Academician Sakharov under the heel of Elena Bonner

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Everything is as old as the world - after the death of his wife, a stepmother came to Sakharov's house and threw out the children.

At all times and among all peoples, the act is in no way commendable. Oral and written memory of mankind is replete with terrible tales in this regard. Blatant trampling on universal human morality can in no way be understood within its framework, hence the cares of otherworldly explanations, they usually talk about such a stepmother - a witch. And as proof, they cite, among other things, the "moral" qualities of those whom she brings under the roof of a widower, her offspring. No wonder folk wisdom says - from an apple tree an apple, from eating a pine cone. Popular wisdom is profoundly correct.

The widower Sakharov met a certain woman. In her youth, a licentious girl recaptured her husband from a sick friend, bringing her to death with blackmail, telephone messages with disgusting details. Disappointment - he died in the war. Gradually, over the years, experience came, she achieved almost professionalism in the seduction and subsequent robbing of the elderly and, therefore, with the position of men. This is a well-known business, but always complicated by the fact that, as a rule, any man in his great years has a close woman, usually a wife. Hence, it needs to be removed. How?

She started a passionate affair with a major engineer Moses Zlotnik. But again, there is an annoying obstacle nearby - a wife! The engineer removed her, simply killed her and went to prison for many years. A very noisy case prompted Lev Sheinin, a well-known Soviet criminalist and publicist in those years, to write the story "The Disappearance", in which Zlotnik's cohabitant appeared under the name "Lucy B." It was a wartime, and, of course, the frightened, lively "Lucy B." took cover as a nurse on a hospital train. A familiar story unfolds on wheels - a connection with the head of the train, Vladimir Dorfman, for whom the nurse was good only as a daughter. The ending is very frequent in such cases: the adventurer was driven away, written off from the train.

In 1948 he still had an affair with a large business executive Yakov Kisselman, a wealthy man and, naturally, very elderly. The "fatal" woman by this time managed to enter the medical institute. There she was considered not one of the last - to the right and to the left she talks about her "exploits" in an ambulance train, cautiously keeping silent about their finale. Outwardly, she did not really stand out against the background of post-war students and female students.

What joy is in Kisselman, he lived on Sakhalin and visited the Center on short visits, and next to him was his classmate Ivan Semyonov, and she entered into an understandable relationship with him. In March 1950, her daughter Tatyana was born. Mother congratulated both - Kisselman and Semyonov on happy fatherhood. The next year, Kisselman formalized a relationship with the mother of the "daughter", and two years later contacted her by marriage and Semyonov.

For the next nine years she was legally married with two spouses at the same time, and Tatiana from a young age had two fathers - "Papa Jacob" and "Papa Ivan". I also learned to distinguish them - from "Pope Jacob" money, from "Pope Ivan" paternal attention. The girl turned out to be smart and not childish and never upset any of the fathers with the message that there was another. Presumably, I listened first of all to my mother. Significant remittances from Sakhalin at first ensured the lives of two "poor students".

In 1955, the "heroine" of our story, let's call her at last - Elena Bonner, gave birth to a son, Alyosha. So the citizen Kisselman-Semenova-Bonner existed in those days, leading a cheerful life and simultaneously raising her own kind - Tatyana and Alexei. Moses Zlotnik, who had served his sentence, tormented by remorse, was released in the mid-fifties. Having met by chance the one whom he considered to be the culprit of his terrible fate, he recoiled in horror, she proudly silently walked by - new acquaintances, new connections, new hopes …

At the end of the sixties, Bonner finally came out with a "big beast" - a widower, Academician A. D. Sakharov, But, alas, he has three children - Tatiana, Lyuba and Dima. Bonner vowed eternal love for the academician and, for a start, threw Tanya, Lyuba and Dima out of the family nest, where she placed her own - Tatiana and Alexei.

With the change in Sakharov's marital status, the focus of his interests in life changed. The theorist took up politics concurrently and began to meet with those who soon received the nickname "human rights defenders." Bonner brought Sakharov with them, simultaneously commanding his wife to love her instead of her children, for they would be of great help in her ambitious enterprise - to become the leader (or leaders?) Of "dissidents" in the Soviet Union.

