Awards of Galina Brezhneva
30.06.1998
Brezhneva Galina Leonidovna
Daughter of Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev
News & Events
Twenty years have passed since the death of Galina Brezhneva
Daughter of the Secretary General Central Committee CPSU Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev.
Galina Brezhneva was born on April 18, 1929 in the city of Yekaterinburg. Father, Leonid Ilyich, at that time worked as deputy chairman of the Bisertsky district committee of the Ural region. Mother, Victoria Petrovna. She spent her childhood and youth following her father to his destinations. She studied at the philological faculty of the Orekhovo-Zuevsky Pedagogical Institute. When my father began working in Moldova, she transferred to the philological faculty of Chisinau State University, but had little interest in science and pedagogy. In 1951, she left the university altogether, leaving Chisinau with her future husband, Evgeniy Milaev.
Over the years of her life, Galina Leonidovna worked as a costume designer in the circus, in the Novosti press agency, in the archive department of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the rank of adviser-envoy, in the Moscow state university named after Mikhail Lomonosov.
The woman was constantly popular among men, the list of her husbands and lovers was made public long ago, and their names are known. Galina Leonidovna became one of the most scandalous figures of the domestic elite. One of the most high-profile cases is associated with the name of Yuri Churbanov, Galina’s third husband, who was convicted in 1988 in the so-called Uzbek cotton-mafia corruption case, for which he received twelve years of strict regime.
After the death of her father in 1982, Galina Leonidovna actually came under house arrest at her dacha near Moscow. However, she managed to win a lawsuit against the state, which tried to confiscate her dacha, car and other gifts from her father. The subsequent accusation of stealing jewelry only added to the scandal, but had no serious basis. Later, having withdrawn from secular life, Galina took part in church charitable activities.
Despite the negative image created, people close to her noted positive traits: kindness, help to many cultural figures, including disgraced artists. By character, Galina generally remained a kind and sympathetic person. But she could not cope with temptations and whims, she got used to the atmosphere of flattery and insincerity that surrounded her since childhood. Little by little this led to alcohol addiction.
Galina Leonidovna Brezhneva died on June 30, 1998 in psychiatric hospital No. 2 named after Oleg Kerbikov, where she was placed own daughter from her first marriage Victoria Milaeva. Buried at Novodevichy Cemetery capital, next to the grave of the mother.
Awards of Galina Brezhneva
Galina's adopted children (children of Evgeny Milaev from his first marriage) are Alexander and Natalya Milaev. We worked in the circus all our lives, including in our father’s act “Tightrope walkers on leg ladders.”
Second husband - Igor Kio, illusionist. Galina accepted Igor’s offer to become his wife, officially filed for divorce from Milaev and entered into marriage with him, presenting Leonid Ilyich with a fait accompli and left with her young husband for Sochi. The daughter’s action aroused the anger of Leonid Ilyich. He sent state security officers for the young people, who took Galina to Moscow, and Kio’s passport was taken away. Later he was given back a new passport, without the marriage mark. They were officially married for only 10 days. The divorce did not prevent Galina from dating Igor Kio, and their romance continued for about three more years: she went on tour with him, where they met in hotels, and in Moscow they spent time at friends’ apartments. Meetings became less and less frequent, and the romance faded away only during the period when Leonid Brezhnev became general secretary Central Committee of the CPSU.
Third husband - Yuri Churbanov, military man. Major of the interior. After a week of their whirlwind romance, Galina introduced her chosen one to her father. Leonid Ilyich, tired of his daughter’s extravagant love affairs, liked Churbanov. Yuri Mikhailovich divorced his wife and married Galina Leonidovna.
Children of famous politicians are always under close public attention. From birth, their lives contain not only material wealth and great opportunities, but also a lot of restrictions and prohibitions. Feeling a strange bird in the “golden cage” they want to get out, but often “break their wings”. The fate of the daughter of the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, Galina, was just as difficult.
Childhood and youth
On April 18, 1929, the first-born daughter Galya was born into Leonid’s family. The couple lived at that time in Sverdlovsk (present-day Yekaterinburg). The head of the family worked as deputy chairman of the local district executive committee, and the young mother, an obstetrician by training, took care of the housework. 4 years later, in 1933, Galina had a younger brother, Yuri.
