No matter how they called this woman: and the greedy Valkyrie, and the whore, and the enchantress, and the witchcraft Slav, her main purpose was to be the muse of the greats.
It's hard to be around a great person. It is in the big world that he is a genius, and the “little spoiled child” with his complexes, shortcomings and whims returns to the family world. How can a faithful friend of life not get lost in the shadow of greatness, not get bogged down in everyday life? Such a description can be given to anyone, but not Elena Dyakonova - she liked to raise geniuses on her own.
Life in Russia
The hometown of Elena Ivanovna Dyakonova was Kazan, where she was born at the end of the nineteenth century, more precisely - on August 26, 1894. Kazan at that time was far from being a provincial town in the usual sense of the word. University, second only in age to Moscow, gymnasium, one of the first among provincial cities, electricity, theater, horse tram. But the girl was not satisfied with life "in the wilderness", she saw her personal life quite differently: she wanted a pastime that was bright, like fireworks, so that everything around was boiling and sparkling.
Lena could not hope for a better fate, her father was a petty employee who brought funds into the house that would not only allow him to starve to death. She grows up as a rather introverted child, and besides, she is ugly.
When the girl was 11 years old, the father dies, and the mother will soon remarry. Dmitry Gomberg becomes Elena's stepfather, so in later life she sometimes calls herself Dmitrievna.
The new husband takes the family to Moscow. Here the girl begins her studies at a rather prestigious gymnasium, shows brilliant results and goes into adulthood as a teacher. The stepfather takes care of the brilliant upbringing and education of his stepdaughter, prepares her for publication. The knowledge gained in the gymnasium, fluency in French, a good orientation in art, poetry, music, a desire to continue her studies - all indicated that the girl had good prospects of being noticed and successfully marrying. But life ordered it in its own way.
At the age of 16, Elena is diagnosed with tuberculosis. The girl needed to be treated abroad. Her stepfather and her mother send her to Switzerland, to a sanatorium near Davos. Despite the rules of decency, Helen goes completely alone, unaccompanied, as expected. She revels in freedom and is very proud of herself: her dreams are beginning to come true.
Muse of the poet
In Klavedele, Elena completely abandons her name - now she is Gala (accent on the last syllable). This means that her life will be like a holiday. Gala - "celebration, holiday" (French).
At the resort, she met with a young Frenchman, Eugene Grendel, who was sent by a rich and influential father to be treated … "from poetry." Feelings flared up between the young people. Elena Ivanovna instinctively realized that she had talent in front of her, and the young man in love threw her with poetry. In his heart, the intention to get married quickly matured, but his parents were categorically against marriage "with some Russian."
A year after the start of treatment, the girl returns to her homeland. Eugene writes her gentle and affectionate letters in verse, she reciprocates, calls him diminutive names and discourages him from going to the war, which had begun by that time. With marriage, the matter does not progress. Then Elena takes the liberty of writing to his mother, sends her tender and sincere messages. After all, she already had a life in her head that she would lead in France. Finally, good mother Eugene persuades her father, and the young get permission to marry.
In February 1917, Elena Dyakonova leaves to live in France, where she happily marries the poet Paul Eluard. This is Eugene's pseudonym, which Gala herself suggested to him. And under this name the whole world recognized him.
The young spouses lead a completely social life: balls, famous cafes, theaters, and fashionable resorts in the summer. Gala shines with pleasure in society, knows how to surprise the environment.
In the summer of 21, while at the next fashionable resort, the spouses meet the same young couple. Max Ernst and his wife Lou had a good time with Paul and Gala, until a romance began between Max and Gala. And again she felt genius - Ernst would soon be world famous as well. Paul, Max and Gala began to live in three. Surprisingly, this extraordinary woman managed to love both equally.
"Demoness" genius
By the time Gala Salvador Dali appeared in her life, she was 36 years old. The artist was 11 years younger, was terrified of relationships with women and never had them. He was tall, skinny, clumsy, not trained in secular manners, but that did not deceive the woman's intuition. Contrary to her own notions of life, Gala abandons the wealthy Paul (she has already fallen out of love with Ernst) and leaves with a beggar artist to Spain.
At first, their life is spent modestly in the countryside, in a small house. Salvador Dali was sure that the artist's path runs through thorns, along a road strewn with sharp stones, and he simply must die in poverty. But life's friend thinks completely differently. She makes incredible efforts to make her husband famous, and gets her way. From a poor, eccentric, unknown to anyone, Dali turns into a multimillionaire.
He worships his wife, considers her his muse, albeit demonic, even signs his paintings "Gala-Salvador-Dali", and she fiddles with him like a child, looks after him, gives medicine on time and even reads at night.
For the rest of their lives, this couple was tied by passionate, even crazy, love. They were married 50 times in their life together. No, they did not get divorced, just, in every country the couple visited, they first went to church and “confirmed” their marriage, although the number of young lovers in the wife's life only grew over the years. But this not only did not depress Dali, but even turned on, and he himself was not a model of loyalty.
Without Gala, perhaps the world would not have seen a brilliant artist.
Elena Dyakonova died in 1982. The famous artist lived several years longer, every morning starting with a visit to her crypt.