1985

As soon as such, in general, there were only a few, the newly announced "children" of Academician Sakharov, among two people, from his point of view, turned out to be a kind of reinforcement. Sakharov's loud groans about the violation of "rights" in the USSR, undoubtedly at the instigation of Bonner, went on, so to speak, on two levels - a kind of "in general" and specifically on the example of "oppression" of newly acquired "children." What happened to them? The Bonner family expanded their ranks - first by one unit at the expense of Yankelevich, who married Tatyana Kisselman-Semenova-Bonner, and then by one more unit - Alexei married Olga Levshina. All of them, under the leadership of Bonner, took up "politics." And to begin with, they came into conflict with our education system - in other words, they turned out to be idlers and idlers. On this good reason, they hastened to declare themselves "persecuted" because of their "father", that is, A. D. Sakharov, which was brought to the attention of the West through the proper channels and, unfortunately, with his blessing.

The real children of the academician made an attempt to protect their good name. Tatyana Andreevna Sakharova, having learned that his father had another "daughter" (and even with the same name), who trumped them right and left, tried to reason with the impostor. And this is what happened, according to her: “Once I myself heard how Semenova introduced herself to journalists as Tatyana Sakharova, the daughter of an academician. I demanded that she stop this. Do you know what she answered me?” If you want to avoid misunderstandings between us, change your surname. "Well, what can you do with such agility! After all, by this time Bonner's daughter had managed to marry Yankelevich, a dropout student.

Tatyana Bonner, who inherited her mother's disgust for learning, could not master science at the journalism faculty of Moscow State University. Then, at the Bonner section of the family council, they decided to turn her into a "production worker." and certificates "from the place of work to be presented to the evening department of the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University. In the end, the deception was revealed" and the alleged laboratory assistant was expelled. Here the "children" of Academician Sakharov began to shout - we want to be "free", to the West!

Why at this particular time? Fraud by Tatiana Bonner does not explain everything. The loss of a lab assistant's salary is not god knows what the damage. Bonner had taken all Sakharov's money in the USSR long ago. The main thing was different: Sakharov was given the Nobel Prize for his anti-Soviet work, currency was accumulated on his foreign accounts for various libels against our country. Dollars! How can you spend them with us? Life with dollars there, in the West, seemed cloudless, there was no need to work, or, which is even more terrible for the parasitic offspring of Bonner, to study. In addition, new complications have arrived. Alexei, with his wife, brought his mistress Elizabeth into the house, who, after a criminal abortion, through the efforts of Bonner, was hired as a servant in the family.

So, there was a shrill screech, put by various "radio voices" on the bass notes - freedom "for the children of Academician Sakharov!"The "father", Sakharov, also stood up for them. Those who knew the "family" closely understood why. Bonner, as a method of persuading her spouse to do so, took it into the custom of hitting him with anything. With cracks she taught the intelligent scientist to resort to the jargon she was accustomed to - in other words, to insert unprintable words into "accusatory" speeches. Under the hail of blows, the poor man somehow learned to pronounce them, although he did not rise to the heights of Bonner's foul language. What to do here! Intervene? It is impossible, personal life, because the victim does not declare any complaints. On the other hand, leaving it as it is will score an academician. Now, after all, it was not about teaching abuse, but about taking possession of Sakharov's dollars in the West. They spat and rescued the scientist who was running wild in front of his eyes - freedom is so freedom for "children".

Yankelevich with Tatyana and Alexey Bonner with Olga in 1977 left for Israel, and then moved to the United States. Yankelevich turned out to be very prudent - he took away the power of attorney from the academician for the management of all his financial affairs in the West, that is, uncontrolled disposal of everything that Sakharov was paid for his anti-Soviet affairs.