Victoria devoted herself entirely to caring for her two children, her home and her husband. Leonid Brezhnev was already at that time closely involved in public service. True, the whole family, including little Galina and her brother, often had to move after their father.
Youth years Gali fell on war time. The Great has begun Patriotic War. With the end of this tragic period for the country in 1945, Galina turned 16 years old, and the time had come to decide on her future profession.
Brezhnev's daughter
In June 1945, Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev became the head of the political department of the Fourth Ukrainian Front. At the Victory Parade, the future Secretary General walked alongside Army General Eremenko, leading the column. Leonid Brezhnev was a serious man with strict views and was successfully advancing in his career. Therefore, when young Galina told her father that she was going to become an actress and wanted to enroll in the acting department in Moscow, Brezhnev took this news extremely negatively.
The girl, who had a wayward character since childhood, had to change her desires and dreams and obey her father. As a result, Galya entered the correct, from the parents’ point of view, literature department of the pedagogical institute in Orekhovo-Zuevo.
Career
Throughout her life, Galina was first and foremost “Brezhnev’s daughter.” There was no definite career. While still a student, she Once again She moved with her family for her father’s official business. This time to Moldova. In Chisinau, the girl transferred to the philological faculty of the local university. But she didn’t finish her studies.
At the age of 22, Galya fell in love with a 42-year-old circus performer and, having dropped out of school, in defiance of her parents, left the city with her future husband.
Galina's first job was as a circus costume designer - the girl helped her husband. Afterwards she managed to work at the Novosti press agency, the archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and for some time at Moscow State University.
Personal life
Unlike her career, Galina Brezhneva’s personal life was stormy and eventful. She was officially married three times, while the fleeting romances of an enviable Soviet bride decorated her life with different emotions.
Galina's first lover and husband was circus artist Evgeny Milaev. While touring around Moldova, the strongman, holding 10 people on his shoulders, made such an impression on the young girl that she purchased tickets for all his performances until the end of the tour.
Having met Evgeny in person, Galina surrendered to her feelings, not paying attention to the 20-year age difference and two twin children from her lover’s first wife. Their mother died during childbirth, and little Sasha and Natasha soon became adopted by Galina - new wife father.
After getting married, Galya followed her husband everywhere, just as she had followed her father before. The family toured the country. Eugene performed in the arena, and his young wife took care of his costumes.
A year after the wedding, in 1952, the couple had a daughter, who was named after her grandmother - Victoria. Galina and her mother had a warm relationship, and besides, her mother was for her an example of a wife, parent and housewife.
Unfortunately, although Galina tried to create ideal family this did not happen. The husband was often carried away by young circus performers and did not really appreciate Galina’s personal devotion, as well as care not only for his own daughter, but also for Evgeniy’s two children. After 10 years, the marriage broke up. During this time, Milaev managed to climb the career ladder. He became the director of the Moscow Circus and received the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.
Recovering from a divorce in 1962, 33-year-old Galina fell in love with a young illusionist. On that moment young man just turned 18 years old. Without informing their parents, the couple registered their marriage and left for Sochi. To soften her father’s reaction, the daughter “added” 7 years to the groom. Leonid and Victoria Brezhnev learned the news from a note containing the text:
“Dad, I fell in love. He’s 25.”
Officially, Galina’s second marriage lasted only 10 days. The angry father sent state security officers to the couple. As a result, the naughty daughter was returned to Moscow, and the young illusionist was “showed a trick” - they took away his passport with a marriage mark, and returned it without a stamp.
Once again Galina obeyed her father’s will, but you can’t command your heart. The lovers continued their secret meetings. For three years, the couple looked for places for dates: in hotels and at the apartments of friends. When Brezhnev became the General Secretary of the KSPP Central Committee in 1966, it became impossible to go against his father, and the relationship ended.
Galina Leonidovna's third marriage finally pleased her high-ranking father. The era of “circus performers and magicians” is over. In January 1971, Galina, who was 41 at the time, met 34-year-old Yuri Churbanov at a party. A stately military man, the major impressed the daughter of the Secretary General.
