Since 2013, Russian journalist Simonyan Margarita Simonovna has been the editor-in-chief of the TV channel “Russia Today” (“Russia Today”). When she took office, she was only 25 years old. This appointment was the most discussed topic in that period, many were perplexed why the twenty-five-year-old Armenian girl was entrusted with such a responsible post. What distinguished Simonyan Margarita Simonovna? Compromising evidence on her person, however, was not discovered. And the passions subsided. Further in the article we will talk about the life path of this amazing woman who was able to make such a successful career.
Simonyan Margarita Simonovna: biography, parents
The future journalist was born in early April 1980, in the southern city of Krasnodar. Margarita has a sister, Alice. After she took the post of General Director of the RT channel in 2013, many began to wonder who Simonyan’s parents were. Margarita Simonovna and her sister lived in very cramped conditions from childhood. Their father was a master at repairing refrigerators, and their mother was a flower girl, and from morning to night she sold flowers at the market. The money earned by the parents was enough only for food. Their house was very old and was located on one of the outskirts of Krasnodar, named after the great Russian writer N.V. Gogol. The house was teeming with rats; there were no simple living conditions: gas, sewage and water supply. Today, one cannot even believe that such terrible conditions of existence could exist in the USSR. In this horror, the girls had to live for about 10 years, after the family got an apartment. It was life at the bottom that prompted Margarita an irresistible desire to break out of poverty and take place in life.
Academic success
Despite the fact that Margarita's parents did not pay much attention to the development of the intellectual and creative abilities of the children, the girls were smart and rather diligent. Little Ritochka was one of the first in the kindergarten group to learn to read. The teacher told her to read fairy tales to her classmates before going to bed. Later Simonyan Margarita Simonovna was admitted to the first class of specialized school number 36 of the city of Krasnodar. Here they studied in-depth study of foreign languages. It turned out that the girl has a great ability for English. She studied for one "five", and she was sent to the Olympics. When the girl was 16 years old, and she was in the 9th grade, she had a great opportunity to improve her English skills to the proper level. She was sent as a student exchange program to the United States, to the state of New Hampshire. She settled in a very friendly and warm family, went to an American school, talked with her peers and comprehended the features of life in mysterious America. With this family she still has wonderful, one might say “family” relations. Margarita even thought about staying overseas, but soon realized that she was best off living in her native country.
Higher education
After leaving school, by the way, with a medal of distinction, Simonyan Margarita Simonovna, whose biography is the topic of this article, entered the journalism faculty of Kuban State University, along with this, she studied at the V. Pozner School of Television Mastery, and also wrote poetry. It turned out that the collection of verses of the 18-year-old Armenian woman interested the press, and a film crew came to her home to make a report about it. It was during this interview that she mentioned that she dreams of becoming a journalist. And then she was invited to work on Krasnodar television.
The first steps in the media
In December 1999, she went to Chechnya to cover the fighting. At the same time, Margarita decided to spare her parents and only told them that she was going on another business trip. At the same time, Margarita began to shoot stories for federal channels. Her fearlessness and professionalism were highly appreciated by the government, and Simonyan Margarita Simonovna was awarded many federal awards. A year later, she was appointed the leading editor of the information portal of the Krasnodar shopping and entertainment complex, and in 2000, she was appointed editor-in-chief on the same channel. Later, she moved to the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Channel in the city of Rostov-on-Don. Then Margarita decides to continue her “military” career and goes to Abkhazia, writes reports on clashes in the Kodori Gorge.
To Moscow
In 2002, Simonyan Margarita Simonovna finally received an invitation from the direction of the Vesti television program to work as a cathedral, naturally, having moved to Moscow. Of course, she accepted the invitation, and soon she was already a member of the presidential pool. In September 2004, a terrible tragedy occurred in North Ossetia, in Beslan. At that time Margarita was in the Minvody. She received an order from the channel’s editors and went to the scene of the tragedy. All the while the hostages were in the hands of terrorists, she stood at the school and went on the air every half hour. Sometimes her voice broke due to sobbing choking her. After that, she could not recover for a long time.
First responsible post
In 2005, Russia Today was created in Moscow. He broadcast in English and was called upon to express an official Russian position on various political situations in the world. In the professional sphere, many were surprised that Margarita Simonyan was appointed the editor-in-chief of the channel. Nevertheless, RIA Novosti made arguments regarding this appointment. According to them, the head of the service was supposed to be so young as not to remember what the news on Soviet television was like. She must have a new mindset, a modern outlook on everything. In addition, she was fluent in English and could objectively evaluate the flow of information. Later Margarita also led the Arabic and Spanish versions of the channel.
Career
In 2011, Margarita decided to create her own news project “What is happening” on the REN TV channel and act as its presenter. The program was broadcast weekly, where M.S.Simonyan discussed the most important events of recent days, which federal channels avoided talking about. Direct participants in these events were invited to the program. After 2 years, a new political live show appeared on NTV, hosted by Margarita Simonyan and Tina Kandelaki - Armenian and Georgian. The transfer was called “Iron Ladies”. However, due to some reasons, the show was closed.
Creation
Since childhood, Margarita dreamed of becoming a writer. She wrote poetry, and already at the age of 18 published a collection of poems written by her. Her next book was published in 2010 and was called "To Moscow." This is a novel about a generation of the nineties, about the difficulties, the difficult fate of people whose life coincided with the collapse of the USSR, about the unfulfilled dreams of young people who lost their present and future in an instant. A year after the release of the novel, Margarita received an award for the best book written by a journalist. Her next work was the novel “The Train”. She published excerpts from her in the journal Russian Pioneer, for which she also writes cooking articles.
Margarita Simonyan: biography, personal life
The journalist does not like to talk about herself. In 2012, in an interview, she said that for 6 years now she and journalist Andrei Blagodyrenko have been living in a civil marriage, and as regards the consolidation of official relations and weddings, she is not at all ready for this. In the same year, Margarita went to Sochi, where the family restaurant Simonyanov “Hot!” Was being built. It was there that she became close with her compatriot, a famous director. Tigran Keosayan and Margarita Simonyan spent more and more time in each other's company. And everyone already perceived them as a couple, despite the fact that Tigran continued to be married to actress Alena Khmelnitsky. A year later, in the summer of 2013, Margarita gave birth to a daughter, Maryana. The next year, a son was born to her and Tigran, who was named in the Armenian name Bagrat. Today Simonyan Margarita Simonovna and Keosayan Tigran are a family, although they are not legally married. They have two beautiful kids.
Awards and titles
In 2000, Margarita was in the arena of military operations in Chechnya and was reporting in bulletproof vest. For devotion to the profession, for courage and professionalism, she received a state award.
In the same year, Margarita was recognized as the winner of the II All-Russian competition of regional television and radio companies. Her television report on the children of Chechnya was recognized as the best. Still all in the same 2000, she received a presidential scholarship.
In 2010, in Moscow, the President of the Republic of Armenia handed the “Movses Khorenatsi” medal to the famous journalist - the highest government award of the Republic of Armenia.
She has several more state awards of the Russian Federation: “For Merit to the Fatherland of the 4th Degree” (2014), two “Order of Friendship” (2007 and 2008), and others.
In 2012, the name of Margarita Simonyan was included in the list of 100 most influential women of the Russian Federation, where she took 33rd place. She is a member of the public council at the main department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, and since 2013, as appointed by D. Kiselyov, she took up the post of chief editor of MIA “Russia”