He, a loaf and a dropout, turned out to be a resourceful guy - he bought a three-storey house near Boston, furnished himself well, got cars, etc. Sprayed the Nobel Prize and Sakharov's fees. In all likelihood, the voracious Bonner kids quickly ate up Sakharov's capital, but you have to live! There is also inflation, the mores of a "consumer" society, money is still melting. Where and how to make money? They began there, in the West, to look for guardians who would help the hapless "children" of Academician Sakharov. The local man in the street, of course, is unaware that the real three children of A. D. Sakharov live, work and study in the USSR. From the pages of newspapers, on radio and television, the firm "Yankelevich and Co." is briskly broadcasting, demanding attention to the "children" of Academician Sakharov.

In 1978, a noisy anti-Soviet performance took place in Venice. Uniate Cardinal Slipyi blessed the "grandson" of Academician Sakharov Matvey. Cardinal is a war criminal, rejected by believers in the western regions of Ukraine, the executioner of the Lviv ghetto. The boy, whose head was slipped under the blessing of the executioner in a cassock, is the son of Yankelevich and Tatyana Kisselman-Semyonova-Bonner, called in the Yankelevich family in a simple way - Motya.

In May 1983, a loud anti-Soviet ceremony in the White House itself. President R. Reagan signs a proclamation declaring May 21 in the United States "Andrei Sakharov Day." Capital "Washington Post" reports: "This ceremony was attended by members of Congress and Sakharov's daughter Tatyana Yankelevich" [59]. "Daughter" and that's it! Somehow even obscene, this woman was much more than twenty years old when she found another "dad" …

The name of the Soviet academician children Bonner sat tightly. In the West, they come out with endless statements about the terrible persecutions in the USSR of imaginary "human rights defenders", attend anti-Soviet sabbaths, broadcast on radio and television. For the sake of truth, it should be noted that they are not given much will, they receive a platform mainly in various kinds of anti-Soviet campaigns, the significance of which is inflated beyond all proportions in broadcasts to the socialist countries. As for the Western audience, they have enough of their own worries. And the "children" of Academician Sakharov are not paid much, the bourgeois have figured out that they are sheer mediocrity even in their dirty business.

The director of the noisy booth "Children of Academician Sakharov" is Elena Bonner. It was she who declared her oversized parasites to be his "children", it was she who turned their money affairs at the expense of the unscrupulous incomes of another husband, and when the means for a wild life in the West began to dry up, she raised a howl about "family reunification", demanding to let the "bride" go to the West her son Elizabeth, who was a servant with Bonner. She became a "bride" for the simple reason that Alexey, having got to the West, divorced his wife Olga Levshina, whom he took to the Western "paradise" with a big scandal.

Sakharov, under a hail of blows from Bonner, also began to advocate "reunification" of the family. Apparently, he had no idea that the "reunion" was started by Bonner as an excuse to recall Sakharov's "family" in the hope of extracting material dividends from this. This time she also forced Sakharov to go on a hunger strike. But Sakharov does not live in the blessed stronghold of Western "democracy", say, in England, where free will is not hindered - if you want to starve in protest and die, no one lifts a finger. "Democracy"! The big child, which Sakharov is, was taken to the hospital, treated, fed. He stood his ground, Bonner went to the hospital with him, however, with the staff she did not give vent to her hands. And they let their housekeeper go beyond the cordon, prompting the eccentric to resume his normal meal,

The newspaper "Russian Voice", published in New York, back in 1976 finished an extensive article "Madame Bonner -" Sakharov's evil genius? " referring to the "disciples" of the physicist, who told foreign correspondents: "He himself is deprived of the most elementary rights in his own family." One of them, squeezing out his words with pain, adds: "It seems that Academician Sakharov has become a" hostage "of the Zionists, who, through the mediation of the quarrelsome and unbalanced Bonner, dictate their terms to him." Well, the "disciples" know better, I was not among them, I do not know. But I do.

He still lives in the city of Gorky on the Volga in Sakharov's four-room apartment. Regular swings in his mood have been noticed. Calm periods, when Bonner, leaving him, leaves for Moscow, and depressive - when she comes from the capital to her husband. Arrives, having visited the US Embassy in Moscow, met with someone, carefully received an academic salary for him. This is followed by a collective composition by the spouses of some libel, sometimes interrupted by a violent coupled with beatings. The suffering side is Sakharov. In addition, he understands that he is our pain and sorrow. And swaggers.