It was impossible to refuse such a bride - Yuri divorced his wife and without regret entered into a new marriage, which promised him not only home in abundance, but also promotion. Expectations were justified - soon the major became a lieutenant general and took the post of Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR. After Churbanov he advanced to the rank of colonel general. After 20 years of marriage, Yuri was arrested, and Galina filed for divorce.
In addition to official marriages, Galina was also attracted to other men, one of whom was a famous ballet dancer. Their dates lasted 5 years, and this despite the fact that Maris was officially married. The promise of divorce was never fulfilled, so the affair eventually fizzled out.
The secretary general’s daughter’s contemporaries especially remembered her affair with another creative person. While married to Yuri Churbanov, Galina, who had crossed the 50-year mark, became interested in the gypsy singer Boris Buryatsya.
The artist's career has also advanced amazingly. From an ordinary participant in the Romen Theater, he became a soloist at the Bolshoi Theater. Soon Boris was accused of involvement in the theft of diamonds. The loss was not found, but women's fur coats were found in his apartment. Then, not without the help of Churbanov, Galina’s legal husband, Boris was sentenced to 5 years in prison.
Death
On November 10, 1982, her father and head of state Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev died. When Galina came to power, she moved to live at her family’s dacha near Moscow and was actually under house arrest. Later, during the reign, they tried to confiscate her property, but the daughter of the former secretary general won the case, and her housing, cars, antiques and other valuables remained with her. In addition, the new government accused the woman of stealing jewelry, but the attempt was unsuccessful.
During the life of her influential father, her life was not easy, and after her death it became completely difficult. Galina started drinking heavily and after a while ended up in psychiatric hospital No. 2 in the village of Dobrynikha, Moscow region. On June 29, 1998, Galina Leonidovna Brezhneva passed away. She was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery next to her mother’s grave.
Her own daughter Victoria gave birth to a daughter in 1973, whom she named after her mother, Galina.
Memory
- 1993 - book by Yu.M. Churbanova “I’ll tell you everything as it happened”
- 2013 - book by E. Dodolev “The Case of Galina Brezhneva. Diamonds for the Princess”
- 2013 - book by E. Dodolev “Galina Brezhneva. Life of a Soviet Princess"
- 2013 - film by L. Mlechin “Galina Brezhneva. Expulsion from Paradise"
On June 30, 1998, Galina Brezhneva, the daughter of her former husband, died in a psychiatric clinic near Moscow. Secretary General Central Committee of the CPSU Leonid Brezhnev. Galina was the most famous of all Soviet "princesses". She managed to live in the best traditions of capitalist show business. Numerous marriages and affairs, dubious friends and scandals. Rumor about the adventures of the secretary general's daughter spread throughout the Soviet Union.
Galina Brezhneva was born in Sverdlovsk in April 1929. Leonid was only 23 years old, but he was already making a career and working as deputy chairman of the Biserta district executive committee. The family did not live long in the Urals, and they soon moved to Dnepropetrovsk, where Brezhnev’s party rise began.
Brezhnev was not an ordinary worker, however, he could not be called a prominent nomenklatura figure. Therefore, Galina’s childhood, contrary to popular myth, was only slightly better than that of most of her peers. Lower-ranking party leaders lived better than the majority of the population, but were not luxurious. When her father became a major nomenclature worker, Galina was already almost an adult.
Even under Stalin, Brezhnev was appointed the new head of the Moldavian SSR. At the same time, Galina began her studies at the Faculty of Philology of the University of Chisinau, although since childhood she dreamed of becoming an actress, which suited her stormy temperament well. But Brezhnev considered this profession too frivolous and categorically forbade even thinking about entering a theater university. She never completed her studies, deciding to get married.
First marriage
In the early 50s, Galina Brezhneva went to one of the performances of a visiting circus, where she drew attention to one of the circus performers, Evgeny Milaev. For the daughter of a nomenklatura figure, a circus artist was a somewhat dubious option, yet they tried to become related to each other by marrying within their circle. Galina was supposed to marry the son of some secretary of the Central Committee, or at least the son of a high-ranking military leader. In addition future husband was 19 years older than his wife. Finally, he already had a wife, and the wedding took place only three years ago.
But Brezhnev was just beginning his nomenklatura career and had not fully settled into the circles of power. In addition, he endlessly loved his only daughter, so he did not strongly oppose this clearly unequal marriage.
