Why does Stalin's grandson have the surname Bourdonsky. Joseph Stalin's grandson Alexander Burdonsky: "grandfather was a real tyrant
MOSCOW, May 24 - RIA Novosti. Theater director, People's Artist of Russia and grandson of Joseph Stalin Alexander Burdonsky died in Moscow. He was 75 years old.
As RIA Novosti was told at the Central Academic Theater of the Russian Army, where Burdonsky worked for several decades, the director died after a serious illness.
The theater clarified that the civil memorial service and farewell to Bourdonsky will begin at 11:00 on Friday, May 26.
"Everything will take place in his native theater, where he has worked since 1972. Then there will be a funeral service and cremation at the Nikolo-Arkhangelsk cemetery," said a representative of the Central Academic Theater of the Russian Army.
"Real workaholic"
Actress Lyudmila Chursina called Burdonsky's death a huge loss for the theater.
"A man who knew everything about the theater left. Alexander Vasilyevich was a real workaholic. His rehearsals were not just professional activities, but also life reflections. He brought up a lot of young actors who adored him," Chursina told RIA Novosti.
“For me, this is a personal grief. When my parents die, orphanhood sets in, and with the departure of Alexander Vasilyevich, acting orphanhood has come,” the actress added.
Chursina worked a lot with Bourdonsky. In particular, she played in the performances "Duet for a Soloist", "Eleanor and Her Men" and "Playing the Keys of the Soul", which were staged by the director.
“We had six joint performances, and have already begun to work on the seventh. But an illness happened, and he burned out in four to five months,” the actress said.
People's Artist of the USSR Elina Bystritskaya called Bourdonsky a man of unique talent and iron will.
"This is a wonderful teacher, with whom I happened to teach for ten years at GITIS, and a very talented director. His departure is a great loss for the theater," she said.
"Knight of the Theater"
Theater and film actress Anastasia Busygina called Alexander Burdonsky "a real knight of the theater."
“With him, we had a real theatrical life in its best manifestations,” the 360 TV channel quotes Busygina as saying.
According to her, Bourdonsky was not only a great person, but also "a true servant of the theater."
Busygina first encountered Bourdonsky while staging Chekhov's The Seagull. She noted that the director was sometimes despotic in his work, but his "love united the actors into one team."
How Stalin's grandson became a director
Alexander Burdonsky was born on October 14, 1941 in Kuibyshev. His father was Vasily Stalin, and his mother was Galina Burdonskaya.
The family of the leader's son broke up in 1944, but Bourdonsky's parents did not file a divorce. In addition to the future director, they had a common daughter, Nadezhda Stalina.
From birth, Burdonsky bore the surname Stalin, but in 1954, after the death of his grandfather, he took his mother's, which he retained until the end of his life.
In one of the interviews, he admitted that he saw Joseph Stalin only from afar - on the podium, and only once with his own eyes - at the funeral in March 1953.
Alexander Burdonsky graduated from the Kalinin Suvorov School, after which he entered the directing department of GITIS. In addition, he studied at the acting course of the studio at the Sovremennik Theater with Oleg Efremov.
In 1971, the director was invited to the Central Theater of the Soviet Army, where he directed the play "The One Who Gets a Slap in the Face." After success, he was offered to stay in the theater.
During his work, Alexander Burdonsky staged the performances of The Lady of the Camellias by Alexander Dumas son, The Snows Have Fallen by Rodion Fedenev, The Garden by Vladimir Arro, Orpheus Descends to Hell by Tennessee Williams, Vassa Zheleznova by Maxim Gorky on the stage of the Theater of the Russian Army , "Your Sister and Captive" by Lyudmila Razumovskaya, "The Mandate" by Nikolai Erdman, "The Last Passionately Lover" by Neil Simon, "Britanic" by Jean Racine, "Trees Die Standing" and "The One Who Is Not Waited For..." Alejandro Casona, "Harp of Greeting " Mikhail Bogomolny, "Invitation to the Castle" by Jean Anouilh, "Duel of the Queen" by John Marrell, "Silver Bells" by Henrik Ibsen and many others.
In addition, the director directed several performances in Japan. Residents of the Land of the Rising Sun were able to see "The Seagull" by Anton Chekhov, "Vassa Zheleznova" by Maxim Gorky and "Orpheus Descending to Hell" by Tennessee Williams.
In 1985, Burdonsky received the title of Honored Artist of the RSFSR, and in 1996 - People's Artist of Russia.
The director also actively participated in the theatrical life of the country. In 2012, he took part in a rally against the closure of the Moscow Gogol Drama Theater, which was reformatted into the Gogol Center.
45 years ago - March 19, 1962 - the youngest son of the "father of peoples" Vasily Stalin died
Alexander Burdonsky met his grandfather the only time - at the funeral. And before that, I saw him, like other pioneers, only at demonstrations: on Victory Day and on the October anniversary.
"THE STEPMOM TREATED US TERRIBLY. FORGET TO FEED FOR THREE-FOUR DAYS, SISTER'S KIDNEYS WERE REMOVED"
- Is it true that your father - "a man of crazy courage" - beat off your mother from the famous hockey player Vladimir Menshikov in the past?
Yes, they were 19 at the time. When my father looked after my mother, he was - like Paratov from "Dowry". What were his flights on a small plane over the Kirovskaya metro station, near which she lived ... He knew how to show off! In 1940, the parents got married.
My mother was cheerful, loved the color red. She even made a red wedding dress. It turned out to be a bad omen...
In the book "Around Stalin" it is written that your grandfather did not come to this wedding. In a letter to his son, he sharply wrote: "Married - to hell with you. I pity her that she married such a fool." But after all, your parents looked like an ideal couple, even outwardly they were so similar that they were mistaken for brother and sister ...
It seems to me that my mother loved him until the end of her days, but they had to leave ... She was just a rare person - she could not pretend to be someone and never dissembled (maybe this was her misfortune) ...
According to the official version, Galina Alexandrovna left, unable to stand the constant drinking, assault and betrayal. For example, the fleeting connection between Vasily Stalin and the wife of the famous cameraman Roman Karmen Nina ...
Among other things, my mother did not know how to make friends in this circle. Head of security Nikolai Vlasik (who raised Vasily after the death of his mother in 1932.- Aut. ), an eternal intriguer, tried to use it: "Tick, you have to tell me what Vasya's friends are talking about." His mother is a mother! He hissed, "You'll pay for this."
