The only love of the scriptwriter Gabrilovich: Why the famous writer did not believe in family happiness

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

He was one of the most famous writers and playwrights of the Soviet era, played the piano perfectly and taught at VGIK for many years. Films based on his scripts were shot, including "Inception" and "Strange Woman", "Two Soldiers" and "There is no ford in the fire." In everyday life, Yevgeny Iosifovich Gabrilovich was an amazingly modest and quiet person. His only love was his wife Nina Yakovlevna, with whom he lived all his life, but at the same time, in his declining years, Yevgeny Iosifovich admitted: he was not inclined to believe in great happiness in family life.

At first sight

They met in the early 1930s at one of the usual parties of that time. Gabrilovich at that time was a pianist at the Meyerhold Theater and played in the very first Soviet jazz group. He was a very popular and charming person.

It took him one look to fall in love. At the same time, the writer was not at all embarrassed by the presence of Nina's husband nearby. Gabrilovich simply did not see anyone except the girl he liked. He was fascinated and struck in the very heart and could not do anything with his suddenly flared up feeling, or with the desire to be near Nina all the time. Gabrilovich even went home with them in a cab. Nina and her husband were sitting on a large bench, and Yevgeny Iosifovich perched on a small bench next to the cab and did not take his eyes off this stately beautiful woman all the way.

Yevgeny Iosifovich was attractive, but it was impossible to call him handsome even in his youth, and he could not boast of persistence in achieving the goal. Never, except for the very case when he was seeking Nina. Many years later, he himself was surprised at his then persistence. He managed to conquer the woman who became his only love. She left her husband along with her son Yuri, whom Yevgeny Iosifovich raised as his own child.

Unlike the writer, Nina Yakovlevna was a strong and strong-willed person, she always knew what she wanted from life in general and from loved ones in particular. She skillfully supervised all the processes that took place around her, gave instructions to numerous au pair, and directed her husband's creativity in the right direction.

Unity of opposites

Nina Yakovlevna, active and energetic, became the engine of progress in a single family. She skillfully directed her husband's work, it was with her light hand that he once began to write scripts for films. She also ran the household, took care of all family members, did not tolerate laziness and idleness. Nina Gabrilovich had four classes. None of her acquaintances could even imagine that this woman, who knew how to support any conversation, wrote with monstrous mistakes.

She was friends with Babel and Akhmatova, talked with Faina Ranevskaya, talked about subtle matters and had her own opinion about everything. She introduced her husband to the right people and led him by the hand through life. Evgeny Gabrilovich admitted that without Nina Yakovlevna's participation he could have remained a musician with Meyerhold.

According to the recollections of the writer's granddaughter, Maria Gabrilovich, grandfather was very calm, more than anything else he loved to calmly engage in creativity, and even from time to time he listened to the Voice of America radio station in order to keep up with life and learn world news.

Evgeny Gabrilovich sat down at his typewriter at about five in the morning, worked with pleasure while the whole house was asleep. True, during the day he could lie down on the sofa, which indescribably surprised his wife. She sincerely did not understand how it was possible to sleep in the daytime, when so many things require hands and attention.

However, the everyday problems of Yevgeny Iosifovich did not concern him in any way. His wife freed him from all household worries. Only occasionally, when his personal intervention was required, she forced him to wear all his awards and orders, and sent him to "intercede." Evgeny Iosifovich obeyed his wife unquestioningly. He did not try to take away the palm from her, recognizing the right of his wife to lead everyone around in general and his life in particular.

The writer's wife believed: you have to work during the day, and therefore, Yevgeny Gabrilovich rarely managed to justify lying on the couch by what he thinks. He rose with a sigh and sat down at the table again. However, the leadership of Nina Yakovlevna concerned not only work. She told her spouse with whom he should communicate, from whom he could ask for advice. Evgeny Gabrilovich believed that his wife possessed some incredible gift to feel the processes taking place in society.

He loved her all his life, but here she is … Later he will write the book "Four Quarters", which will be based on his own life story. The main character, journalist Filippok, desperately resembles the writer himself, and Zinochka, a strict and economic beauty, is very similar to his Nina. And it seems that the history of Filippok and Zinochka reveals the origins of Yevgeny Gabrilovich's complex happiness.

Happiness, love and not love

Perhaps he did not know how to speak beautifully about his feelings or did not know what exactly his wife wanted to hear. But in "Four Quarters" there is a red line the thought that Zinochka never really loved Filippka. And even in old age she cared, treated with tenderness, but still did not love.

They were very different, the writer and his wife. They had different temperaments, characters, worldview. When Ninochka got angry about something and started yelling at her husband, he only gently admonished her, calming her down.

The works of Evgeny Gabrilovich often touch upon the topic of adultery. Perhaps because in her youth, the writer's wife allowed herself to be carried away by other men. There was a case when she even left the family with their common son Alyosha. But he himself was outwardly calm about it. He only allowed himself sometimes in his books to reflect on the topic of treason. And to conclude that an accidental hobby cannot and should not become a reason for the destruction of family life.

Yevgeny Iosifovich himself never paid attention to other women and called Ninochka his only love. And his wife, in spite of everything, always remained for the writer the closest and dearest person. And admitting his disbelief in the long and acute feeling of happiness in the family, Yevgeny Gabrilovich did not cheat. After all, everyone has ups and downs, ardent love is replaced by mutual respect and the need for each other. Life flows, children grow up, trials happen, through which you need to go …

Evgeny Iosifovich and Nina Yakovlevna walked hand in hand for many years, survived the death of their wife's son from their first marriage, entered the period of maturity. Nina Gabrilovich was already preparing for a hip replacement surgery abroad, but she did not wait for it. She could not come to terms with the fact that now she became not a general managing the house, but an elderly and not very healthy woman. She was afraid of old age and decided that without her it would be easier for everyone. Nina Yakovlevna was poisoned and could not save her.

Evgeny Gabrilovich outlived his wife by 20 years. He managed to see the film "Declaration of Love", which was based on the story of Filippok and his Zinochka. Evgeny Gabrilovich himself and his Ninochka.

It seems that the writer and playwright Viktoria Tokareva does not particularly believe in unconditional love. She lived her whole life with one man, but at the same time she does not consider treason to be something out of the ordinary. And she herself had a 15-year romance with a famous director.