Against this background, I would consider the next "revelations" on behalf of Sakharov, transmitted by Western radio voices. Why "on behalf of"? Having subjected to a thorough, if you will, textual analysis of his articles and so on (fortunately, in terms of volume, there is not very much), I cannot get rid of the feeling that a lot was written under dictation or under the pressure of someone else's will."

From the book by N. Yakovlev "CIA against the USSR"

Dmitry Sakharov: Elena Bonner brought my father to the grave

* Why was Dmitry Sakharov ashamed of his father?

* Why did Ms. Bonner refuse to look at the unknown portrait of Andrei Dmitrievich, recently exhibited in New York?

* How did Elena Bonner manage to throw the most cunning oligarch Boris Berezovsky?

* Why do the academician's associates not respect Sakharov's second wife?

* Why does the scientist's granddaughter Polina Sakharova know nothing about her famous grandfather?

The answers to these questions are finishing touches to the portrait of Andrei Sakharov, an outstanding scientist, human rights activist and largely controversial person. On the eve of a round historical date, and on August 12 - 50 years from the date of the test (the article was prepared 8 years ago - in 2003) of the first hydrogen bomb, the creator of which is considered Sakharov, we found the son of the famous academician. Dmitry, 46, is a physicist by training, like his father. This is his first interview with the Russian press.

- Do you need the son of Academician Sakharov? He lives in the USA, in Boston. And his name is Alexei Semyonov, - Dmitry Sakharov bitterly joked when we made an appointment by phone.

- In fact, Alexey is the son of Elena Bonner. This woman became the second wife of Andrei Sakharov after the death of my mother, Klavdia Alekseevna Vikhireva. For almost 30 years, Alexei Semenov gave interviews as “the son of Academician Sakharov,” in his defense, foreign radio stations were shouting in every way. And when my father was alive, I felt like a total orphan and dreamed that my father would spend with me at least a tenth of the time that he devoted to the offspring of my stepmother.

Wicked stepmother

Dmitry re-read the books of memoirs by Andrei Sakharov many times. I tried to understand why it so happened that a loving father suddenly moved away from him and his sisters, marrying Elena Bonner. I even counted how many times Sakharov mentioned in books about his own children and the children of his second wife. The comparison was not in favor of Dmitry and his older sisters, Tatyana and Lyuba Sakharov. The academician wrote about them, as it were, by the way, and devoted dozens of pages to Tatyana and Alexei Semyonov in his memoirs. And this is not surprising.

When mom died, we continued to live together for some time - dad, me and sisters. But after marrying Bonner, my father left us, settling in the apartment of his stepmother, - says Dmitry - Tanya was married by that time, I was barely 15 years old, and my parents were replaced by 23-year-old Lyuba. Together with her, we hosted. In his memoirs, the father writes that the older daughters turned me against him. It is not true. It's just that no one ever invited me to the house where dad lived with Bonner. I rarely went there, completely missing my father. And Elena Georgievna never left us alone for a minute. Under my stepmother's stern gaze, I dared not speak of my boyish problems. There was something like a protocol: a joint lunch, routine questions and the same answers.

- Sakharov wrote that he supported you, giving you 150 rubles a month.

- It's true, but something else is interesting here: my father never gave money into the hands of me or my sister. We received post orders. Most likely, Bonner advised him to send money by mail. It seems that she has provided such a form of help in case I suddenly began to say that my father is not helping me. But he stopped sending these alimony as soon as I turned 18. And here you can't find fault with anything: everything is according to the law.

Dmitry did not even think to be offended by his father. He understood that his father was an outstanding scientist, was proud of him and, having matured, tried not to attach importance to the oddities in their relationship with him. But one day he still felt embarrassed for his famous parent. During his exile in Gorky, Sakharov went on a second hunger strike. He demanded that the Soviet government issue permission to travel abroad to the bride of Bonner's son, Lisa.