Quite possibly, the divorce from his father was the price. In order for the leader's son to take a wife from his circle, Vlasik twisted an intrigue and slipped him Katya Timoshenko, the daughter of Marshal Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko.
Is it true that the stepmother, who grew up in an orphanage after her mother ran away from her husband, offended you, almost starved you?
Ekaterina Semyonovna was a domineering and cruel woman. We, other people's children, apparently annoyed her. Perhaps that period of life was the most difficult. We lacked not only warmth, but also elementary care. They forgot to feed us for three or four days, some were locked in a room. Our stepmother treated us terribly. She beat her sister Nadia in the most cruel way - her kidneys were beaten off.
Before leaving for Germany, our family lived in the country in the winter. I remember how we, small children, crept into the cellar at night in the dark, stuffed beets and carrots into our pants, brushed unwashed vegetables with our teeth and gnawed them. Just a scene from a horror movie. The cook Isaevna got a great deal when she brought us something ....
Catherine's life with her father is full of scandals. I don't think he loved her. Most likely, there were no special feelings on both sides. Very prudent, she, like everything else in her life, simply calculated this marriage. You need to know what she was up to. If well-being, then the goal can be said to have been achieved. Catherine brought a huge amount of junk from Germany. All this was stored in a shed at our dacha, where Nadya and I were starving... And when my father sent my stepmother out in 1949, it took her several cars to take out the trophy goods. Nadia and I heard a noise in the yard and rushed to the window. We see: "Studebakers" are walking in a chain "...
From the dossier of Gordon Boulevard.
Ekaterina Timoshenko lived with Vasily Stalin in a legal marriage, although his divorce from Galina Burdonskaya was not formalized. And this family fell apart because of the betrayals and drinking bouts of Vasily. Drunk, he rushed to fight. The first time Catherine left her husband because of his new novel. And when Vasily Stalin, who commanded the Air Force of the Moscow District, had a bad air parade, his father removed him from his post and forced him to get along with his wife. At least, at the mourning events in connection with the death of the leader, Vasily and Catherine were nearby.
They had two joint children - in the 47th daughter Svetlana appeared, in the 49th - the son Vasily. Svetlana Vasilievna, who was born sickly, died at 43; Vasily Vasilyevich - he studied at the Tbilisi University at the Faculty of Law - became a drug addict and died at the age of 21 from a heroin overdose.
Ekaterina Timoshenko died in 1988. She is buried in the same grave with her son at the Novodevichy cemetery.
"FATHER WAS A DESPERATE PILOT, PARTICIPATED IN THE BATTLE OF STALINGRAD AND IN THE CAPTURE OF BERLIN
- If I'm not mistaken, Kapitolina Vasilyeva, the champion of the USSR in swimming, became your second stepmother.
Yes. I remember Kapitolina Georgievna with gratitude - she was the only one at that time who humanly tried to help her father.
He wrote to her from prison: "I have become very strong. Yes, this is not accidental, because all my best days - family days - were with you, Vasilyevs" ...
By nature, my father was a kind person. He loved to make at home, locksmith. Those who knew him closely spoke of him - "golden hands". He was an excellent pilot, brave, desperate. Participated in the Battle of Stalingrad and in the capture of Berlin.
Although I love my father less than my mother: I can’t forgive him that he took my sister and me to him and we lived with our stepmothers. Dad had the surname Stalin, I changed it. By the way, everyone is interested in whether he left me a legacy of a tendency to alcoholism. But you see, I haven't drunk myself and I'm sitting in front of you...
I read that Vasily Stalin came from Lefortovo not to Kapitolina Vasilyeva, but to your mother. But she did not accept it - she already had her own life.
Mom said: "It's better to be with a tiger in a cage than to be with your father for at least a day, at least an hour." This is with all the sympathy for him ... She remembered how, separated from us, she rushed about in search of a way out and ran into a wall. I tried to get a job, but as soon as the personnel department saw a passport with a stamp on the registration of marriage with Vasily Stalin, they refused under any pretext. After Stalin's death, my mother sent a letter to Beria with a request to return the children. Thank God, it did not have time to find the addressee - Beria was arrested. Otherwise it could end badly. She wrote to Voroshilov, and only after that we were returned.
Then we settled together - my mother and I, sister Nadezhda already had her own family (For 15 years, Nadezhda Burdonskaya lived with Alexander Fadeev Jr., the son of actress Angelina Stepanova and the adopted son of a Soviet classic writer. Fadeev Jr., who suffered from alcoholism and tried to kill himself several times, was married to Lyudmila Gurchenko before Nadezhda.- Aut. ).
Sometimes people ask me: why do I like to stage performances about difficult women's lives? Because of mom...
Last May, you premiered The Queen's Duel with Death, your interpretation of John Marrell's play Laughter of the Lobster, dedicated to the great actress Sarah Bernhardt...
This play has been with me for a long time. More than 20 years ago, Elina Bystritskaya brought it to me: she really wanted to play Sarah Bernhardt. I had already decided to stage a performance with her and Vladimir Zeldin on our stage, but the theater did not want Bystritskaya's "tour" and the play left my hands.
Sarah Bernard lived a long life. Balzac and Zola admired her, Rostand and Wilde wrote plays for her. Jean Cocteau said that she does not need a theater, she can arrange a theater anywhere ... As a person of the theater, I cannot help but worry about the most legendary actress in the history of the world theater, which had no equal. But, of course, her human phenomenon was also a concern. At the end of her life, already with an amputated leg, she played the scene of the death of Marguerite Gauthier without getting out of bed. I was shocked by this thirst for life, this indefatigable love of life.
From the dossier of Gordon Boulevard.
Galina Burdonskaya, who drank heavily, was diagnosed with "smoker's vessels" in 1977 and her leg was amputated. She lived as an invalid for another 13 years and died in the corridor of the Sklifosovsky hospital in 1990.
"WE DID NOT HAVE A CLEAR ANSWER ABOUT THE CAUSES OF FATHER'S DEATH (AT 41!)"
- Stalin's adopted son Artem Sergeev recalled that when he saw your father pour himself another portion of alcohol, he told him: "Vasya, that's enough." He answered: “I have only two options: a bullet or a glass. After all, I am alive while my father is alive. And as soon as he closes his eyes, Beria will tear me to pieces the next day, and Khrushchev and Malenkov will help him, and Bulganin will go there They won't tolerate such a witness. Do you know what it's like to live under an ax? So I'm getting away from these thoughts "...
