Fedor Konyukhov and Irina Umnova: 20 years of parting and meeting, or how to get around the point of no return in separation

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

He is on the road all the time: he conquers new peaks, tests new tracks, sets world records. Fyodor Konyukhov is known all over the world, he is called a superman and is surprised at his ability to make single round-the-world travels in the most difficult conditions. How do Fedor and his wife Irina manage to keep their family together, despite constant separation?

Love at first sight

In 1995 Irina Umnova collected material for her future book Power and People. During a meeting with the cameraman Anatoly Zabolotsky, she quickly rushed home, learning that he was expecting guests. But the interlocutor persuaded her to stay, because Fedor Konyukhov, whom he knew, could tell a lot of interesting things for Irina's book.

The meeting seemed to stun both of them. Irina looked at his face and saw in front of her the image of Andrei Rublev from Tarkovsky's film. Fyodor looked at her cheerfully and a little embarrassed. However, she herself felt a kind of awkwardness. They both understood - this is love.

He walked her home and asked her out the next day. Approaching the monument to Pushkin, where they agreed to meet, Irina saw him with a huge backpack over his shoulders and a touching rose in his hand. And she recalled: just a few days before this meeting, she prayed to God to send her a loved one who could become her support and example for her two sons.

Choosing to wait

They sat on the floor in the empty workshop of their friend Fyodor and talked. Evening gave way to night, morning came, and still they could not stop talking. He did not promise to shower her with jewelry and build a palace. But he could give her the whole world full of miracles. And your love, eternal, like this world.

The traveler also shared his cherished dream: he will definitely become a priest, and she will be a mother. She was very clear and close to his desires. After all, she herself at every minute of her life turned to God for help and support.

They had a whole month to meet, and then it was time for the first parting. As many as six months of long waiting with a complete lack of communication. This period was crucial for both of them. Irina then made the most difficult choice in her life: will she be able to spend her whole life in the agonizing expectation of a loved one. Fedor immediately warned her that he was going to travel until 2043. The decision was made, she began to learn to wait.

God's help

When they traveled together from Barbados to Newport, they faced severe trials. During a storm, the keel cracked, the yacht began to flood, the right rudder rudder broke, and the yacht drifted not towards the American coast, but headed for Europe. They prayed together, scooped up water, mended the sails. They had already put on life jackets and were ready to jump overboard when they made a vow: if the Lord leaves them alive, they will pray to Him for the birth of a common child.

They landed on the English coast 44 days later, and upon returning to Moscow, they started building a chapel in honor of St. Nicholas near the workshop of Fyodor Konyukhov. Soon Irina realized that she was expecting a child. Fedor went on his next round the world trip, and returned shortly before the birth of his son. He was present at the birth, was the first to take his son in his arms. The boy was named Nikolai.

Nikolai was only 2 months old when he went with his mother to England to accompany his father on a voyage. And at the age of 3, he made his first serious journey: more than a thousand kilometers across Mongolia with his parents.

Now Nikolai is a cadet of the Suvorov military school. He, too, learned to wait for the Pope from his long travels and pray for his safe return. Sometimes Fedor takes his son with him on trips. Whenever possible, the Konyukhovs try to implement family projects from time to time.

Faith and expectation

Irina Anatolyevna is often asked questions about how it is possible to keep the family together if the husband is not at home all the time. Once, at the dawn of their relationship, Fyodor Filippovich told his wife that during his travels she should be mentally next to him and constantly pray for him.

Each project implemented by Fedor Konyukhov is a family business. They all equip his yacht together if a yacht trip is planned. Family photos and icons are being hung up. And in places where food is stored, Irina discreetly lays out surprises for her husband, warming him in difficult times of loneliness.

They only part for the duration of his journey. If the project is delayed in time, Irina flies to the places of his parking, if possible. Let it be a day or an hour, but they manage to see each other and again feel the closeness of a dear person. Such meetings help them not to get out of the habit of each other in separation, not to cross the point of no return, when alienation can arise between loving people. But after the return of the head of the family home, Fedor and Irina spend three days together. Neither children nor grandchildren interfere with them at this time. In total, the Konyukhovs have five children and 10 grandchildren for two.

In 2010, Fyodor Konyukhov fulfilled his main dream: he became a priest. And his Irina is his mother. When the traveler is asked what is the secret of family happiness, he says that he enters the room and his mother smiles at him. That's the whole secret. And Irina adds in her interviews: they always hold hands, even in a dream.

In his personal standings - land and sea expeditions and, of course, round the world. And yet - all this is about Fyodor Konyukhov's records.