“In those days, I came to Gorky, hoping to convince my father to stop senseless self-torture,” says Dmitry. - By the way, I found Liza at dinner! As I remember now, she ate pancakes with black caviar. Imagine how sorry I felt for my father, hurt for him and even uncomfortable. He, an academician, a world-famous scientist, is organizing a noisy action, risking his health - and for what? It is understandable if in this way he sought to end nuclear weapons tests or demanded democratic reforms … But he just wanted Liza to be allowed into America to see Alexei Semyonov. But Bonner's son might not have scampered abroad, if he really loved the girl so much. Sakharov's heart ached badly, and there was a huge risk that his body would not withstand the nervous and physical stress. Later I tried to talk to my father about this topic. He answered in monosyllables: it was necessary. But to whom? Of course, Elena Bonner, it was she who urged him on. He loved her recklessly, like a child, and was ready for anything for her, even to death. Bonner understood how powerful her influence was and took advantage of it. I still believe that these shows greatly undermined my father's health. Elena Georgievna knew perfectly well how destructive hunger strikes are for dad, and she perfectly understood what was pushing him to the grave.

The hunger strike really did not go in vain for Sakharov: immediately after this action, the academician suffered a spasm of the cerebral vessels.

Academician henpecked

When Bonner's children, son-in-law and daughter-in-law flew over the hill one after another, Dmitry also wanted to emigrate. But the father and stepmother unanimously said that they would not give him permission to leave the Union.

- Why did you want to escape from the USSR, was your life in danger?

- Not. I, like Tatyana Semyonova and Alexei, dreamed of a well-fed life in the West. But it seems that my stepmother was afraid that I might become a competitor to her son and daughter, and - most importantly - she was afraid that the truth about Sakharov's real children would be revealed. Indeed, in this case, her offspring could get less benefits from foreign human rights organizations. And the father was blindly following his wife's lead. Deprived of his father's money, Dima earned a living himself. While still a student, he married and had a son, Nikolai. The wife also studied at the university. The young family often had to starve, but not for political reasons, as an academician - the scholarship was not even enough for food. Somehow, in despair, Dmitry once again borrowed 25 rubles from a neighbor. I bought food for three rubles, and for 22 rubles I bought an electric sharpener and began to go around the apartments of citizens, offering to sharpen knives, scissors and meat grinders. “I didn't want to turn to my father for help,” says Dmitry. - Yes, and for sure he would have refused me. I did not go to him asking for support even later, when I broke my leg. I got out as best I could, my friends didn't let me go.

ANDREY SAKHAROV WITH RELATED CHILDREN: still together

Dmitry and his sisters gradually got used to solving their troubles and problems on their own. Even on holy days for their family - the anniversaries of their mother’s death - they didn’t have a father. - I suspect that my father has never visited our mother's grave since he married Elena Georgievna. I could not understand this. After all, as it seemed to me, dad loved mom very much during her lifetime. What happened to him when he began to live with Bonner, I do not know. He seemed to be covered with a shell. When Lyuba's first child died during childbirth, the father did not even find time to come to her and expressed his condolences over the phone. I suspect that Bonner was jealous of his former life and he did not want to upset her.

Slaps on the bald head

During the Gorky exile in 1982, the then young artist Sergei Bocharov came to visit Andrei Sakharov. He dreamed of painting a portrait of the disgraced scientist and human rights activist. He worked for four hours. To pass the time, they talked. Elena Georgievna also supported the conversation. Of course, it was not without a discussion of the weaknesses of Soviet reality.

“Sakharov did not see everything in black,” Bocharov admitted in an interview with Express Gazeta. - Andrei Dmitrievich sometimes even praised the USSR government for some of its successes. Now I don’t remember what exactly. But for each such remark, he immediately received a slap in the face from his wife. While I was writing the sketch, Sakharov got it at least seven times. At the same time, the world luminary resignedly endured the cracks, and it was clear that he was accustomed to them.

Then it dawned on the artist: it was not Sakharov that should be painted, but Bonner, because it was she who was in charge of the scientist. Bocharov began to paint her portrait with black paint directly over the image of the academician. Bonner wondered how the artist was doing and glanced at the canvas. And when she saw herself, she flew into a rage and rushed to smear oil paints with her hand.

