and Youth Creativity was built on the Vorobyovy (at that time - "Leninsky") Mountains in Moscow, the Children's Musical Theater under the direction of Natalia Sats and the Memorial Apartment Museum of the People's Artist of the USSR P. D. Korin were opened, The circus on Vernadsky Avenue, the State Concert Hall “Russia”, the new building of the Moscow Art Theater (Tverskoy Boulevard, 22), a monument in honor of the victory of Russia in the Patriotic War of 1812, were built and equipped.
Thanks to Furtseva, exhibitions of the Dresden Gallery, the visit and concert of Yves Montand and Simone Signoret, an exhibition of works by S. N. Roerich (Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Hermitage), numerous weeks of French, Italian and other cinema, tours of the Benny Goodman Orchestra (Moscow, Leningrad) were held , Kiev, Minsk), exhibition of Fernand Léger (at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts), tour of La Scala at the Bolshoi Theater, tour of the Duke Ellington Orchestra (Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev, Tbilisi), exhibition of Marc Chagall at the Tretyakov Gallery, exhibition of the painting “Mona Lisa” » Leonardo da Vinci at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts.
Thanks to Furtseva Soviet Union works from the heritage of the Roerichs and Savely Sorin were returned. In 1974, Furtseva managed to give life to the Studio Theater.
Such outstanding artists as Svyatoslav Richter spoke warmly about her. She helped open the Taganka Theater, and the Sovremennik Theater did not allow it to close. Furtseva was saved by the film “Prisoner of the Caucasus.”
At the same time, there were rude reprimands, prohibitions, and persecutions on her part. She spoke extremely negatively about her. , a Soviet musician of the 20th century, for a long time could not perform on the music stages of the USSR at the direction of Ekaterina Furtseva. The reason was the writer hiding at his dacha. Rostropovich fell into disgrace and the consequence of this was his forced departure from the USSR in 1974. She banned theatrical productions (the play “Live” by the Taganka Theater based on the story by Boris Mozhaev, 1969).
In 1966-1974 - deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
Death of Ekaterina Furtseva
Ekaterina Alekseevna Furtseva died on October 24, 1974, according to the official version - from heart failure. She was found dead in her own apartment on Alexei Tolstoy Street. In a medical report signed by the head of the 4th Main Directorate of the USSR Ministry of Health, Academician E.I. Chazov, the cause of death was named acute heart failure.
But there is a version of suicide. Former Chairman of the KGB of the USSR V.A. Kryuchkov in 2001, when asked by a correspondent whether the death of Ekaterina Furtseva was really not violent, replied: “All the comrades who knew her claimed that she committed suicide in the bathroom of her own apartment.”
Allegedly, she returned in the evening from a banquet in honor of the anniversary of the Maly Theater and took potassium cyanide. But her daughter categorically denied this version.
She was buried on October 29, 1974 at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow. The sculptor of the tombstone is L. E. Kerbel, the architect is M. O. Barshch.
The mystery of the death of Ekaterina Furtseva
Ekaterina Furtseva's height: 162 centimeters.
Personal life of Ekaterina Furtseva:
First husband - Pyotr Ivanovich Bitkov, pilot. We met at the Saratov Aviation College. They were married from 1935 to 1944.
The marriage produced a daughter, Svetlana (1942-2005). In 1959-1968, Svetlana was married to Oleg Kozlov, the son of F. R. Kozlov, a member of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee.
Granddaughter - Marina (born 1963), great-granddaughter - Ekaterina.
Bitkov went to the front on the first day of the Great Patriotic War. Ekaterina Alekseevna was pregnant then. Four months after the birth of the child, the husband arrived on leave and announced that he had another family.
In the mid-1940s, she was in a relationship with Pyotr Boguslavsky, first secretary of the Frunzensky district party committee.
Second husband - Nikolai Pavlovich Firyubin (1908-1983), Soviet statesman and party leader, diplomat. Their relationship began in the second half of the 1940s, then Firyubin was the secretary of the Moscow regional committee of the CPSU (b), was married and had two children. They had to carefully hide their romance and met secretly. But soon this ceased to be a secret for the party public. Nikolai Firyubin filed for divorce only in 1951, but even after that they did not get married immediately. They were married from 1956 to 1974. In the last years of her life, Furtseva became partial to alcohol. There were problems in the family; she often quarreled with her husband.