The couple treated each other well, Galina even worked for some time as a costume designer in a circus troupe. Soon, Milaev’s business clearly began to improve. During the Khrushchev period, the USSR gradually began to open up to the world, and Soviet artists began to go on tour to other countries. Circus troupes followed them. Milaev began to earn good money, and Brezhnev’s father gradually climbed the nomenklatura ladder and headed Kazakhstan, taking advantage of the trust of Khrushchev, who had known him for a long time.
The marriage lasted ten years and ended on Galina’s initiative. She found out about her husband’s relationship with a young circus performer and demanded a divorce. Milaev did not want to get a divorce.
Second marriage
In revenge, Galina started a whirlwind romance with the young illusionist Igor Kio. He came from a fairly famous family. His father, Emil Kio, was also a famous magician and illusionist in the USSR. And Uncle Felix Hirschfeld was at one time widely known in narrow circles as a mystical anarchist. In addition, my uncle worked in the famous newspaper "Gudok", with which such celebrities as Bulgakov, Ilf and Petrov, Kataev, Zoshchenko and Olesha collaborated.
Igor Emilievich Kio (1944–2006), circus performer, illusionist. Photo: © RIA Novosti / Vasily Malyshev
Milaev tried to save his family, so Galina had to resort to the help of friends. Through an acquaintance, she managed to get a divorce without any problems and immediately register a new one. According to legend, Brezhnev learned about his daughter’s new marriage only from the Voice of America news. According to a more plausible version, Galina left her father a note in which she reported about her departure to Sochi, her divorce from Milaev and her new marriage to 18-year-old Kio, who was almost a decade and a half younger.
It was a high-profile scandal that could seriously harm Brezhnev's further rise. At that time, he was already a member of the Politburo and served as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. That is, nominally he was the head of state, in fact the Soviet president. However political power the Soviet "president" was small and Brezhnev strived for more. And under these conditions, a family scandal could harm his hopes.
At one time, Andropov, for the sake of his party career, renounced his troubled son, who had troubles with the law. And the future Secretary General Chernenko did not get into the Moscow party apparatus precisely because of problems on the “female side” (when transferred to Moscow, one of his former cohabitants complained about him that he cohabited with several women at the same time and abandoned everyone without providing any support. In As a result, Chernenko was sent to Chisinau instead of Moscow).
And now the daughter, with her frivolous behavior, put Brezhnev in an awkward position. After all, he was no longer a mediocre nomenklatura, but was part of a narrow circle of five to ten people running the country. The daughter's escape with a young magician was clearly not part of the plans of the future general secretary. Therefore, he sent the newlyweds in pursuit.
The marriage of Brezhneva and Kio, in the best traditions of Western show business, lasted only a few days. Legend has it that representatives of the special services, who found the newlyweds in Sochi, took Galina with them, and took away Kio’s passport and soon returned it without the marriage stamp. However, Kyo himself recalled those events somewhat differently.
According to him, a frightened and pale police general came to them in company with the head of the passport office. They really took Galina with them and took Kio’s passport. A few days later his passport was returned to him by mail. The marriage stamp was not etched with any special means. The page with the stamp was simply torn out, stamping “Subject to exchange.” As a result, Kio had to get a new passport, which no longer contained information about the marriage.
Further attempts by Keogh and Brezhneva to meet secretly ended with the illusionist being summoned for a preventive conversation at the KGB and strongly recommended to forget about Brezhnev’s daughter.
Third marriage
In 1964, Brezhnev became the new head of state after Khrushchev's removal. Galina was hired as an editor at the Novosti press agency. However, she never had any career ambitions and she didn’t try too hard at work. Nevertheless, her colleagues treated her well. Brezhneva was sociable and strikingly different from other representatives of the nomenklatura. She did not keep any distance from ordinary workers, was very sociable and always ready to help solve any problem.
Her passion for Maris Liepa dates back to the same period. At that moment he was a rising star of Soviet ballet. Their relationship had no prospects from the very beginning; half of the women went crazy about Liepa Soviet Union, and he himself flatly refused to divorce his wife. Nevertheless, for some time he showed signs of attention to Brezhneva, because non-binding connections with the daughter of the General Secretary made it possible to resolve any issue in the USSR.