“I told Bonner that I don’t want to draw a“hemp”that repeats the thoughts of an evil wife, and even suffers beatings from her,” recalls Sergei Bocharov. - And Bonner immediately kicked me out into the street.

And last week an exhibition of Bocharov's paintings was held in New York. The artist also brought the unfinished sketch of Sakharov 20 years ago to the USA.

- I specially invited Elena Georgievna to the exhibition. But, apparently, she was informed about my surprise, and she did not come to see the pictures, citing an illness, - says Bocharov.

Stolen inheritance

There are legends about the reverent attitude to money of Elena Bonner. About one such case, Dmitry was told by people who know Sakharov's widow closely. Elena Georgievna has a grandson Matvey. This is the son of her eldest daughter. The loving grandmother shocked the whole family when she gave Mota a tea set for her wedding. The day before, she found him in one of the Boston dumpsters. The cups and saucers, however, were without scratches, because strange Americans sometimes throw away not only old things, but also those that they just didn't like. Bonner's prudence was clearly manifested, and when the time came to distribute the inheritance of her deceased husband.

CLAUDIA AND ANDREW: their marriage was disinterested

- The will was drawn up with the active participation of the stepmother, - says Dmitry. - Therefore, it is not surprising that the right to dispose of the literary heritage of her father went to Bonner, and in the event of her death - to her daughter Tatyana. A part of the dacha in Zhukovka was transferred to me and my sisters. I will not name the sums of money, but the share of the children of the stepmother was greater. Elena Georgievna herself sold the dacha and gave us cash. But in the most virtuoso way she did with Berezovsky's money! Two years ago, the Sakharov Museum in Moscow was on the verge of closing - there were no funds for its maintenance and staff salaries. Then the oligarch threw three million dollars from the master's shoulder. Bonner immediately ordered that this money be directed to the Sakharov Foundation account in the United States, not in Russia! Moreover, this foreign organization is actively engaged not so much in charity as in commerce. Now millions are spinning on accounts in the United States, and the father's museum is still dragging out a miserable existence, says Dmitry. - What the Sakharov Foundation in Boston does is a big mystery to me. Occasionally he reminds of himself by appearances in the Western press, and some sluggish actions are held. Bonner herself is in charge of the foundation.

Dmitry's older sister, Tatyana Sakharova-Vernaya, also lives in Boston. She went there a few years ago after her daughter, who married an American. Tatyana has nothing to do with the activities of the Sakharov Foundation in the United States. And, as she confessed to us on the phone, she also does not know what the American Foundation named after her father is doing.

And not so long ago, another Sakharov archive was opened in Boston. It was headed by Tatiana Semyonova. Why the twin was needed is not clear, because an organization with exactly the same name has been working in Russia for a long time. Recently it became known that the US government poured off this incomprehensible American structure one and a half million dollars. That is, Bonner's children and grandchildren now have more than enough money for rich apartments, mansions and limousines.

Instead of an afterword

Dmitry lives in the center of Moscow in a solid "Stalin" building. He never became a professional physicist. According to him, now he is engaged in "small private business." After the death of his father, he never spoke to Elena Bonner. During rare visits to Russia, the widow does not try to contact him. The year before last, Dmitry was invited to celebrate the 80th anniversary of Andrei Sakharov in the former Arzamas-16 (now the city of Sarov). Father's colleagues did not invite Bonner to the celebrations.

“Andrei Sakharov’s employees do not like to think about Elena Georgievna on TV,” says Dmitry.

- They believe that if not for her, then perhaps Sakharov could return to science. During our conversation, I, probably, not very decently looked around, trying to find on the walls, in cupboards, on the shelves at least one small photograph of the "father" of the hydrogen bomb. But I found on the bookshelf only a single snapshot from the family archive - an old man holding a little boy in his arms.

- This boy is me. And the old man is the father of my mother, Klavdia Vikhireva, - Dmitry explains.

- This picture is dear to me.

- Is there at least one portrait of Andrei Sakharov in your house?

- There is no icon, - the academician's son grinned.

Maybe that's why Polina, the 6-year-old daughter of Dmitry, did not even remember the name of her grandfather. And what he was doing, he does not even know.