Nikolai Firyubin, shortly after her death, married Cleopatra Gogoleva, the widow of the former secretary of the Moscow Regional Party Committee, Alexander Gogolev. Cleopatra, despite her royal name, never held any positions, but was much younger than Furtseva.
Awards of Ekaterina Furtseva:
Four Orders of Lenin
Order of the Red Banner of Labor
Order of the Badge of Honor
The image of Ekaterina Furtseva in the cinema:
2004 - “Woman on the Mausoleum”
2005 - “Ekaterina Furtseva. Women's share"
2006 - “Utesov. A song that lasts a lifetime" - actress in the role of Ekaterina Furtseva
2006 - “Kremlin funeral. Ekaterina Furtseva" (documentary)
2009 - “And Shepilov, who joined them” - actress in the role of Ekaterina Furtseva
2010 - “Catherine the Third” - actress in the role of Ekaterina Furtseva
2011 - “Furtseva” - in the role of actress Ekaterina Furtseva
"Furtseva Ek. Al. (1910-74), owls. party, state activist, since 1960 Minister of Culture of the USSR” - these are lines from the “Soviet Encyclopedic Dictionary”. What's behind them?
Ekaterina Alekseevna Furtseva was called Catherine the Third, many were afraid of her, many sought her favor, she helped many and ruined the lives of many. Active, emotional Ekaterina Furtseva was worthy of both love and hatred. She managed to make a dizzying career during the period of “developed socialism”, and, probably, her fate is worthy of a novel or a movie. By the way, such a film has already been created by director Samariy Zelikin, and is called “Catherine the Third.”
A poor girl from Vyshny Volochok worked in a weaving factory, like her mother and grandmother. She really dreamed of studying further. The dream came true, she entered the Leningrad Institute of Civil Air Fleet Engineers. The passion for airplanes was fashionable in those years.
In 1930, Ekaterina met her first husband, Pyotr Bitkov, at the institute. They were happy despite their difficult life. Catherine dreamed of a child, but for a long time she was unable to give birth.
The husband was a military man, and they soon moved to Moscow. As soon as the war began, he went to the front. And Catherine was expecting her first child, and she was already thirty-two years old. Daughter Svetlana was born in evacuation in Kuibyshev. A few months after the birth of her daughter, Furtseva returned to Moscow.
Arriving on a business trip from the front, Pyotr Bitkov admitted to his wife that he had met another woman whom he fell in love with. At that time, Ekaterina Alekseevna was already the secretary of the Frunzensky district party committee of Moscow. Before that, she received a second education at the Institute of Fine Chemical Technology and studied in graduate school.
Furtseva made a dizzying party career. For three years she was the first secretary of the Moscow City Committee, from 1956 - secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, in 1957 she became a member of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee.
In 1954, Ekaterina Furtseva married diplomat Nikolai Pavlovich Firyubin. For the sake of Furtseva, he left his wife and two children. At first they had a wonderful relationship, but gradually problems began. Something didn’t go well, didn’t work out, there was no mutual understanding.
And Ekaterina Andreevna continued to be involved in politics. She was Khrushchev’s favorite, but somehow carelessly spoke out about him on the phone and soon from the secretaries of the CPSU Central Committee turned into the Minister of Culture.
After this sudden demotion, Furtseva tried to commit suicide by opening her veins. She was rescued and treated for a long time for severe nervous stress. They said that Furtseva staged suicide in order to pity Khrushchev. Relatives claimed that the reason for this act lay in a deep resentment towards Khrushchev, whom she had unlimited faith in. By the way, Nikita Sergeevich commented on this act at the Plenum of the Central Committee: “Furtseva has an ordinary menopause.”
In her new capacity, Ekaterina Alekseevna zealously set to work. It was during the years of Ekaterina Alekseevna’s “reign” that the International Competition named after. Tchaikovsky, International Ballet Competition, new premises were given to the Operetta Theater and the Theater named after. Mossovet, construction of the Luzhniki sports complex began, the Taganka Theater was born, the Moscow Art Theater was headed by Oleg Efremov.
This time of her life was filled with many events: friendships with talented people, meetings, trips, performances. It is known that Furtseva was friends with Armand Hammer. One day, Hammer received as a gift from the Minister of Culture of the USSR a painting by Malevich “Black Square” from the storerooms of the Russian State Museum.
As an active person, she tried to participate in everything. She could personally decide to increase the salary of some artist she liked, allow or prohibit a performance, give orders to drive a carload of vodka to Paris for the actors of the Bolshoi Theater who were touring in France...