I visited my father both in the Vladimir prison and in Lefortovo. I saw a man driven into a corner who could not stand up for himself and justify himself. And his conversation was mainly, of course, about how to get out. He understood that neither I nor my sister (she died eight years ago) could help with this. He was tormented by a sense of injustice done to him.
From the dossier of "Gordon Boulevard" .
Vasily has loved animals since childhood. He brought a wounded horse from Germany and left, kept stray dogs. He had a hamster, a rabbit. Once at the dacha, Artem Sergeev saw how he was sitting next to a formidable dog, stroking him, kissing him on the nose, giving food from his plate: "This one will not deceive, will not change"...
On July 27, 1952, a parade was held in Tushino dedicated to the Day of the Air Force. Contrary to the prevailing myth that the plane crashed because of Vasily, he coped with the organization brilliantly. After watching the parade, the Politburo in full force went to Kuntsevo, to the dacha of Joseph Stalin. The leader ordered that his son be at the banquet ... Vasily was found drunk in Zubalovo. Kapitolina Vasilyeva recalls: “Vasya went to his father. He went in, and there the entire Politburo was sitting at the table. I'm not drunk." Stalin frowned: "No, you're drunk!" After that, Vasily was removed from his post ... ".
At the coffin, he wept bitterly and stubbornly repeated that his father had been poisoned. He was not in himself, he felt the approach of trouble. The patience of "Uncle Lavrenty", "Uncle Yegor" (Malenkov) and "Uncle Nikita", and they knew Vasily from childhood, burst very quickly. 53 days after his father's death, on April 27, 1953, Vasily Stalin was arrested.
The writer Voitekhov wrote in his testimony: “In the winter at the end of 1949, when I arrived at the apartment of my ex-wife, actress Lyudmila Tselikovskaya, I found her torn to pieces. She said that Vasily Stalin had just been visiting her and was trying to force her to cohabitation. I went to his apartment, where he drank in the company of pilots. Vasily knelt down, called himself a scoundrel and a scoundrel and declared that he cohabited with my wife. In 1951, I had financial difficulties, and he got me a job at the headquarters I didn’t do any work, but I received a salary as an Air Force athlete.”
The documents indicated that it was not Vasily Iosifovich Stalin who was taken to prison, but Vasily Pavlovich Vasiliev (the son of the leader should not be in prison).
In 1958, when Vasily Stalin's health deteriorated sharply, as reported by the KGB chief Shelepin, the leader's son was again transferred to the capital's Lefortovo isolation ward, and once they were taken to Khrushchev for a few minutes. Shelepin recalled how then Vasily in the office of Nikita Sergeevich fell to his knees and began to beg to release him. Khrushchev was very touched, called "dear Vasenka", asked: "What did they do to you?" He shed a tear, and then kept Vasily in Lefortovo for another year ...
They say that a taxi driver who heard a message on Voice of America told you about the death of Vasily Iosifovich ...
Then the third wife of Kapitolin Vasiliev's father, my sister Nadya and I flew to Kazan. We saw him already under the sheet - dead. Kapitolina lifted the sheet - I remember perfectly well that he had stitches. Probably opened it up. Although a clear answer about the causes of his death - at 41! Nobody gave us...
But Vasilyeva writes that she did not see the seams from the autopsy, that the coffin stood on two stools. Without flowers, in a shabby room. And that her ex-husband was buried as a homeless person, there were few people. According to other sources, several monuments even fell into the cemetery due to the crowds of people...
People walked for a long time. Several people, passing by, parted the sides of the coat, under which there were military uniforms and orders. Apparently, the pilots arranged a farewell in this way - it was impossible otherwise.
I remember that my sister, who was then, in my opinion, 17 years old, came from this funeral completely gray-haired. It was a shock...
From the dossier of Gordon Boulevard.
Kapitolina Vasilyeva recalls: “I planned to come to Kazan for Vasily’s birthday. I thought I would stay at a hotel, bring something delicious. And suddenly a call: come to bury Vasily Iosifovich Stalin ...
Came with Sasha and Nadia. Nuzberg asked what he died from. He says, they say, the Georgians arrived, they brought a barrel of wine. It was, they say, bad - they gave an injection, then a second one. It twisted, twisted ... But this happens when blood coagulates. Toxicosis is not corrected with injections, but the stomach is washed. The man lay and suffered for 12 hours - they did not even call an ambulance. I ask why is that? Nuzberg says that the doctor herself gave him an injection.
I furtively scanned the kitchen, looked under the tables, in the trash can - I did not find any ampoule. She asked if there was an autopsy and what it showed. Yes, he says it was. Poisoned with wine. Then I told Sasha to hold the door - I decided to check for myself whether there was an autopsy. I went to the coffin. Vasily was in a tunic, swollen. I began to unbutton the buttons, and my hands were shaking ...
There are no signs of opening. Suddenly the door swung open, and two thugs burst in, who followed me on my heels as soon as we arrived in Kazan. Sasha was thrown away, Nadya was nearly knocked off her feet, and I flew off... And the KGB yelled: "You're not allowed! You have no right!"
Five years ago, the ashes of Vasily Stalin were reburied in Moscow, which you almost read about in the newspapers. But why at the Troekurovsky cemetery, if his mother, grandparents, aunt and uncle are buried at Novodevichy? So did your half-sister Tatyana, who had been striving for this for 40 years, decided to write to the Kremlin?
Let me remind you that Tatyana Dzhugashvili has nothing to do with the youngest son of Joseph Stalin. This is the daughter of Maria Nuzberg, who took the name Dzhugashvili.
The reburial was arranged in order to somehow join this family - a kind of piracy, characteristic of our time.
"WHAT COULD I THANK GRANDFATHER FOR? FOR MY MAJOR CHILDHOOD?"
- You and your cousin Yevgeny Dzhugashvili are fantastically different people. You speak in a low voice and love poetry, he is a loud-voiced military man, regretting the good old days and wondering why "the ashes of this Klaas do not knock" in your heart ...
I don't like fanatics, and Yevgeny is a fanatic who lives in the name of Stalin. I cannot see how someone adores the leader and denies the crimes he committed.
A year ago, another of your relatives along the line of Yevgeny - 33-year-old artist Yakov Dzhugashvili - turned to Russian President Vladimir Putin with a request to investigate the circumstances of the death of his great-grandfather Joseph Stalin. Your cousin-nephew claims in his letter that Stalin died a violent death and this "made possible the coming to power of Khrushchev, who imagines himself a statesman, whose so-called activities turned out to be nothing more than a betrayal of state interests." Being sure that a coup d'etat took place in March 1953, Yakov Dzhugashvili asks Vladimir Putin "to determine the degree of responsibility of all persons involved in the coup."
