How Soviet childhood influenced the family of the famous TV presenter Elena Hanga: Not only "About this"

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

She became popular thanks to the program "About It", after which appeared "Domino" and many other programs, during which Elena Hanga talked about the most intimate things. It seemed that she could answer almost any question about the relationship between a man and a woman, but her own family with the famous political scientist Igor Mintusov turned out to be not quite standard.

From daughter of prime minister to star presenter

The story of Elena Hanga's family is by no means ordinary, especially for the Soviet era. Her mother was born into a family of American immigrants, Oliver Golden and Bertha Bialik, who arrived in the Soviet Union to build a new life. Parents dreamed that their daughter received a decent education. Liya Oliverovna graduated from a music school and was the champion of Uzbekistan in tennis. After school, she entered Moscow State University, and in 1957 she worked at the World Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow.

There she met African students, thanks to whom her future husband, the future Prime Minister of Zanzibar Abdul Kassim Hanga, learned about her. Upon learning that his daughter was born, Mr. Hanga lost all interest in his Soviet family. He dreamed of a son and the birth of a girl completely disappointed him. And in Tanzania, he had four more wives. Elena was only seven years old when her father was arrested and killed in prison following a coup d'état.

However, Elena was quite enough with the love and care that her mother and grandmother gave her. Later, Leah Golden married the writer Boris Yakovlev, and Elena suddenly realized that her choice of profession was already predetermined: everyone in the house wrote. Boris Yakovlev wrote his books, mainly about Lenin, my mother wrote about the art of the peoples of Africa, and my grandmother translated something all the time.

Elena became a student of the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University. Despite the fact that as a child she twice had a chance to star in episodic roles in films, she did not plan to work on television and got there quite by accident after an internship in America. She occasionally appeared on the Vzglyad program and reported on NTV. When Leonid Parfyonov saw the girl in Vzglyad, he immediately decided that she should become the host of his new program About It. Elena Hanga very quickly became one of the most recognizable faces of the new Russian television.

A man from the past

For a long time, Elena considered herself an ugly duckling and thought that no one could fall in love with her. But already at Moscow State University, she had a touching student romance, which she still recalls with great warmth.

And after receiving her journalism diploma, Elena Hanga met Igor Mintusov while preparing material on racism for Moskovskiye Novosti. But at that moment the sympathy that arose between the young people did not develop into something more. According to the presenter, both of them were not ready for family life.

They met again only 10 years later, at a reception on the occasion of the birthday of NTV. She did not even recognize him right away, and to her friend's question about Igor, Elena Hanga answered simply: "A person from the past … or from the future …"

That evening they ran away from the party and then sat in the club for a long time and talked. At that moment, it seems that both had the feeling that they had been living together for a long time. They had common interests and topics for conversation, and after five hours Igor accompanied Elena home and very seriously announced that he would not make such a mistake as he did ten years ago and simply would not let Elena go. For a long time they lived literally between heaven and earth. Elena flew from New York to Moscow to Igor, at every opportunity he took a ticket and went to her in America.

And at some point, Elena Hanga felt: a reliable strong support appeared in her life. Igor Mintusov was ready to help her always and in everything, you could lean on his shoulder, and any risk seemed justified when he was around.

Unusual family

Elena Hanga and Igor Mintusov got married in a glass church in Los Angeles, through the walls of which one could see the forest, mountains and the ocean, and where people of various faiths are crowned. The wedding was celebrated on the ship Queen Elisabeth, and the honeymoon was spent in Guyana and Suriname. There they were almost arrested for illegal border crossing, which they went to because of a huge herd of bulls blocking the road.

Their family turned out to be not quite ordinary. Elena Hanga admits: Igor creates a cozy atmosphere in their house. The TV presenter believes that she herself has absolutely no taste. The poor Soviet childhood left its mark on the fact that for a long time the girl divided clothes only into light and dark, and did not even think about the fact that suitable shoes were needed for dresses.

Igor Mintusov's childhood was about the same, but he turned out to be a nugget with a subtle sense of taste and love for beauty. Elena calls her spouse a real self made man - a man who made himself.

The only thing he never does is cook. True, they do not have the usual family dinners, when everyone gathers at the same table. They are in business and traveling from morning to evening, and they gather at home at eleven o'clock and immediately try to simultaneously find out the latest news in the country and the world, talk about how the day went and discuss some business. But at home they always smell delicious and have normal homemade food prepared by Igor's mother. For Elena Hanga, mother-in-law Lyudmila Petrovna is the first critic and assistant in all matters. And also the main peacemaker and a very wise woman. The TV presenter even once promised to erect a monument to all mothers-in-law.

When in 2001 Elena Hanga and Igor Mintusov had a daughter, Elizabeth-Anna, the presenter tried to spend a lot of time with her. Elena Hanga gave birth in the USA, and as a result, even her childbirth turned out to be non-standard, because the doctor argued with her patient. She claimed that she would take birth from Elena within half an hour, for more she simply did not have time because of the upcoming date. Elizabeth-Anna was born in the 29th minute.

Later, the presenter left all her projects and almost completely devoted herself to raising her daughter. She rightly believed that she would be able to hold a talk show in 10 years, but read Alice in Wonderland with her daughter or play classics only in childhood. For Elizabeth-Anna, my mother turned out to be the best friend, and her father was the main authority.

Elena Hanga and Igor Mintusov are very happy in their unconventional family. And they are completely indifferent to what others think about it.

Elena Hanga was one of those presenters, in popularity with which only famous singers and actors could compare. They were the idols of millions of viewers. But for some of them, the era of television ended with the twentieth century, and today they can no longer be seen on screens. And other legendary presenters of popular television programs of the 1990s remain on TV today.