Here is what actress Natalya Fateeva recalls about the filming of the film “Battle on the Way”:
“Furtseva herself took charge of the film. After each visit to the studio, the picture was endlessly remade. As a result, the entire second part of the book, which is artistically the most interesting, was left from the film. From many scenes with my participation in the second half of the film, only one monologue remained, and then I re-voiced that four times, and all four times with completely different text...”
She also tormented Mikhail Romm for the film “Ordinary Fascism”; she could allow herself to raise a cry, knowing that no one would dare object to her. But she could have apologized, having realized her mistake, as was the case after the release of Andrei Smirnov’s film “Belorussky Station”, in which Nina Urgant nevertheless starred instead of the appointed actress Furtseva Makarova.
In the early 70s, a scandal broke out around a country house that was allegedly built by Furtseva not entirely legally. The question even arose about removing her from the CPSU Central Committee. She asked to create a commission and sort everything out calmly. But the commission was not created; this was to the benefit of many. The precedent itself was important. Furtseva was reprimanded. And they took the dacha, although they returned the money for it.
It all ended sadly. On October 24, 1974, Ekaterina Furtseva passed away. She died suddenly. According to medical certificate - from acute heart failure. According to other sources, she was poisoned. There were rumors that the cause of suicide was a Russian folk drink, to which Furtseva had an addiction.
Literature: I.N. Chernyakevich, O.M. Chernyakevich GREAT SCANDALS OF THE XX CENTURY, Vitaly Vulf “Minister of All Culture”, newspapers: “Kommersant”, “Nezavisimaya Gazeta”.
Today Ekaterina Furtseva They like to portray her as a liberal: they say that she allowed the opening of the new Sovremennik theater in Moscow, won the international Tchaikovsky competition and built a circus on Vernadsky Avenue. I don’t argue: Furtseva did do something useful for culture. But there were much more prohibitions. This woman loved power first of all, and impressive men second. Everything else was in the background for her. For the sake of power, she constantly committed a series of betrayals, including those of her beloved men. And it was the culture that suffered from this.
Ekaterina Alekseevna Furtseva was born in 1910 in the Tver province in Vyshny Volochyok. At the age of eighteen she took up the loom. But the prospect of spending her entire life working as a weaver did not suit her. Another thing is the Komsomol, endless meetings, primitive propaganda. It doesn’t seem dusty, but it’s honorable.
In 1933, Furtseva entered the Moscow Institute of Fine Chemical Technology. But, apparently, she needed the institute not to broaden her horizons, but solely because of the crust. She did not intend to be any kind of technologist. The former weaver already connected her future only with the Komsomol and the party. It is no coincidence that already in 1942 she was elected secretary of the Frunzensky district party committee.
It is worth noting that for the sake of her career, Furtseva at one time sacrificed her personal life. She had a wonderful first husband - a pilot Peter Bitkov(from him she gave birth to a daughter, Svetlana, in 1942). Bitkov loved her madly. He wanted family comfort so much. But it turned out that he did not marry beautiful woman, but on a careerist, for whom growth along the party line was above all else. It is no coincidence that Bitkov later found another girlfriend.
After the war, Furtseva was protected by the First Secretary of the Frunzensky District Party Committee Piotr Boguslawski y. At some point, the two secretaries became inflamed with feelings for each other. They began an office romance. However, in the authorities, when they heard about the non-statutory, let’s say, relationship between Furtseva and Boguslavsky, they demanded sweet couple break. But Furtseva did not want to go into the shadows. She stepped over her patron and lover and in 1947 ensured that instead of Boguslavsky, the district committee was entrusted to her.
By the way, later the situation partly repeated itself, but in the city party committee and with a different secretary. Let me clarify: Furtseva was transferred to the city committee in 1950. Got her attention there Firyubin who had his own family. Furtseva had no trouble starting a new romance. When it became impossible to hide the relationship between the two secretaries, Khrushchev first he ordered the removal of Firyubin to the Moscow Soviet, and then gave the command to send him as ambassador to Czechoslovakia, and, on the contrary, he promoted Furtseva and approved her as the first secretary of the Moscow City Committee of the CPSU.