I don't support this idea. It seems to me that such things can only be done because there is nothing to do ... What happened, happened. People have already passed away, why stir up the past?
According to legend, Stalin refused to exchange his eldest son Yakov for Field Marshal Paulus, saying: "I do not exchange a soldier for a field marshal." Relatively recently, the Pentagon handed over to Stalin's granddaughter - Galina Yakovlevna Dzhugashvili - materials about the death of her father in Nazi captivity ...
It's never too late to take a noble step. I would be lying if I said that I shuddered or my soul ached when these documents were handed over. All this is a matter of the distant past. And it is primarily important for Yasha's daughter Galina, because she lives in the memory of her father, who loved her very much.
It is important to put an end to it, because the more time passes after all the events related to the Stalin family, the more difficult it is to reach the truth ...
Is it true that Stalin was the son of Nikolai Przhevalsky? The well-known traveler allegedly stayed in Gori in the house where Dzhugashvili's mother, Ekaterina Geladze, worked as a maid. These rumors were fueled by the amazing external resemblance of Przhevalsky and Stalin ...
I don't think so. Rather, it's something else. Stalin was fond of the teachings of the religious mystic Gurdjieff, and it suggests that a person should hide his real origin and even envelop the date of his birth with a certain veil. The legend of Przhevalsky, of course, poured water on this mill. And what is similar in appearance, so please, there are still rumors that Saddam Hussein was the son of Stalin ...
Alexander Vasilievich, have you ever heard suggestions that you inherited your talent as a director from your grandfather?
Yes, I was sometimes told: "It is clear why Bourdon director. After all, Stalin was also a director" ... Grandfather was a tyrant. Let someone really want to attach angel wings to him - they won’t stay on him ... When Stalin died, I was terribly ashamed that everyone around was crying, but I wasn’t. I sat near the coffin and saw crowds of sobbing people. I was rather frightened by it, even shocked. What good could I have for him? Thank you for what? For the crippled childhood I had? I don’t wish this on anyone .... Being Stalin’s grandson is a heavy cross. Never for any money will I go to play Stalin in the cinema, although they promised huge profits.
What do you think about Radzinsky's sensational book "Stalin"?
Radzinsky, apparently, wanted in me as a director to find some other key to the character of Stalin. He allegedly came to listen to me, but he himself spoke for four hours. I enjoyed sitting and listening to his monologue. But he did not understand the true Stalin, it seems to me ....
The artistic director of the Taganka Theater Yuri Lyubimov said that Iosif Vissarionovich ate and then wiped his hands on a starched tablecloth - he is a dictator, why should he be embarrassed? But your grandmother Nadezhda Alliluyeva, they say, was a very well-mannered and modest woman ...
Once, in the 1950s, my grandmother's sister, Anna Sergeevna Alliluyeva, gave us a chest containing Nadezhda Sergeevna's belongings. I was struck by the modesty of her dresses. An old jacket darned under the arm, a worn skirt of dark wool, and patched on the inside. And it was worn by a young woman who was said to love beautiful clothes...
P.S. In addition to Alexander Burdonsky, there are six more grandchildren of Stalin on another line. Three children of Yakov Dzhugashvili and three - Lana Peters, as Svetlana Alliluyeva renamed herself, having left for the USA.
For the majority, Alexander Vasilyevich was, first of all, the grandson of Stalin. And, it should be noted, he bore the burden of his kinship with great dignity. Parents are not chosen. Although the status of the grandson of the generalissimo did not bring him any benefits.
We met about three years ago when I was working on a book about Stalin's women. I decided that without meeting with the grandson of my protagonist I would not be able to hand over the manuscript, it would be both dishonest and unprofessional.
Burdonsky did not immediately agree to the meeting. But in the end, everything worked out, since we had several mutual friends who put in a good word for me.
We talked in the rehearsal room of the Army Theater, this place was chosen by Alexander Vasilyevich himself. When I arrived, Bourdonsky himself was not there, the actress Lyudmila Chursina was in the hall. For some reason, I remember that she had a box of fried potatoes in her hands, and one of the first beauties of our cinema noticed with a smile that she chose such a strange lunch for herself, but sometimes she allows herself similar, albeit not at all useful for the figure, delicacies .
And then Burdonsky entered the hall, they kissed Chursina, said goodbye, and we were left alone.
Archive of Igor Obolensky
At first, the conversation somehow did not stick. I think my interlocutor was expecting the usual questions about his grandfather, to which he had already answered hundreds, if not more, times. And therefore, in order to somehow arrange it, I began to tell myself - about Georgia, about Tbilisi, from which I had just arrived. And gradually Bourdonsky "thawed out". And the real performance began - he began to talk.
About how the legendary Maria Knebel, who had a brother who was repressed, entered the theater and was sitting on the selection committee, she thought that she would now win back on the leader’s grandson. But then she listened to the verses performed by the applicant and she had only one desire left - to come up and pat him on the head.
About how, as a child, his father, General Vasily Stalin, did not allow him to communicate with his mother. But he disobeyed and secretly met with her near the school where he studied. As the father immediately became aware of this, he beat the boy. Years will pass, and Alexander Vasilyevich will take his mother's surname.
The fact that his sister Nadia will live under the pseudonym of her grandfather, which became her father's surname. When doctors come to Nadezhda Stalina and ask her relatives if Nadezhda Vasilievna is related to the "leader of the peoples", they will be very surprised by the answer - the dwelling of Stalin's granddaughter was too modest.
About how, having already become a director, he came on tour to Italy and was amazed to see that the hotel courtyard was filled with a crowd of strangers. When asked about the reason for such a stir, Bourdonsky received the answer: "What do you want, for them you are the grandson of Caesar."
When it was already dark outside the window and we had to turn on the light - it was the third hour of my interlocutor's actual monologue - I could not resist the delight: "How wonderful you say! This is a real performance!"
© photo: Sputnik / Galina Kmit
Alexander Vasilievich took it for granted: "Thank you, they told me." And then he told the story of his refusal of a real performance about Stalin and his family, with whom he was offered to travel across America. It was about big money, but he did not agree.
"For some reason, no one thought that after a couple of performances I could simply die of a broken heart, because every time I would have to re-experience the whole drama of my father and our family."
Bourdonsky left without leaving a book of memoirs. Although there were plenty of proposals for memoirs.
However, something more important than just a book remains - a feeling of sincere respect and gratitude for the example: you can live your life this way.
The history of the family, with which Alexander Burdonsky, of course, was inextricably linked, haunted him all his life. He staged performances, became an authority in the theater, did a lot for him, but at the same time, another part of his life developed - consisting of endless "references" to the past
PHOTO: Ruslan Shamukov/TASSBourdonsky's biography is a difficult path of struggle for the right to be himself. He was born in 1941, after graduating from the Kalinin Suvorov School and the directing department of GITIS, he also studied at the acting course at Sovremennik with Oleg Efremov. Anatoly Efros, who then worked on Malaya Bronnaya, was the first to call him to the theater. But soon he was offered to play roles in the production of the Central Theater of the Soviet Army, and everything went so well that after the premiere, Bourdonsky began to actively invite to the theater "on a permanent basis." And he agreed. This theater became his destiny.
The history of the family, with which he, naturally, was inextricably linked, haunted him all his life. He staged performances, became an authority in the theater, did a lot for him, but at the same time, almost in parallel, another part of his life developed - consisting of endless "references" to the past.
Bourdonsky was the first of the descendants of the "father of peoples" to publish the results of a study of his DNA, he never denied this relationship, but ruthlessly placed emphasis. In his life, everything was tied to the past - despite the fact that he wanted to look only into the future.
Regarding the death of his father, Vasily, in 1962, Bourdonsky was never able to form a clear picture for himself. As they say, "questions remain." This was another "stumbling block" - not in his, but in the life that was flowing nearby, there was too much confusing, complex, ambiguous. Sasha Burdonsky saw his grandfather only at his own funeral.
Let's renounce everything and just imagine: shortly after the death of his grandfather, for whom the grandson simply could not have warm feelings, Vasily was arrested for "anti-Sovietism." He was charged with guilt and malpractice, and he himself was substituted - he was caught more than once for drunk driving and so on. A liter of vodka and a liter of wine a day were "normal" for him... What was it like for Sasha to live with this? You can guess if at the age of 13 he fundamentally changed his surname to his mother's. He was quiet, taciturn, and until the last day, any "family" topics were extremely painful for him. Just think what a spiritual break this is: many relatives of his mother, Galina Burdonskaya, "burned down" in the "Stalinist" camps. How to live with it?!
Restrained, buttoned up, Bourdonsky was madly in love with his mother. And he understood and knew that until the last moment she loved his father - Vasily - despite the fact that they broke up, although without formalizing the divorce. She was a stranger to the circle to which Vasily belonged, did not tolerate his drunkenness. According to some version, their parting with Vasily was pretty much "warmed up" by the head of Stalin's guard, Nikolai Vlasik - this is only a version, but they allegedly had a conflict with Galina Burdonskaya, and then the all-powerful Vlasik literally slipped Vasily another woman - the daughter of Marshal Semyon Timoshenko.
It is difficult to say whether it was so or not, but for Sasha Bourdonsky, the appearance of a stepmother in the family turned into hell. Ekaterina Semyonovna could be wonderful, but specifically for her and her sister, who were strangers to her children, she became a fiend. It’s hard to imagine, but Stalin’s grandson and granddaughter could not be fed for several days, and her sister, as Burdonsky reluctantly told, she also beat. And then ... Then the children simply watched the terrible scenes of a showdown between father and stepmother. Burdonsky recalled that when her stepmother finally got a turn from the gate, she took out her things in several cars ... Their common children had an unfortunate fate: Svetlana died at 43, she was in poor health from birth, and Vasya died at 21 from a drug overdose - he was a complete drug addict.
But the Bourdonskys somehow survived ...
Then Sasha and Nadia had another stepmother - however, Burdonsky always remembered her, Kapitolina Vasilyeva, the champion of the USSR in swimming, with gratitude - she really took care of her father, and she was kind to her and her sister. Galina Burdonskaya was able to return the children only after a letter to Voroshilov. Then the family reunited, they lived together, only Nadia had already married the son of actress Angelina Stepanova, Alexander Fadeev Jr. At the crossroads of a fantastic number of destinies, the younger Bourdonskys built their lives, trying to jump out of the past life. But she kept trying to pull them back...
Growing up, Sasha Bourdonsky began to understand his father better. He recalled how he visited Vasily Iosifovich in prison, where he saw a restless, suffering man, literally driven into a corner. Everything was ambiguous in his life and actions, but he was a father to Sasha. And what it was like for him to experience all these vicissitudes - one can only guess. And in the end, having already become a famous director, the grown-up Sasha Bourdonsky openly expressed his attitude towards his own crippled childhood and all the events: he said that he could not see when someone adored the leader. And even more so when they try to give some kind of "justification" to the crimes committed by him. He did not sob at his grandfather's funeral, could not forgive him for his savage attitude towards people, painfully experienced the story with his father and was only happy working and in the circle of his small family.
Born in a family as close as possible to the very "tops", Alexander Vasilyevich became in many ways its hostage. And he needed great courage and strength in order to throw off these shackles invisible to the eye. Not everyone is up to something like that. But he was strong...
For the theater of the Russian Army, this is, of course, a loss. As well as for those who knew Bourdonsky and loved him, his colleagues and acquaintances.
The editors of "VM" expresses deep condolences to the relatives of Alexander Vasilyevich and his friends.
45 years ago - March 19, 1962 - the youngest son of the "father of peoples" Vasily Stalin died
Alexander Burdonsky met his grandfather the only time - at the funeral. And before that, I saw him, like other pioneers, only at demonstrations: on Victory Day and on the October anniversary.
