Why did the wife of the storyteller Yevgeny Schwartz, with whom he survived the war, hunger and criticism of the authorities, committed suicide?

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

In his life there were many bright encounters, real adventures and trials. And there was an absolutely incredible story, which he will describe in his "Ordinary Miracle", which took Evgeny Schwartz 10 years to create. The great storyteller lived with his Katerina Ivanovna for almost 30 years, she was for him not just a wife and friend, but also a muse who made him dream and create, believe in goodness and in the all-conquering power of love.

Illumination of love

For the first time, Evgeny Schwartz married in 1920 the actress Gayane Khaladzhieva, whom he met at the theater in Rostov-on-Don, where he studied at that time at the university and worked in the "Theater workshop". Gania Schwartz looked after for a long time, and she refused him until he made a real madness for her sake.

Late in the evening at the end of November 1919, Evgeny Shvarts and Gayane Khaladzhieva walked along the Don embankment. He once again persuaded Ganya to marry him and assured him of his readiness to fulfill any desire of his beloved. When Ganya jokingly asked if he would jump to the Don for her sake, the playwright immediately flew over the parapet and jumped straight into the cold dark river.

Of course, they immediately rushed to save him, and Gayane finally agreed to become the wife of Schwartz. True, later the playwright will write in his diaries, which he kept all his life, that this marriage was unsuccessful. The actress was very talented, but the writer himself admitted: her talent was tragic, and she was constantly destroying her own destiny, both theatrical and personal. They say that in the fairy tale film "Cinderella", released in 1947, in the image of the unkind stepmother Gayane Khaladzhieva recognized herself.

Nevertheless, the couple lived together for nine years, moved to Petrograd, where they worked at first in booth theaters. But their life began to improve only after Eugene Schwartz began to write.

And in the summer of 1929, the writer met with Katya Obukh, the wife of the composer Alexander Zilbert, brother of Veniamin Kaverin, who, in fact, contributed to their acquaintance.

Shortly before that, Katya experienced the loss of her three-year-old son, after which she herself tried to die. Doctors saved the young woman, but even those close to her could not return her interest in life. Evgeny Schwartz seems to have fallen in love with her at first sight, and during this meeting he did everything to bring a smile on her face. And Katya, for the first time in a long time, laughed as she listened to the writer.

For almost a year, the lovers met in secret, writing letters to each other in separation. It was impossible not to notice the fact that Eugene Schwartz is in love. He did everything so that the spouse, who was expecting the birth of a child, did not worry, but as a result, he still left her when their daughter Natalya was not even three months old.

Katya broke up with her husband in February 1930, and Schwartz decided to leave the family only in July.

An ordinary miracle

Subsequently, Evgeny Schwartz admits that real life for him began only after meeting with Katya. Only with her did he understand what happiness, feelings, family are. His love did not wane over the years, he could not imagine life without a wife and was passionately in love with her throughout his life. The couple never parted, and even the very thought of separation terrified them.

When the war began, Evgeny Schwartz wanted to join the militia, but he was categorically refused for health reasons. And the couple refused to leave Leningrad, around which the ring had already closed. They both decided: if they are destined to die, then they will do it together. However, they did not fall into depression and despondency, despite the hunger, cold and devastation reigning around. They ran to the roof to extinguish incendiary bombs, descended into the shelter, holding hands tightly. Only in December, Evgeny Schwartz, who could barely keep his feet from hunger and weakness, agreed to go with his wife to evacuate.

The couple went through many trials together, survived the war, disfavor and criticism of the authorities. But in the life of a storyteller, Katya has always been. He did not know how to tell about his love, and later put his feelings into words, for 10 years stringing them on the thread of the narrative of his play "The Bear", which later received the name "An Ordinary Miracle".

Evgeny Schwartz simply could not write it faster, because he sat down at the typewriter only during a period of special insight, as he himself said, "when he felt like a man." And he turned out not just a play, it was a hymn of all lovers, an inspired ode to love and madness of the brave who decided to love. In the images of the Wizard and his wife, acquaintances of the writer can easily recognize the storyteller himself and his wife, with whom he was in love, like a boy, throughout his life.

Years will pass, and the anthem of lovers, as the critics called the play, will continue to delight and inspire those who love and be loved, and will not lose its relevance even after the heroes of this magical story are gone.

White cross

In recent years, Evgeny Shvarts and his Katerina Ivanovna spent most of their time in Komarovo, in a small blue house, buried in flowers in spring and summer. Here the playwright was visited by his grandchildren, Andrei and Maria, and he went with them to look at the trains. And then they all drank coffee or tea from elegant cups together.

After the playwright suffered several heart attacks, the doctors prescribed him bed rest, and now only the company of his beloved wife brought him joy. He could not write and was in a depressed mood, as if awaiting the inevitable end. He asked Katya to save him before his heart stopped forever.

Ekaterina Ivanovna did not know how to live now. She undertook to put her husband's diaries in order, and then began to prepare for publication the complete works of Yevgeny Schwartz. And she also installed a large snow-white marble cross on the grave of Yevgeny Lvovich, although at that time an anti-religious company was unfolding and the cross instead of a monument could cause disfavor of the authorities. But Ekaterina Ivanovna did not listen to exhortations: her husband was a believer, and therefore there will be a cross on his grave.

Five years after the departure of Evgeny Schwartz, his wife completed all work with the archive, and the book was already completely ready for publication. She herself was no longer held by anything in this world. And she left after the one she loved, taking a lethal dose of sleeping pills. And a white cross also appeared on her grave.

Evgeny Schwartz is a writer and playwright who gave the world many fairy tales for children and adults. Real world fame came to him after his death, and with each new decade his works are becoming more and more popular. But even during his lifetime, the writer gained fame: Despite the Junker White Guard past, there was a place for Schwartz in the literary reality of the Soviet Union.