In the photo in the center are Ekaterina FURTSEVA and Nikita KHRUSHCHEV
In 1956, Furtseva also became Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee and a candidate member of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee. At first, without her husband (Firyubin was acting ambassador to Yugoslavia at that time), she began to show feminine attention to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR Dmitry Shepilov. Soon the two party comrades had common interests. They both turned out to be dissatisfied with Khrushchev’s voluntarism. Furtseva agreed with Shepilov throughout the spring of 1957. But already in June 1957, Shepilov’s fortunes changed, and Furtseva was the first to renounce her colleague, branding him with disgrace. For this, on June 29, Khrushchev transferred her from candidate to member of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee. However, she no longer inspired complete confidence in the leader. It is no coincidence that Khrushchev soon removed Furtseva from the leaders of Moscow. He retained only the post of Secretary of the Central Committee for her, while entrusting her activities to another secretary - Mikhail Suslov.
On January 3, 1958, Furtseva was included in the Commission of the CPSU Central Committee on Issues of Ideology, Culture and International Party Relations (in addition to her, this commission included Suslov, Kuusinen, Mukhitdinov And Pospelov). In her new capacity, she was actively involved in the creation and development of the writers' newspaper Literature and Life.
In the spring of 1958, Khrushchev ordered Furtseva to finally decide on the new editor of the magazine “ New world" She had to talk to Tvardovsky and submit documents for the poet
to the Secretariat of the Central Committee.
In 1959, ill-wishers tried to compromise Furtseva in the eyes of Khrushchev. The reason for the attacks was the arrest of her brother. However, this scenario was destroyed by the investigator for especially important cases of the RSFSR prosecutor's office A. Romanov. July 29, 1959
he sent a letter to Khrushchev, in which he spoke in detail about who and how tried to put pressure on the investigators in order to cast a shadow of suspicion
in corruption against Furtseva.
In 1960, Khrushchev initiated the transfer of Furtseva from the Central Committee to the government. She was appointed Minister of Culture of the USSR.
Furtseva took the demotion hard. But she hoped that she would be able to maintain her membership in the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee. However, in the last days of the Twenty-Second Party Congress, she learned that she would not be nominated to the Presidium of the Central Committee. This finally finished her off.
On November 2, 1961, the KGB chairman reported to Khrushchev about what happened next. A. Shelepin. "Yesterday,
“On November 1 of this year,” wrote Shelepin, “doctors of the medical sector of the CPSU MK vol. Sokolov and Antonova reported to me that in the afternoon Furtseva E.A., while
at the dacha in the bedroom, I opened the veins on both arms in the elbows and hands with a razor. The first to notice this was her daughter, who quickly applied tourniquets and called the doctors. Doctors found her in a poor, semi-conscious state and provided timely medical care. When the KGB became aware of this, doctors were urgently sent to Furtseva
4 Directorate of the USSR Ministry of Health - therapist Borisova (her attending physician) and surgeon Molodchik. However, Furtseva’s husband, Firyubin, did not allow them to see her, saying: “If you don’t want to injure her, harm her and cause nervous shock, then leave.” After such a statement, the doctors were forced to leave. Later, the head of the 4th Directorate of the USSR Ministry of Health, Professor Markov, went to Furtseva’s dacha and insisted on examining Furtseva. As a result of the examination, he fully confirmed the fact that she had opened her veins. Her general health is satisfactory; there is no danger to life. According to the doctor, Comrade Antonova, Firyubin and Furtseva’s daughter begged her to do everything so that no one knew about what happened. “I also consider it necessary to report to you that Firyubin behaved insincerely in his conversation with me, was impudently hypocritical, and categorically denied the fact of opening Furtseva’s veins in order to hide this outrageous, cowardly, unworthy of the title of party member act from the CPSU Central Committee.”(RGANI, f. 3, op. 62, d. 188, l. 10).
Furtseva went to work only on the morning of November 14, 1961. But she was immediately summoned to the Central Committee. Suslov said that she was temporarily removed from her duties as minister. Then Furtseva had a brief and also very unpleasant conversation with another secretary of the Central Committee - Frol Kozlov. Furtseva was required to provide written explanations for her “unworthy behavior.”
On November 15, Furtseva wrote an explanation in red pen on a piece of notebook paper to the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee.
“Recently,” she noted, “I have suffered from headaches, insomnia and pain in the heart area. Literally a few days before the congress, while working, I had a severe attack - cerebral vascular spasms, during which I was unconscious for about 4 hours (this was recorded in the medical history of the MGK hospital by doctors Antonova K.V., Budagosskaya G., who were present at the time. A. and nurse Yanovskaya V.A.). During the congress, I also felt bad, I was very worried about work, about speaking at the congress. Therefore, I made a request to Comrade T. Kozlov F.R. and Suslov M.A. give me the opportunity to speak sooner. On October 31, the day the congress ended, after the Plenum I felt very bad: I had heart pain and headache. I decided to go to the dacha and spend some time in the fresh air. But the condition worsened so much that I was forced to go to bed and call a doctor, who diagnosed a hypertensive crisis, which resulted in loss of consciousness for several hours on the night of October 31 and November 1. It was in this state that the hands were damaged.”(RGANI, f. 3, op. 62, d. 188, pp. 24-25).