Some historians call Vasily the leader's favorite. Others claim that Joseph Vissarionovich adored his daughter Svetlana - "Mistress Setanka", and despised Vasily. They say that Stalin always had a bottle of Georgian wine on the table and he teased his wife Nadezhda Alliluyeva, pouring a glass to a one-year-old boy. So Vasino's tragic drunkenness began from the cradle. At the age of 20, Vasily became a colonel (directly from the majors), at 24 years old - a major general, at 29 - a lieutenant general. Until 1952 he commanded the air forces of the Moscow Military District. In April 1953 - 28 days after Stalin's death - he was arrested "for anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda, as well as abuse of office." The sentence is eight years in prison. A month after his release, while driving while intoxicated, he had an accident and was deported to Kazan, where he died of alcohol poisoning. However, there were several versions of this death. Military historian Andrei Sukhomlinov in his book "Vasily Stalin - the son of the leader" writes that Vasily committed suicide. Sergo Beria in the book "My father, Lavrenty Beria" says that Stalin Jr. was killed with a knife in a drunken fight. And Vasily's sister Svetlana Alliluyeva is sure that his last wife, Maria Nuzberg, who allegedly served in the KGB, was involved in the tragedy. But there is a document confirming the fact of natural death from acute heart failure against the background of alcohol intoxication. In the last year of his life, the youngest son of the leader drank a liter of vodka and a liter of wine daily ... After the death of Vasily Iosifovich, seven children remained: four of his own and three adopted. Now, of his own children, only 65-year-old Alexander Burdonsky is alive - the son of Vasily Stalin from his first wife Galina Burdonskaya. He is a director, People's Artist of Russia - lives in Moscow and heads the Central Academic Theater of the Russian Army. Alexander Burdonsky met his grandfather the only time - at the funeral. And before that, I saw him, like other pioneers, only at demonstrations: on Victory Day and on the October anniversary. The eternally busy head of state did not express any desire to communicate with his grandson closer. And the grandson was not too eager. At the age of 13, he basically took his mother's surname (many relatives of Galina Burdonskaya died in the Stalinist camps). Having briefly returned from emigration to her homeland, Svetlana Alliluyeva was amazed: what a dizzying rise the once “quiet, timid boy who had recently lived with a heavily drinking mother and a sister who had begun to drink” made in 17 years of separation. ... ...Alexander Vasilyevich speaks sparingly, practically does not give interviews on family topics, hides his eyes behind glasses with dark glasses.
"THE STEPMOM TREATED US TERRIBLY. FORGET TO FEED FOR THREE-FOUR DAYS, SISTER'S KIDNEYS WERE REMOVED"
- Is it true that your father - "a man of crazy courage" - beat off your mother from the famous hockey player Vladimir Menshikov in the past?
Yes, they were 19 at the time. When my father looked after my mother, he was - like Paratov from "Dowry". What were his flights on a small plane over the Kirovskaya metro station, near which she lived ... He knew how to show off! In 1940, the parents got married.
My mother was cheerful, loved the color red. She even made a red wedding dress. It turned out to be a bad omen...
In the book "Around Stalin" it is written that your grandfather did not come to this wedding. In a letter to his son, he sharply wrote: "Married - to hell with you. I pity her that she married such a fool." But after all, your parents looked like an ideal couple, even outwardly they were so similar that they were mistaken for brother and sister ...
It seems to me that my mother loved him until the end of her days, but they had to leave ... She was just a rare person - she could not pretend to be someone and never dissembled (maybe this was her misfortune) ...
According to the official version, Galina Alexandrovna left, unable to stand the constant drinking, assault and betrayal. For example, the fleeting connection between Vasily Stalin and the wife of the famous cameraman Roman Karmen Nina ...
Among other things, my mother did not know how to make friends in this circle. Head of security Nikolai Vlasik (who raised Vasily after the death of his mother in 1932. - Auth.), an eternal intriguer, tried to use it: "Tick, you have to tell me what Vasya's friends are talking about." His mother is a mother! He hissed, "You'll pay for this."
Quite possibly, the divorce from his father was the price. In order for the leader's son to take a wife from his circle, Vlasik twisted an intrigue and slipped him Katya Timoshenko, the daughter of Marshal Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko.
Is it true that the stepmother, who grew up in an orphanage after her mother ran away from her husband, offended you, almost starved you?
Ekaterina Semyonovna was a domineering and cruel woman. We, other people's children, apparently annoyed her. Perhaps that period of life was the most difficult. We lacked not only warmth, but also elementary care. They forgot to feed us for three or four days, some were locked in a room. Our stepmother treated us terribly. She beat her sister Nadia in the most cruel way - her kidneys were beaten off.
Before leaving for Germany, our family lived in the country in the winter. I remember how we, small children, crept into the cellar at night in the dark, stuffed beets and carrots into our pants, brushed unwashed vegetables with our teeth and gnawed them. Just a scene from a horror movie. The cook Isaevna got a great deal when she brought us something ....
Catherine's life with her father is full of scandals. I don't think he loved her. Most likely, there were no special feelings on both sides. Very prudent, she, like everything else in her life, simply calculated this marriage. You need to know what she was up to. If well-being, then the goal can be said to have been achieved. Catherine brought a huge amount of junk from Germany. All this was stored in a shed at our dacha, where Nadya and I were starving... And when my father sent my stepmother out in 1949, it took her several cars to take out the trophy goods. Nadia and I heard a noise in the yard and rushed to the window. We see: "Studebakers" are walking in a chain "...
From the dossier of Gordon Boulevard.
Ekaterina Timoshenko lived with Vasily Stalin in a legal marriage, although his divorce from Galina Burdonskaya was not formalized. And this family fell apart because of the betrayals and drinking bouts of Vasily. Drunk, he rushed to fight. The first time Catherine left her husband because of his new novel. And when Vasily Stalin, who commanded the Air Force of the Moscow District, had a bad air parade, his father removed him from his post and forced him to get along with his wife. At least, at the mourning events in connection with the death of the leader, Vasily and Catherine were nearby.
They had two joint children - in the 47th daughter Svetlana appeared, in the 49th - the son Vasily. Svetlana Vasilievna, who was born sickly, died at 43; Vasily Vasilyevich - he studied at the Tbilisi University at the Faculty of Law - became a drug addict and died at the age of 21 from a heroin overdose.
Ekaterina Timoshenko died in 1988. She is buried in the same grave with her son at the Novodevichy cemetery.
"FATHER WAS A DESPERATE PILOT, PARTICIPATED IN THE BATTLE OF STALINGRAD AND IN THE CAPTURE OF BERLIN
- If I'm not mistaken, Kapitolina Vasilyeva, the champion of the USSR in swimming, became your second stepmother.
Yes. I remember Kapitolina Georgievna with gratitude - she was the only one at that time who humanly tried to help her father.
He wrote to her from prison: "I have become very strong. Yes, this is not accidental, because all my best days - family days - were with you, Vasilyevs" ...
By nature, my father was a kind person. He loved to make at home, locksmith. Those who knew him closely spoke of him - "golden hands". He was an excellent pilot, brave, desperate. Participated in the Battle of Stalingrad and in the capture of Berlin.
Although I love my father less than my mother: I can’t forgive him that he took my sister and me to him and we lived with our stepmothers. Dad had the surname Stalin, I changed it. By the way, everyone is interested in whether he left me a legacy of a tendency to alcoholism. But you see, I haven't drunk myself and I'm sitting in front of you...
I read that Vasily Stalin came from Lefortovo not to Kapitolina Vasilyeva, but to your mother. But she did not accept it - she already had her own life.
Mom said: "It's better to be with a tiger in a cage than to be with your father for at least a day, at least an hour." This is with all the sympathy for him ... She remembered how, separated from us, she rushed about in search of a way out and ran into a wall. I tried to get a job, but as soon as the personnel department saw a passport with a stamp on the registration of marriage with Vasily Stalin, they refused under any pretext. After Stalin's death, my mother sent a letter to Beria with a request to return the children. Thank God, it did not have time to find the addressee - Beria was arrested. Otherwise it could end badly. She wrote to Voroshilov, and only after that we were returned.
Then we settled together - my mother and I, sister Nadezhda already had her own family ( For 15 years, Nadezhda Burdonskaya lived with Alexander Fadeev Jr., the son of actress Angelina Stepanova and the adopted son of a Soviet classic writer. Fadeev Jr., who suffered from alcoholism and tried to kill himself several times, was married to Lyudmila Gurchenko before Nadezhda. -Auth.).
Sometimes people ask me: why do I like to stage performances about difficult women's lives? Because of mom...
Last May, you premiered The Queen's Duel with Death, your interpretation of John Marrell's play Laughter of the Lobster, dedicated to the great actress Sarah Bernhardt...
This play has been with me for a long time. More than 20 years ago, Elina Bystritskaya brought it to me: she really wanted to play Sarah Bernhardt. I had already decided to stage a performance with her and Vladimir Zeldin on our stage, but the theater did not want Bystritskaya's "tour" and the play left my hands.
Sarah Bernard lived a long life. Balzac and Zola admired her, Rostand and Wilde wrote plays for her. Jean Cocteau said that she does not need a theater, she can arrange a theater anywhere ... As a person of the theater, I cannot help but worry about the most legendary actress in the history of the world theater, which had no equal. But, of course, her human phenomenon was also a concern. At the end of her life, already with an amputated leg, she played the scene of the death of Marguerite Gauthier without getting out of bed. I was shocked by this thirst for life, this indefatigable love of life.
From the dossier of Gordon Boulevard.
Galina Burdonskaya, who drank heavily, was diagnosed with "smoker's vessels" in 1977 and her leg was amputated. She lived as an invalid for another 13 years and died in the corridor of the Sklifosovsky hospital in 1990.
"WE DID NOT HAVE A CLEAR ANSWER ABOUT THE CAUSES OF FATHER'S DEATH (AT 41!)"
- Stalin's adopted son Artem Sergeev recalled that when he saw your father pour himself another portion of alcohol, he told him: "Vasya, that's enough." He answered: “I have only two options: a bullet or a glass. After all, I am alive while my father is alive. And as soon as he closes his eyes, Beria will tear me to pieces the next day, and Khrushchev and Malenkov will help him, and Bulganin will go there They won't tolerate such a witness. Do you know what it's like to live under an ax? So I'm getting away from these thoughts "...
I visited my father both in the Vladimir prison and in Lefortovo. I saw a man driven into a corner who could not stand up for himself and justify himself. And his conversation was mainly, of course, about how to get out. He understood that neither I nor my sister (she died eight years ago) could help with this. He was tormented by a sense of injustice done to him.
From the dossier of "Gordon Boulevard" .
Vasily has loved animals since childhood. He brought a wounded horse from Germany and left, kept stray dogs. He had a hamster, a rabbit. Once at the dacha, Artem Sergeev saw how he was sitting next to a formidable dog, stroking him, kissing him on the nose, giving food from his plate: "This one will not deceive, will not change"...
On July 27, 1952, a parade was held in Tushino dedicated to the Day of the Air Force. Contrary to the prevailing myth that the plane crashed because of Vasily, he coped with the organization brilliantly. After watching the parade, the Politburo in full force went to Kuntsevo, to the dacha of Joseph Stalin. The leader ordered that his son be at the banquet ... Vasily was found drunk in Zubalovo. Kapitolina Vasilyeva recalls: “Vasya went to his father. He went in, and there the entire Politburo was sitting at the table. I'm not drunk." Stalin frowned: "No, you're drunk!" After that, Vasily was removed from his post ... ".
At the coffin, he wept bitterly and stubbornly repeated that his father had been poisoned. He was not in himself, he felt the approach of trouble. The patience of "Uncle Lavrenty", "Uncle Yegor" (Malenkov) and "Uncle Nikita", and they knew Vasily from childhood, burst very quickly. 53 days after his father's death, on April 27, 1953, Vasily Stalin was arrested.
The writer Voitekhov wrote in his testimony: “In the winter at the end of 1949, when I arrived at the apartment of my ex-wife, actress Lyudmila Tselikovskaya, I found her torn to pieces. She said that Vasily Stalin had just been visiting her and was trying to force her to cohabitation. I went to his apartment, where he drank in the company of pilots. Vasily knelt down, called himself a scoundrel and a scoundrel and declared that he cohabited with my wife. In 1951, I had financial difficulties, and he got me a job at the headquarters I didn’t do any work, but I received a salary as an Air Force athlete.”
The documents indicated that it was not Vasily Iosifovich Stalin who was taken to prison, but Vasily Pavlovich Vasiliev (the son of the leader should not be in prison).
In 1958, when Vasily Stalin's health deteriorated sharply, as reported by the KGB chief Shelepin, the leader's son was again transferred to the capital's Lefortovo isolation ward, and once they were taken to Khrushchev for a few minutes. Shelepin recalled how then Vasily in the office of Nikita Sergeevich fell to his knees and began to beg to release him. Khrushchev was very touched, called "dear Vasenka", asked: "What did they do to you?" He shed a tear, and then kept Vasily in Lefortovo for another year ...
- They say that a taxi driver who heard a message on Voice of America told you about the death of Vasily Iosifovich ...
Then the third wife of Kapitolin Vasiliev's father, my sister Nadya and I flew to Kazan. We saw him already under the sheet - dead. Kapitolina lifted the sheet - I remember perfectly well that he had stitches. Probably opened it up. Although a clear answer about the causes of his death - at 41! Nobody gave us...
But Vasilyeva writes that she did not see the seams from the autopsy, that the coffin stood on two stools. Without flowers, in a shabby room. And that her ex-husband was buried as a homeless person, there were few people. According to other sources, several monuments even fell into the cemetery due to the crowds of people...
