30 years of family happiness of Mikhail Kalashnikov: How the legendary AK assault rifle "thanked" its creator

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

When in the 1990s Mikhail Kalashnikov began to appear in public for the first time, people simply could not believe that he was real. Many even tried to touch him in the desire to make sure: he really exists! For 25 years, the designer worked in the strictest secrecy, and, quite naturally, there was no information about his family. Mikhail Timofeevich himself said that he found the happiness of his whole life thanks to the world-famous AK.

First marriage

Even after Mikhail Kalashnikov began to appear in public, he was very reluctant to talk about his personal life. Only once said that his marriage was made in heaven. But Ekaterina Moiseeva, which was discussed, was the second wife of the legendary designer.

The first wife of Mikhail Timofeevich was Ekaterina Astakhova, whom he met in the village of Matai in Kazakhstan, where during the war, after being seriously wounded, he was developing an experimental model of his first submachine gun, which was later rejected.

Ekaterina Arkhipova gave birth to her wife in 1942, a son, Victor, but the family life of Mikhail Kalashnikov in his first marriage did not work out. He never talked about it, and the reasons why the first marriage of the construct broke up is not known for certain. But in 1946 another woman appeared in his life.

At that time, he was already assigned to the department of invention of a small arms scientific testing range 100 kilometers from Moscow. The draftsman Ekaterina Moiseeva, a dark-haired, slender beauty with wavy hair and the correct speech of a true Muscovite, also worked there.

The machine that gave happiness

Mikhail Kalashnikov at that time was working on the first prototype of his machine gun, and at first Catherine attracted his attention not for her beauty, but for how skillfully she wielded a drawing board and a pencil. Katya, who helped Mikhail Timofeevich translate his ideas into drawings and correctly draw up the documentation, understood from the first word what the designer was talking about, could read the indistinct sketches of Kalashnikov, who had no design training. Sometimes he himself wondered how accurately Catherine could ask questions and how difficult it was for her to embody all his thoughts in a strict drawing with a lot of details.

Mikhail Timofeevich himself admitted: he did not know how to competently and clearly explain what he wanted, and sometimes he even had to first make a part, and already using it, having removed all the dimensions, make a drawing and draw up the necessary documentation. Ekaterina Moiseeva and Mikhail Kalashnikov often bent over the drawings together, and soon those around them began to notice that something was happening between the designer and the draftsman.

At first, Mikhail's comrades only laughed at these "business dates", but when Mikhail fell in love and it became visible to the naked eye, a flurry of jokes fell upon the designer.

A marriage made in heaven

Mikhail Timofeevich has always been a very modest, even shy person. But at the same time, incredibly purposeful and ready to give everything that he has for the sake of fulfilling his dream - creating an automaton. It seems that the designer won Katya's heart with his dedication. First of all, she saw in him a strong person, ready for much for the sake of fulfilling his cherished dream.

Mikhail Timofeevich was able to fully appreciate Katya's interest in their common cause. And over time, the designer and his assistant realized that they did not want to part at all. The decision to become husband and wife seemed natural.

The couple raised the daughter of Ekaterina Viktorovna Nelly together, in 1948 their common daughter Elena was born, seven years later - Natalia. But since 1956, the son of Mikhail Kalashnikov from his first marriage also lived in the family. Viktor's mother died, when Mikhail Timofeevich and Ekaterina Viktorovna found out about this, they immediately decided to take the boy.

Of course, the designer's wife was in charge of children and housekeeping. It was difficult to find him at home, he could disappear at work in the literal sense of the word around the clock. But it never entered her head to complain. She loved all four children equally and was able to replace Victor's mother, warm him with her warmth and care.

Ekaterina Viktorovna never sat idle. She tirelessly washed, cleaned, sewed, cooked dinners, checked everyone's lessons in a circle. And she always did it with joy.

Such a short happiness

Unfortunately, the legendary designer's happiness lasted only 30 years, in 1977 his wife died suddenly at the age of 56. And in 1983, Mikhail Kalashnikov was overtaken by another blow: his youngest daughter Natasha died in a car accident. Until the end of his days, the designer mourned his beloved girls and desperately missed them.

After his wife was gone, Mikhail Timofeevich never married again. He found solace in his work, and even in his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, whose successes he was incredibly proud of. Victor followed in the footsteps of his father, became a gunsmith designer, on his account there were many serious developments. In 2018, Viktor Mikhailovich died, having outlived his father by only five years.

The eldest daughter Nelly found her happiness in motherhood, brought up two wonderful daughters. And Elena became the keeper of her father's memory, and today she heads the MT Kalashnikov Interregional Public Foundation.

The abbreviation AK rarely needs additional decoding. There are more legends than facts about the creation of a legendary weapon, as well as about the creator himself. Did Mikhail Timofeevich borrow German developments? Could a sergeant with a 7-grade education have realized such a successful project? Did third-party engineers help him? And why even the enemies of the Russians prefer the Kalashnikov assault rifle?