The party leadership first decided to punish Furtseva severely. A resolution of the CPSU Central Committee was prepared “On the insufficient behavior of a member of the CPSU Central Committee, Comrade E. A. Furtseva.” But at the last moment, Khrushchev decided to take pity on his ally. The archive contains an entry: “Question<о Фурцевой>from the protocol<Президиума
Central Committee of the CPSU> withdrawn (instruction from Comrade Malin. November 24, 1961)"
(RGANI, f. 3, op. 62, d. 188, l. 30).
What kind of minister was Furtseva? The singer spoke about this at one time Galina Vishnevskaya. She stated: “Furtseva, by the way, had very good acting skills, knew how to listen convincingly, and really got into it. When I came with questions about the theater, Ekaterina Alekseevna, without blinking, looked into the eyes, did not miss a word, and at the end of the conversation she certainly added: “Work calmly, Galina Pavlovna, don’t worry about anything. I will do everything. I swear on my honor! She had this saying: she made an oath for any reason. I left reassured, and then every time the opposite of what we agreed on happened. But I didn’t want to be offended by Furtseva, she played the role so skillfully. Not every professional actor can boast of such charm! And Ekaterina Alekseevna knew how to drink. Also a well-known fact"(“Itogi”, 2010, No. 44).
Vishnevskaya claimed that Furtseva, as a minister, took bribes. She said that she personally gave Furtseva four hundred dollars on tour in Paris. When journalists asked Vishnevskaya: “Why?”, she replied: “She didn’t create any obstacles to let me go abroad on personal contracts! After all, how many times has it happened: they invite Vishnevskaya, and another one goes to sing... That evening Furtseva and I were going to have dinner together, I went into Ekaterina Alekseevna’s room, took a breath and without preamble said: “Buy something for your daughter as a gift.” And handed over the bills. She stood there sweating, afraid to think what would happen if Furtseva refused to take the money. She probably would have died of fear and shame! Slava and I discussed the situation in advance; he did not advise taking risks. And I tried it. Furtseva, without wincing, swallowed the bait, as if it were a common thing. She even thanked me"(“Itogi”, 2010, No. 44).
In the spring of 1974, Furtseva was accused of abuse of official position during the construction of a dacha near Moscow. It turned out that she used construction labor and building materials for free. Her case was then taken over by the Party Control Committee under the CPSU Central Committee.
Artist Eliy Belyutin wrote in his diaries:
"May 29. Radio from behind the “hillock” broadcast the beginning of a criminal case against Furtseva (using
official position).
May 31. Radio from behind the “hillock”: limiting the matter
Furtseva party penalties.
June 3. Furtseva died.<…>
June 5. Furtseva was installed in the new Moscow Art Theater
on Tverskoy Boulevard. In the morning there is a megaphone under the windows: “There is no left turn! Pass only to the right!”
But it seems that Belyutin (or the publishers of his diary) got something wrong. Furtseva died later. She died on October 24, 1974. The next day, the issue of organizing her funeral was discussed at a meeting of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee. The party elders decided
On October 29, install the coffin with Furtseva’s body in the new building of the Moscow Art Theater. And it was necessary to bury Furtseva
decided at the Novodevichy cemetery.
Later there were rumors that Furtseva was allegedly helped to pass away. But that's not true. After an investigation by the Party Control Committee into the construction of Furtseva’s personal dacha, the Politburo began to decide what to do next. Some suggested that Furtsev be removed from his job and expelled from the party. Others wanted to limit themselves to half measures and quietly send Furtseva into retirement. At the same time, the Politburo had already selected a successor: Furtseva was to be replaced as minister by the Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee for Propaganda Peter Demichev.
Furtseva knew about the first and second options, but neither suited her. But she could not insist on any other decision. And then Furtseva decided that in any case she would die as a minister. Already in 2001, the former chairman of the State Security Committee Kryuchkov told reporters: “Everyone who knew her [ Furtsev . - V.O.] comrades claimed that she committed suicide in the bathroom
own apartment."
Vyacheslav OGRYZKO