People walked for a long time. Several people, passing by, parted the sides of the coat, under which there were military uniforms and orders. Apparently, the pilots arranged a farewell in this way - it was impossible otherwise.
I remember that my sister, who was then, in my opinion, 17 years old, came from this funeral completely gray-haired. It was a shock...
From the dossier of Gordon Boulevard.
Kapitolina Vasilyeva recalls: “I planned to come to Kazan for Vasily’s birthday. I thought I would stay at a hotel, bring something delicious. And suddenly a call: come to bury Vasily Iosifovich Stalin ...
Came with Sasha and Nadia. Nuzberg asked what he died from. He says, they say, the Georgians arrived, they brought a barrel of wine. It was, they say, bad - they gave an injection, then a second one. It twisted, twisted ... But this happens when blood coagulates. Toxicosis is not corrected with injections, but the stomach is washed. The man lay and suffered for 12 hours - they did not even call an ambulance. I ask why is that? Nuzberg says that the doctor herself gave him an injection.
I furtively scanned the kitchen, looked under the tables, in the trash can - I did not find any ampoule. She asked if there was an autopsy and what it showed. Yes, he says it was. Poisoned with wine. Then I told Sasha to hold the door - I decided to check for myself whether there was an autopsy. I went to the coffin. Vasily was in a tunic, swollen. I began to unbutton the buttons, and my hands were shaking ...
There are no signs of opening. Suddenly the door swung open, and two thugs burst in, who followed me on my heels as soon as we arrived in Kazan. Sasha was thrown away, Nadya was nearly knocked off her feet, and I flew off... And the KGB yelled: "You're not allowed! You have no right!"
Five years ago, the ashes of Vasily Stalin were reburied in Moscow, which you almost read about in the newspapers. But why at the Troekurovsky cemetery, if his mother, grandparents, aunt and uncle are buried at Novodevichy? So did your half-sister Tatyana, who had been striving for this for 40 years, decided to write to the Kremlin?
Let me remind you that Tatyana Dzhugashvili has nothing to do with the youngest son of Joseph Stalin. This is the daughter of Maria Nuzberg, who took the name Dzhugashvili.
The reburial was arranged in order to somehow join this family - a kind of piracy, characteristic of our time.
"WHAT COULD I THANK GRANDFATHER FOR? FOR MY MAJOR CHILDHOOD?"
- You and your cousin Yevgeny Dzhugashvili are fantastically different people. You speak in a low voice and love poetry, he is a loud-voiced military man, regretting the good old days and wondering why "the ashes of this Klaas do not knock" in your heart ...
I don't like fanatics, and Yevgeny is a fanatic who lives in the name of Stalin. I cannot see how someone adores the leader and denies the crimes he committed.
A year ago, another of your relatives along the line of Yevgeny - 33-year-old artist Yakov Dzhugashvili - turned to Russian President Vladimir Putin with a request to investigate the circumstances of the death of his great-grandfather Joseph Stalin. Your cousin-nephew claims in his letter that Stalin died a violent death and this "made possible the coming to power of Khrushchev, who imagines himself a statesman, whose so-called activities turned out to be nothing more than a betrayal of state interests." Being sure that a coup d'etat took place in March 1953, Yakov Dzhugashvili asks Vladimir Putin "to determine the degree of responsibility of all persons involved in the coup."
I don't support this idea. It seems to me that such things can only be done because there is nothing to do ... What happened, happened. People have already passed away, why stir up the past?
According to legend, Stalin refused to exchange his eldest son Yakov for Field Marshal Paulus, saying: "I do not exchange a soldier for a field marshal." Relatively recently, the Pentagon handed over to Stalin's granddaughter - Galina Yakovlevna Dzhugashvili - materials about the death of her father in Nazi captivity ...
It's never too late to take a noble step. I would be lying if I said that I shuddered or my soul ached when these documents were handed over. All this is a matter of the distant past. And it is primarily important for Yasha's daughter Galina, because she lives in the memory of her father, who loved her very much.
It is important to put an end to it, because the more time passes after all the events related to the Stalin family, the more difficult it is to reach the truth ...
Is it true that Stalin was the son of Nikolai Przhevalsky? The well-known traveler allegedly stayed in Gori in the house where Dzhugashvili's mother, Ekaterina Geladze, worked as a maid. These rumors were fueled by the amazing external resemblance of Przhevalsky and Stalin ...
I don't think so. Rather, it's something else. Stalin was fond of the teachings of the religious mystic Gurdjieff, and it suggests that a person should hide his real origin and even envelop the date of his birth with a certain veil. The legend of Przhevalsky, of course, poured water on this mill. And what is similar in appearance, so please, there are still rumors that Saddam Hussein was the son of Stalin ...
Alexander Vasilievich, have you ever heard suggestions that you inherited your talent as a director from your grandfather?
Yes, I was sometimes told: "It is clear why Bourdon director. After all, Stalin was also a director" ... Grandfather was a tyrant. Let someone really want to attach angel wings to him - they won’t stay on him ... When Stalin died, I was terribly ashamed that everyone around was crying, but I wasn’t. I sat near the coffin and saw crowds of sobbing people. I was rather frightened by it, even shocked. What good could I have for him? Thank you for what? For the crippled childhood I had? I don’t wish this on anyone .... Being Stalin’s grandson is a heavy cross. Never for any money will I go to play Stalin in the cinema, although they promised huge profits.
- And what do you think about Radzinsky's sensational book "Stalin"?
Radzinsky, apparently, wanted in me as a director to find some other key to the character of Stalin. He allegedly came to listen to me, but he himself spoke for four hours. I enjoyed sitting and listening to his monologue. But he did not understand the true Stalin, it seems to me ....
The artistic director of the Taganka Theater Yuri Lyubimov said that Iosif Vissarionovich ate and then wiped his hands on a starched tablecloth - he is a dictator, why should he be embarrassed? But your grandmother Nadezhda Alliluyeva, they say, was a very well-mannered and modest woman ...
Once, in the 1950s, my grandmother's sister, Anna Sergeevna Alliluyeva, gave us a chest containing Nadezhda Sergeevna's belongings. I was struck by the modesty of her dresses. An old jacket darned under the arm, a worn skirt of dark wool, and patched on the inside. And it was worn by a young woman who was said to love beautiful clothes...
P.S. In addition to Alexander Burdonsky, there are six more grandchildren of Stalin on another line. Three children of Yakov Dzhugashvili and three - Lana Peters, as Svetlana Alliluyeva renamed herself, having left for the USA.
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