Finally, in 1971, Brezhneva met Yuri Churbanov in one of the capital’s restaurants, who became her third and last official husband. And the first one who was clearly approved by Leonid Brezhnev. Churbanov was an officer, which fit well into the framework of nomenklatura marriages (circus performers and magicians clearly did not fit into this). He held the rank of lieutenant colonel and worked as deputy head of the political department of the Main Directorate of Correctional Labor Institutions of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Galina Brezhneva, daughter of the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee L.I. Brezhnev, and Yuri Churbanov. Photo: © RIA Novosti / Yuri Abramochkin
Despite the fact that by the time of his meeting with Brezhneva, Churbanov had already been married for ten years, he quickly divorced, realizing what prospects a marriage with the daughter of the General Secretary promised him. And he was right. His career took off sharply. First, he became the head of the political department of the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and then the deputy minister of internal affairs. Perhaps, under other circumstances, he would have become a minister, but the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was Brezhnev’s very old and trusted friend Nikolai Shchelokov.
At first, everything was fine, but over time, Brezhneva began to spend more and more time at bohemian parties and make dubious connections. In the late 70s, she started her most scandalous romance. Her chosen one turned out to be Boris Buryatse, who was 17 years younger than her. Buryatse was a part-time artist at the Romany Gypsy Theater; moreover, he had a criminal record for theft and dubious friends from among the currency traders and black marketeers. Nevertheless, after Galina’s intervention, he was enrolled in the staff of the Bolshoi Theater.
In the winter of 1981, the apartment of the famous trainer Irina Bugrimova was robbed, and her a large number of diamonds. Soon, a citizen was detained at the airport for trying to smuggle them sewn into his clothes. The detainee stated that the thieves' spotter was Buryatse. He was arrested, but there was no hard evidence against him. Nevertheless, the scandal hit Brezhnev and Churbanov hard, as rumors spread that the theft was committed at the request of Brezhneva, who was allegedly jealous of Bugrimova’s diamonds and wanted to have them in her collection.
Brezhneva was not directly included in the criminal case materials, but rumors clearly linked her with the diamond case. Buryatse himself was eventually convicted of profiteering and sent to prison through the efforts of Churbanov.
By this time, the most incredible rumors were circulating throughout the Union about the adventures of the daughter of the Secretary General. They talked about caviar sprees, luxury foreign cars, and the country's richest collection of diamonds. The awarding of Galina with the Order of the Red Banner of Labor in 1979, on her 50th anniversary, added fuel to the fire. The piquancy of this award was added by the fact that during her life Galina worked for only a few years, and even then rather symbolically and for special conditions. Meanwhile, the order was awarded only for special labor services to the Soviet state. Of course, this was a clear discredit to the award.
The end of a wonderful era
The death of her father in 1982 was a huge shock for Galina, from which she never recovered. Brezhnev did everything for his daughter, and she became so accustomed to the status of a Soviet princess that she could no longer live independently. Andropov, who came to power, immediately began to purge Brezhnev’s henchmen in the highest echelons of power. They explained to Galina that it would never be the same as before and that a wonderful era was over for her.
The first alarm bell sounded when her husband Yuri Churbanov was removed from his position and transferred to another job with a very serious reduction in status. But their real problems began during perestroika.
The organizers of perestroika opposed themselves to the Brezhnev era with its corruption, nepotism, irremovability and discrediting of Soviet ideology. Several noisy corruption cases were initiated against Brezhnev's henchmen. One of the most notorious was the Cotton Case, which shook the whole country.
The case dragged on until the very end of the 80s, and one of the defendants was Yuri Churbanov, accused of taking bribes. He was expelled from the party, stripped of all titles and awards and sentenced to 12 years in prison. The property was confiscated. However, Galina in court managed to recapture a significant part of the jewelry, collectible weapons, apartments and cars, proving that these were gifts from her father, and not Churbanov’s property. While her husband was in prison, she divorced him.
From that moment on, Brezhneva began to abuse alcohol. According to the recollections of friends, before her father’s death she drank very moderately, although she loved to have fun. Real alcohol addiction began to appear at the turn of the 80s and 90s. Most of her old friends lost interest in her and stopped communicating. Questionable personalities became new friends, or rather drinking buddies.
