Love at first sight and 35 years of happiness "lyrics" by Bulat Okudzhava and "physics" by Olga Artsimovich

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Undoubtedly, the lyricist in this pair was Bulat Okudzhava, and the physicist - Olga Artsimovich, and not in a figurative sense, but in the most direct sense. She grew up in a family of physicists and studied science herself. She had nothing in common with the "lyricists" and before meeting with Bulat Okudzhava, she was not only not interested in his work, but had not even heard of him. They were very different, but they had only one thing in common: the very love at first sight that united them at the moment of meeting and for the rest of their lives.

Love at first sight

At that time, in 1962, Olga Artsimovich's circle of interests did not seem to include anything except physics. The whole family, friends, acquaintances, friends were associated with science. And Olga herself lived so closed that she did not hear anything about the famous bard until the very moment when her uncle Lev Artsimovich invited Okudzhava to visit her dacha. There were many celebrities among the guests that evening, including Pyotr Kapitsa, but Bulat Okudzhava, barely appearing on the doorstep, managed to outshine them all.

It was at that moment, barely looking at Okudzhava, Olga realized: before her is a genius. For a second, she was even confused by the surging feelings. Subsequently, telling about the story of her acquaintance with Bulat Shalvovich, Olga Vladimirovna will add that the wife has no right to call her husband a genius. But at that moment, she immediately realized how great a man was so close to her. And over the past half a century since that time, she has never changed her opinion about her husband.

It is worth noting that the gaze of the beauty did not go unnoticed by Bulat Okudzhava. Of course, they met, but Olga, out of embarrassment, answered all the questions and remarks of a new acquaintance with only one word: "Yes." Surely, it looked very funny from the outside. When the next day after meeting Bulat Okudzhava asked if Olga would marry him, she again answered “yes”.

It was a wonderful time to get to know each other. Okudzhava invited Olga to go with him to Tbilisi and Yerevan, where he introduced the girl to friends and people close to him. Of course, the poet's mother did not immediately accept the new darling of her son, there was at first some jealousy in her attitude towards Olga. She was quite understandable, however, both women loved him so much that soon all misunderstandings were forgotten. In addition, in the Okudzhava family, respect for the personality of another person was highly valued. Olga Artsimovich and Bulat Okudzhava went to the registry office after their son Bulat was born.

Undeterred happiness

Of course, over time, she got acquainted with her husband's work and became not only his fan, but also the first critic. Bulat Shalvovich repeatedly asked her for advice, rightly believing that his wife gravitates towards accuracy not only in scientific research, but also in the choice of words. True, later Olga Vladimirovna herself, after the death of her husband, will more than once complain about her such arrogant criticism.

When the couple moved to Peredelkino, Olga had the opportunity to notice what an incredible capacity for work her husband has. Despite the fact that he always talked about his own laziness, in the morning the poet got up before everyone else and immediately began to do something. While Olga was still looking through her dreams, he managed to chop wood, fix the lighting in the garage, and revise the potatoes he had stored for the winter.

And then he sat down to write. True, he was so modest that even sitting at a table with paper and a pen seemed too pompous to him. By the way, he did not call himself a poet either, preferring the less pretentious word "writer". He loved to sit down with a book on his favorite sofa, bending his knees under him, and the right words were often best chosen when Bulat Shalvovich took a horizontal position.

There were guests in Peredelkino, and the poet's house was famous for its truly Caucasian hospitality. Bulat Okudzhava joyfully greeted the arrivals, immediately began to fuss, bustle with his wife over a treat. True, after only an hour, he was already beginning to get bored and wanted to take his favorite place on the couch as soon as possible, picking up a book.

The couple were happy for 35 years. The poet dedicated his poems and songs to his wife, she invariably helped him, supported and loved. When, after the death of Bulat Shalvovich, rumors began to appear about Okudzhava's numerous hobbies, his widow did not even want to delve into the details. According to Olga Vladimirovna, all his romantic adventures are divided into two types. Some were even before meeting her, and the second are the fruit of the irrepressible fantasy of girls in love with the poet. She never had a reason to doubt her husband's loyalty, otherwise she would have simply left, and Bulat Okudzhava knew this. And he was not going to lose Olga.

And death will not part

Olga Vladimirovna was a believer, but Bulat Shalvovich did not share his wife's convictions. Only a few days before his departure, when the couple were in Paris, the poet, feeling a sharp deterioration in health, asked his wife to baptize him. Olga Vladimirovna was completely at a loss, not knowing where she could quickly find a priest. Fortunately, she remembered that in a critical situation, any believer can baptize himself. At the request of her husband, she gave him the name John, and just a few minutes after his baptism, Bulat Shalvovich died.

Olga Vladimirovna Okudzhava did not even think about arranging her personal life after her husband left. She is engaged in the preservation of his legacy and believes that they will definitely meet. It is not for nothing that just a few minutes before her beloved Bulat left this world, the Lord provided the spouses with the opportunity to unite in faith.

Fate tied Bulat Okudzhava with another woman, Agnieszka Osecka. They communicated through poetic lines, asked each other questions and answered them. Bulat Okudzhava wrote about their one fate, but what actually connected the Polish poet and the Soviet bard?