Everyone understands love in their own way. For Don Juan, she is the light stored inside, with which he bestowed every woman he met on the way. The author of this understanding of the hero is Leonid Zhukhovitsky, an 84-year-old writer, playwright, publicist, creator of “The Last Woman of Senior Juan, ” whose entire work and personal life are dedicated to Her Majesty of Love.
Childhood
The writer was born in a Jewish family on May 5, 1932. Mother Faina Osipovna and father Aron Faddeevich were simple engineers. Place of birth - the city of Kiev. Among his relatives there are many convicted during the years of repressions of I. Stalin, one of them is his uncle on the father's side, who spent 19 years. Therefore, Leonid Zhukhovitsky, whose biography is interesting to the reader, has never been a party member.
The family lived in Moscow, where the boy began to study. Thanks to his good abilities, he was immediately accepted to the second grade. The news of the start of the war found a second-grader in Yevpatoria, where he came with his father to rest. I had to urgently return to the capital, since Aron Faddevich was liable for military service. He, as a good specialist, was given a reservation. The military plant was relocated to Tomsk, and the wife and child were sent to evacuate to Novosibirsk. After a while, the family reunited. The most difficult test was not hunger and deprivation, but disease. The boy suffered typhoid fever. In 1944, the family returned to Moscow, starting life from scratch in a hut on the outskirts of the capital.
Education
After graduating from school No. 461 with a gold medal, Leonid Zhukhovitsky entered the Literary Institute. At the creative contest, he submitted his poems. As a result, at 16, he became a university student, where many former front-line soldiers studied, who had a lifetime behind their backs. This communication helped the formation of the writer. From the student bench, his friendship with Fazil Iskander began, which lasted until the death of the Abkhaz writer. Among classmate poets were Konstantin Vanshenkin and Vladimir Soloukhin, Vasily Subbotin and Julia Drunina.
But the writer considers the main school of life to be conversations and meetings with ordinary residents of the country, which he traveled along and across. Dreaming earlier about the profession of a journalist, Zhukhovitsky was pleased to travel around the country in the direction of periodicals with which he actively collaborated. They did not take him to the staff, but ordered essays with pleasure. On business trips, sitting in hotels, he wrote not only the ordered articles, but also stories, keenly interested in what was happening around.
Bibliography
The first book of the author was published in 1961. Its name is “Cover Address”. But even after joining the Writers' Union in 1963, printing their stories and novels on the pages of magazines was not easy. Rescued publishers. The circulation of books was 200-300 thousand copies and was bought up with pleasure by readers. Leonid Zhukhovitsky along with famous poets A. Voznesensky, E. Evtushenko, B. Akhmadullina spoke to student audiences, referring himself to the sixties. Although he was never officially banned, he was reproached for the "petty theme". His love was never associated with the heroic everyday life of five-year plans, and the characters did not perform labor or military feats.
During his creative life, the author has published more than 40 books translated into 40 languages of the world. Today, his works filled the Internet, circulations were reduced to 3 thousand copies, but he does not complain. As a playwright, he is fed plays of fifteen. Favorite performance about Don Giovanni has not left the stage for more than 35 years. Among the most famous books are “Stop, Look Back” (1969), “Bonfire on Thursdays” (1976), “Key to the City” (1976), “Attempted Prophecy” (1987), “About Love” (1989). Leonid Zhukhovitsky himself considers the latter to be successful.
“Only two weeks” - a play about love
A typical work of the author is the play "Only two weeks" (the new name - "Girl for two weeks") with a straightforward plot. Published in 1982, it tells about the short-term relationships of an adult experienced man, a builder from the North, and yesterday’s schoolgirl embarking on an adventurous journey with a stranger to the south. For him, love is in the past. Frustrated, Fedor chooses a wife so that he doesn’t like him, but suits. So that she traveled for her spouse through harsh northern construction sites and did not "endure the brain."
Next to him is a young girl who gives innocence, acts that prove her love and do not create problems: courageous, all-forgiving, undemanding, faithful. The writer Leonid Zhukhovitsky in some incredible way forms the reader’s admiration for the simple laboratory assistant from the research institute, about whom his friend disrespectfully responded: “There is no prospect, no money.” And when the girl disappears from the life of the protagonist, it is he who causes sympathy. The fact that he was unable to discern near him something real.
A novel with a cinema
Two works of the author were filmed: “A House in the Steppe” and “A Baby by November”. The most successful work is Kira Muratova’s film “Short Meetings” (1967), where Zhukhovitsky acted as a screenwriter. It was the debut of Nina Ruslanova and the first dramatic role of Vladimir Vysotsky. Filmed at the Odessa film studio, the melodrama was a great success and brought the main character a prize for the best female role. However, the collaboration of two talented people ended on this, since Leonid Zhukhovitsky was used to thinking in words, and Muratova - in frame. He felt the story with a male story, she with a female one. Rewriting his work for the sake of the director's idea turned out to be an impossible task for the author.
Wives
The writer is known for being consciously the enemy of morality. Without denying morality, he is as independent as possible from the opinions of others. Having known many women for his long life, he considers love to be the only condition for the two to be near. Four times he was married, and all the companions were much younger than Zhukhovitsky. The first wife, Natalya Minina, passed away in 2002. She worked as an editor, the age difference was 12 years. Theater expert Tatyana Agapova was 28 years younger.
For ten years, the writer had an unregistered relationship with Olga Bakushinskaya, a well-known journalist, with whom he defended the White House in 1991, considering this event one of the most important in his life. The difference between the spouses has reached 33 years.
At 61, Leonid Zhukhovitsky, whose personal life is of constant interest, began to meet with the daughter of a friend of Bakushinsky, who appeared in the house on the eve of New, 1994. The girl was only 16, but this did not stop the lovers. Together they are over 20 years old. At the age of 65, the writer became the father of a common daughter, who was named Alena.
Daughters
In total, Zhukhovitsky has two children: Irina (born in 1967) and Alena (born in 1997), who can be seen in the photograph. The first daughter (from Natalia Minina) is 10 years older than the current wife of Zhukhovitsky - Ekaterina Silchenkova. This does not prevent them from having a good relationship with each other. The writer has two grandchildren: Mikhail (born in 1985) and Arina (born in 1999).