In the 90s, journalists, both Russian and foreign, began to visit her often. She gladly gave interviews, during which she behaved extremely shockingly. For example, she could climb onto the table, lift up her skirt and start dancing.
One of latest interviews For documentary film left a very painful impression. Brezhneva was drunk, drank Soviet champagne right in front of the camera, danced, and then began to cry, remembering how good her life was when her father was alive.
Soon after this interview, she ended up in a psychiatric clinic, where her only daughter Victoria was assigned. My daughter has early years had a bad relationship with his mother, and even in adolescence she moved in with her grandmother. Having obtained guardianship over her mother, she sent her to one of the psychiatric clinics near Moscow, where she died in the summer of 1998, nine months before her 70th birthday.
After Brezhneva’s death, her descendants also lost what she did not have time to squander. Thus ended the story of the main golden child of the Soviet era.
The wayward heir to the leader of the USSR, Galina Brezhneva, with her eccentric behavior, broke the stereotypes familiar to Soviet society, living on a grand scale the way she wanted, and not dictated by the party.
Placing certain hopes on his daughter, Leonid Ilyich tried to entice Galina into party work, but she not only showed no interest in this field of activity, but flatly refused to join the ranks of the Komsomol. Brezhnev, who was lamenting this, and who was ashamed in front of his colleagues for such asocial behavior of the girl, tried to influence her through her friends, acquaintances and teachers, but these attempts were in vain.
Galina, who dreamed only of a career as an artist, did not find understanding in her family, for a long time I couldn’t decide on a place to study. Having chosen, for the sake of decency, the philological faculty of the Dnepropetrovsk Pedagogical University, Brezhnev, after her father’s transfer to Moldova, changed it to its Chisinau analogue. She was not interested in her studies at all, she constantly skipped lectures, and after she fell in love, she without looking back said goodbye to her student life and plunged into the whirlpool of adult life.
By the way, later, officials corrected this point in Galina’s biography, and to please Brezhnev, awarded the degree of Candidate of Philological Sciences to the girl who had not graduated from the university.
During her life, Galina applied to the registry office three times to officially register her marriage. The first husband of Leonid Brezhnev's daughter was a simple circus artist Evgeny Milaev.
At the age of 22, having fallen madly in love with a 41-year-old strongman-acrobat with two children, she without hesitation linked her destiny with him, preferring the carefree life that her father’s position promised her, endless moving from arena to arena and the work of an ordinary costume designer.
After 10 years, the relationship between the spouses began to crack and the impulsive Galina, using her connections, divorced Milaev within just one day and married a representative of a different circus role. Her second chosen one was the impressive illusionist Igor Kio, whom she was 15 years older than. However, under pressure from Leonid Ilyich, who did not want to tolerate such disgrace, this union was dissolved on the 10th day of existence, but secret meetings continued for another 3 years, when Galina left her lover so that the KGB would not spoil his life and interfere with his creative development.
For the third time, a marriage stamp appeared in the rebel’s passport in 1971; Galina’s next husband was military careerist Yuri Churbanov, who was not embarrassed by the fact that the bride was 7 years older than him, or that he had a wife.
Hastily breaking off relations with his first wife, Churbanov became the son-in-law of the General Secretary of the CPSU with all the ensuing privileges, but did not at all share the hobbies of Galina, who, having lived with him for 20 years, tirelessly repeated: “My husband’s surname fully corresponds to his essence.”
In addition to the inconsistency in marriage bonds, Galina shocked Soviet citizens who were conservative in family principles by the presence of a large army of lovers. History has not preserved all the names, but among the most famous personalities listed were journalists Oleg Shirokov and Alexander Avdeenko, ballet dancer Maris Liepa and actor of the Romany Gypsy Theater Boris Buryatse. Each of the favorites took advantage of Galina’s kindness and generosity, receiving material goods, luxury items, jewelry and meteoric rise on the career ladder.
Galina's adventurous soul could not be content with what fate handed her on a silver platter, so she often found herself at the center of various scandals, the loudest of which was related to diamonds.
Having information about the timing of price increases for precious items, Brezhnev, together with her trusted representatives, hastily bought them, and then resold them at a new price, remaining at a big profit. If it weren’t for her origins, the secretary general’s daughter would have ended up in prison.
Galina's passion for diamonds and jewelry made of precious metals began during her circus tours with Milaev. According to the memoirs of Boris Biryukov, who at that time held the post of director of the Voronezh Circus, she and her husband purchased unique jewelry from grandmothers from the former “white intelligentsia.”
Having started an affair with the gypsy Buryatse, who had extensive connections in the criminal world and went by the nickname “Diamond,” Brezhneva plunged headlong into risky machinations. All this led to criminal investigations, from which she extricated herself only thanks to her last name.
Among the high-profile cases in which the names of Galina's close friends appeared, one can name the theft of valuables from the apartment of the widow of the writer Alexei Tolstoy, as well as the mysterious disappearance of the luxurious collection of diamonds of the Soviet trainer Irina Bugrimova.
Galina Brezhneva, who loved champagne and exquisite drinks, in a duet with Churbanov, who was later arrested, gradually switched to drinking vodka, and after the death of her father and the troubles that befell her, she completely turned into an alcoholic.
Having fallen into disgrace with the new authorities, Galina immediately lost her old “faithful” friends and patrons, and therefore only a drunken dope saved her from the terrible reality in which she found herself.
At the age of 50, Galina, who looked like a drunken old woman, had completely lost interest in life, the only joy of which was gatherings with the lumpen public, who endlessly visited her apartment with bottles of alcohol. Eventually, the neighbors got fed up with this state of affairs and turned to their relatives to rectify the situation.
Galina refused to live with her daughter, and therefore the latter placed her in a psychiatric clinic, where she died in June 1998.
This year marks ten years since Galina Brezhneva passed away, but her name is still remembered. Memoirs, broadcasts, documentaries and feature films are dedicated to Brezhneva. And the point is not only that Galina Leonidovna was the daughter of the all-powerful General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, and not even in the numerous novels that created a trail of scandalous rumors around her figure. Authors of books and films are attracted by her contradictory nature: people called Brezhneva a spoiled “Kremlin princess,” and her close people considered her a fragile and kind person.
First love
However, pedagogy could not seriously interest her. It was much more interesting to go not to the university, but to the Chisinau circus. There Galina met Evgeny Milaev, an acrobat who was holding a pyramid of a dozen people. Soon the circus left, and twenty-year-old Galina left with the circus.
Evgeny Milaev, who became Galina’s first husband, was only four years younger than her father. However, this did not stop the wedding. A year later, a daughter appeared in the family. Lyudmila Moskaleva said: “Victoria, the daughter of Galina and Evgeniy, was born in Kharkov. His children from his first marriage first lived in an orphanage, then began to travel with their father and stepmother. And Vituska Victoria Petrovna, her grandmother, took Vituska with her to Dnepropetrovsk. Constant travel "They didn't allow Galina to take her child with her. But at the same time she remained a wonderful mother."
Having stopped performing in the arena, Milaev received the title of People's Artist of the USSR and even became the director of the new Moscow circus on Vernadsky Avenue. They say that Evgeny Milaev once brought an Opel “Captain” to Leonid Brezhnev, and he, in turn, gave it to car manufacturers, who made a “Volga” based on the model of a German car.
It was Milaev who introduced Galina to famous artists and taught her to understand jewelry and luxurious clothing. However, a crisis has emerged in the relationship of the famous couple. Constant quarrels and betrayals led to Galina breaking up with Milaev.
However, Brezhneva did not stop traveling abroad with a variety of circus troupes. Once, in 1960, when Leonid Ilyich became Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, he took his 33-year-old daughter with him on an official trip to Yugoslavia. However, this joint trip was the last: the extravagant behavior of Brezhnev’s daughter caused a lot of noise in the country.
The Illusionist's Wife
When the circus toured Japan, Galina met 18-year-old Igor Kio, the son of the famous illusionist Emil Renard. Their romance developed rapidly, and Galina’s parents did not notice how their daughter got married.
According to the law, immediate registration of marriage was prohibited in the USSR; the bride and groom had to first submit an application and go through " probation", however, Brezhnev's daughter talked to the head of the registry office, and soon became Kio's wife.
Meanwhile, Evgeny Milaev, who was losing a lot from the divorce from his wife, convinced Brezhnev to separate Galina from Igor. Kyo later told how, nine days after the wedding, the head of the regional police department and the head of the passport office came to them and took Galina away under escort.
The marriage was annulled as illegal, and the head of the registry office was punished in court for violating the law. Brezhnev even wanted to send Kyo to the army, but nothing worked out: he had a chronic illness.
From that moment on, Brezhnev tried to keep Galina strict. He resolutely refused to “give” Galina a separate apartment, and she had to live with her parents and work at the Novosti Press Agency. Galina even managed to defend her dissertation and became a candidate of philological sciences.
The Diamond Passion of Galina Brezhneva
In addition to young men, Galina Leonidovna Brezhneva had another passion in her life - diamonds. As soon as the best diamonds arrived in the capital's stores, Brezhneva was the first to find out about it. She ordered jewelry prepared for her the best sketches, in the Moscow jewelry factory on Lavochkin Street. When there was not enough money, Galina left only her receipts.
They say that once a rich man wanted to buy an expensive diamond necklace in a jewelry store, to which he was told that the necklace was not for sale. However, a few days later he discovered that the decoration was no longer on display. “What could we do,” they said in the store. “Galina Brezhneva herself bought this diamond.”
Romance with Maris Liepa
“You must always love while you are alive,” said Galina Leonidovna. In her life there were many beautiful and often hopeless novels. One of them was the story of her relationship with the famous dancer Maris Liepa, who was 11 years younger than her.
As Brezhneva’s friend said, Maris had a very strong influence on Galina. Despite the fact that he was married, she agreed to a secondary role in his life, accepting all his whims and requests. From the very beginning, she introduced Liepa to her friends as a loving father of two children.
They say that the artist began to feel burdened by this relationship, and he came up with a way to break up. One day Liepa told Brezhneva that he was flying back from a tour. And when she arrived at Sheremetyevo, she saw Maris and his wife Margarita kissing in the waiting room. According to rumors, it was this incident that marked the beginning of Brezhneva’s drinking bouts.
“My husband’s last name fully corresponds to his essence”
At the age of 41, Galina married a simple policeman named Churbanov. For her sake, he divorced his wife and left small children. As a wedding gift, Galina received an apartment, a dacha, several cars and her husband’s rapid advancement through the ranks. Four years later, Churbanov became a general and deputy minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
However, Brezhneva considered this union one of the main mistakes of her life. She often spoke publicly about her husband: “My husband’s last name fully corresponds to his essence. I love art, and he is just a general.”
According to Lyudmila Moskaleva, Brezhneva began to really drink with Churbanov. With it, the environment around her also changed.
“To be honest, Yuri Mikhailovich was not her husband. As Galya said, they kissed only twice: at the wedding and when she sent him to prison. No love. Victoria Petrovna, Galya’s mother, once told me that Churbanov ruined her life,” says Brezhneva’s friend.
A few years after the wedding, it became known about the new hobby of the daughter of the Secretary General - the soloist of the Romen Theater Boris Buryats. His name appeared in the case of the theft of diamonds from trainer Irina Bugrimova. And after a couple of interrogations, the name of Galina Brezhneva came up in the case.
Buryatse counted on the help of the secretary general’s daughter, but in vain. There was a rumor that Brezhneva's husband, Yuri Churbanov, had a hand in the verdict of Boris Buryats. However, he was soon accused of economic crimes and sent to jail.
Meanwhile, Galina Brezhnev was drinking more and more. This continued until her daughter sent her to a psychiatric hospital.
“When Galya ended up in a madhouse, and this was done for a reason, not without some forces interested in this, she asked me to take her home. There were terrible, gangster times in the country. While Galya was in the hospital, a certain rich Ossetian quickly bought her apartment. I told him that this apartment would backfire on him, he didn’t believe it, and soon they killed him,” said Lyudmila Moskaleva.
Brezhneva’s last address was psychiatric hospital No. 2 in the village of Dobrynikha. The doctors promised to release her in three months, but in the end no one came for her.
Brezhnev lived in Dobrynikha last years in absolute solitude, of sound mind and sober memory. The only person who visited her was her friend Mila Moskaleva. Galina Leonidovna asked to be picked up from the clinic, but she was afraid to tell her friend that she no longer had a dacha or an apartment.
The material was prepared by the online editors of www.rian.ru based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources