Bulgakov Mikhail - three beloved women in life. Three wives of Mikhail Bulgakov: savior, inspirer and guardian Lyubov Evgenievna Belozerskaya - inspirer

It is interesting that the personal lives of many famous people no less entertaining than their own creations. And people who find themselves drawn into their sphere of influence, according to various reasons enter History with them.

This is especially true for women wives who were able to attract the attention of famous and brilliant people. They, too, probably must have had extraordinary qualities. Which ones? First of all, talent. Yes, yes, exactly them. Because living with such people and living up to them is always difficult. Sometimes you need to suppress your own “I”, to be not just a wife, but a Friend, a Mother. To be able to console and cheer in a timely manner, to meet grief and even joy with dignity is also a great art.

Bulgakov's first wife is Tasya Lappa. The modest shadow of Mikhail Afanasyevich?

Have you noticed that fate, it would seem, is completely different people suddenly found themselves connected to each other in a strange and incomprehensible way? This constantly happened in the life of Bulgakov and his wives. For example, Tatyana Nikolaevna was married twice more. Her third husband was a friend of the writer! He was probably not a bad person. But he was always jealous of his wife for her first husband. Once he even tore up all the documents related to Mikhail Afanasyevich, all his photographs.

But how can we forget that Tatyana was the writer’s guardian angel for many years?

Bulgakov's teenage love of his wife and marriage that lasted 11 years

Bulgakov was 16 years old, she was almost 12 when they met. The young boy and girl experienced such a storm of feelings! Tasya (Tatyana) Lappa, from a large, but good and wealthy, intelligent family, came to visit her relatives. First he showed her Kyiv. They walked, laughed, chatted, non-stop, about everything. Then he rushed in it to visit Saratov.

An ordinary teenage romance—that’s how all their relatives viewed their relationship. But one day they were supposed to see each other for Christmas, Tasya’s parents did not let her go. He even wanted to shoot himself. They tried to “isolate” them from each other, and life circumstances led to this: Bulgakov entered Kyiv University, she graduated from high school with a medal. Then there had to be Paris. But the future Bulgakov's wife went to the historical and philological department of the Higher Women's Courses. And this is Kyiv!

All the relatives around are against them. In addition, Mikhail remained for the second year at the university. But it's all in vain. And finally, the wedding in the spring of 1913. A fit of crazy, causeless laughter is a burst of tension and a feeling of victory and happiness. We lived without grieving, always without money, but it was so loud! Youth, carelessness, unrestraint - all this is so understandable. But it quickly ended because the war began.

Tests, tests, tests...

Many researchers of Bulgakov’s work believe that Tatyana was not quite suitable for him - she did not have any special talents, and was somehow not up to the role of a muse. Dropped out of college. In order to be close to her beloved Mikhail, she became a nurse. Front-line hospitals, dressings and complex operations during which she helped him, carts and weapons in their hands - this is the rhythm and style of their life of that time.

After the war, he worked as a zemstvo doctor near Smolensk. Hunger, poverty all around. For a catastrophically helpless situation - morphine. And she was supposed to have a child. And this is not the first time Tasya has had an abortion. And what kind of children are like that, when they could chase her with a weapon, go berserk during attacks?! They calmed him down and asked him not to take him to any clinic. Repented.

And again Bulgakov’s wife saved him. She gave me a diluted compound under the guise of a drug, and then only water. And in 1919 Vladikavkaz, because they retreated along with the whites. Mikhail fell ill with typhus. I sold everything to save it. So don’t believe in omens - I even gave it away wedding rings. Tiflis, Batum, Odessa, Kyiv, Moscow - she ran after him. At night he begins to write, she heats the water. So that he could put his hands in it and warm up.

Have you been through so much?! And it all started so fun.

Idle fiction or well-founded facts, but it so happened that he abandoned her as soon as he realized that he had succeeded as a writer. At first he visited Tasya. I helped as much as I could. And then he presented “The White Guard” with a dedication to Belozerskaya. And she didn't want to see him anymore. They say that before his death Bulgakov called her.

Bulgakov’s second wife: Lyubov Evgenievna Belozerskaya - business connections or love

He left Lappa so heartlessly and insultingly for the sake of another. The one I met in January 1924 at an evening in honor of A. Tolstoy. And then, regretting it, he brought him to his home, to his family. Strange situation?!

The first wife managed to take care of the housework and sold things to get at least a little money. I was terribly tired and there was no rest - a continuous struggle for survival. Where's the lofty literature?! And Love has always been connected with the world that Bulgakov sought to get to.

Life before Bulgakov

Firstly, the young lady from the capital is a St. Petersburg resident. From a family of a diplomat. She graduated from high school with a silver medal. Then ballet school and singing, drawing. During the war - charitable hospitals. But Lyubov Evgenievna always had connections in literary circles. Her husband, journalist Ilya Vasilevsky, published his own newspaper in Paris. In Berlin, already with her - another. Bulgakov's works periodically appeared in their publications. Therefore, she was familiar with his work - feuilletons and essays - in absentia.

Belozerskaya’s family life did not work out at all. Her husband was terribly jealous of her. She called him Puma. There were, however, various rumors about her love interests. It seemed that, being married, Lyuba was eagerly looking for a new, more suitable match. This is what happened in Kyiv, where she participated in many literary events. It’s not easy to understand, but the passion between Mikhail Afanasyevich and Lyubov Evgenievna was insatiable. He was a little ashamed of this, he believed that his wife was a kind of cross for him. He wrote about her: “Like a thorn sits... that the damn woman tied me up; like a cannon in a swamp...”

"Oh honey, memories"

What a contrast with what she said about him: “I suffered for a long time before I realized who Mikhail Bulgakov was like after all. And suddenly it dawned on me - Chaliapin!” Despite everything, this sophisticated woman, accustomed to comfort, lives with the writer in the “Dovecote” (that’s what they called their unpretentious apartment). And that’s what it says to him here! Actually, at this time the fame of the Playwright came to him.

This is where their common favorite will appear - the cat Flyushka, brought by Mikhail Afanasyevich from Arbat, which became the prototype of Behemoth. So many serious things and sweet little things connected them during these years.

He loved her. This is also evidenced by the fact that, obviously, she was one of the prototypes of his “early” Margarita. He dedicated “The Heart of a Dog” and “The Cabal of the Saints” to her. She helped him (translated from French) when Mikhail Afanasyevich was working on the play “The Life of Monsieur de Molière.” Bulgakov's wife She knew how to give timely and correct advice, and was known (not by chance) as a gifted person herself.

Some of her stories and memories formed the basis of what Bulgakov described - Satan's Great Ball, for example. Therefore, after her divorce from Mikhail Afanasyevich, despite her noble origins, she was able to get a job as an editor of famous publications: “ZhZL”, “Historical Novels”, “ Literary newspaper" and "Ogonyok".

But so little together! All her life she kept his notes and postcards addressed to Lyuban, the cat, i.e. to her, Lyuba Belozerskaya.

“...he who loves must share the fate of the one he loves”

This phrase belongs to his Woland. But, probably, the hero only conveyed the thoughts and expectations of his own creator. And then she appeared - Lyubov Bulgakova.

Bulgakov's third wife: they parted, met, explained

Elena is a fan of Nemirovich-Danchenko, who dreamed of becoming an artist Art Theater. First marriage at 25 years old. Staff officer Yuri Neelov, the son of the artist Mammoth Dalsky, could not restrain his wife. A short marriage - the commander literally took her away from his subordinate.

And she was happy. Two sons, a husband, a professional military man, Evgeniy Shilovsky idolized his wife. He managed to do brilliant career, became an officer of the General Staff. They are surrounded by the Soviet military elite, for example Uborevich. Quiet and relaxing family environment.

And she is drawn to something completely different, to other people, to a different rhythm of life. The meeting with Bulgakov at first turned everything upside down in her soul. But what next? How can such a huge circle of close people be made unhappy? Shilovsky thought to keep her by blackmailing her with children. Elena is fighting with herself - she doesn’t answer the phone, she doesn’t walk along the streets where He might be. 20 months of confusion and anxiety.

And all in vain. And not in best time for the writer. He is almost never published, he addresses the government of the country with a letter of appeal: “... I ask me, a writer who cannot be useful in his own country, to generously release him...”.

How in such creepy time and where to take your beloved with you? But she appeared and everything seemed to immediately begin to improve. She even managed to remain on friendly terms with her husband.

His Margarita, beloved wife, biographer and secretary

1932 - she is Bulgakova. The eldest son is with his father, she goes from prosperity to uncertainty and poverty. Why? Because “only with him will my life receive meaning and color,” - this is what Bulgakov’s wife thought at that time, and she was not mistaken. Despite his fears, when the letter reached Stalin, Mikhail Afanasyevich received a job, which means a permanent piece of bread. He became the director of the Moscow Art Theater. It was unthinkable to even dream about this!

Happiness has finally arrived. What is it like? Motley, not consisting only of joyful events. Like everyone else, but also different. Labor, labor - negotiations with publishing houses, theaters, printing, editing. Bulgakov issued a deed of gift for her to receive royalties. And also diaries - six notebooks that will become bestsellers. Because they are a novel about the immortal Poet and his Muse.

Thanks to her, the novel “The Master and Margarita” was published. Moreover, there was not a single foreign insertion or amendment in it. Elena Sergeevna never allowed herself any corrections, not even blots, although she rewrote her diaries and crossed out things in them endlessly.

She knew that the whole world would talk about Bulgakov and his providence. She lived with him and his life, loved him madly. And he seemed to be in a hurry to write, to live. Knew he was sick. “Give me your word that I will die in your arms,” he asked his beloved. He prepared her for how she would gradually leave the world of the living. It was difficult for her Mishenka to leave the earth. And she was there and suffered with him, unable to ease his torment. Elena Sergeevna had no idea what trials lay ahead of her. She will lose friends and family. And among all the terrible losses - the death of his eldest son at the age of 35 from the same disease that Mikhail Afanasyevich had.

All his wives were directly related to his works - someone gave valuable advice about the storyline, some became the prototype for the main characters, others simply helped organizational issues– he always felt the support of the one who was nearby. This was true exactly 88 years ago, when the Odessa magazine Shkval began publishing excerpts from his novel The White Guard. In the novel “The Master and Margarita” he put into Woland’s mouth the phrase that “he who loves must share the fate of the one he loves” and all his life he proved the correctness of this statement...

Tatiana: First love...

They met in the summer of 1908 - a friend of the future writer’s mother brought her niece Tasya Lappa from Saratov for the holidays. She was only there for a year younger than Mikhail, and the young man with great enthusiasm began to take care of the young lady - they walked a lot, went to museums, talked... They had a lot in common - despite her outward fragility, Tasya had a strong character and always had something to say, she believed in luck.

Tasya felt at home in the Bulgakov family.

But the summer ended, Mikhail went to study in Kyiv. The next time he saw Tasya was only three years later - when he had the chance to go to Saratov, accompanying Tatyana’s grandmother. Now it’s her turn to act as a guide - to show Bulgakov the city, walk through its streets, museums and talk-talk-talk...

The family accepted Mikhail... as a friend, but there was no question of marrying a poor student and a young schoolgirl. But a year later, Bulgakov returned again to the house of the manager of the State House, Nikolai Lappa... and found the right words that convinced the future father-in-law to send his daughter to study in Kyiv.

It should be noted that upon arrival in Kyiv, Tatyana had a serious conversation with the writer’s mother and about their relationship. But here, too, the lovers managed to calm down Varvara Mikhailovna and explain that their union was not just a prank or a whim. And in March 1913, student Bulgakov submitted a petition addressed to the rector to the university office for permission to marry Tatyana Nikolaevna Lappa. And on the 26th it was endorsed: “I authorize.”

During a trip to Saratov for the Christmas holidays, the newlyweds appeared before Tatyana’s parents as a well-established married couple. “Tasya” was a thing of the past, and now in front of them was “the student’s wife - Mrs. Tatyana Nikolaevna Bulgakova.”

They lived by impulse, by mood, never saved and were almost always without money. She became the prototype of Anna Kirillovna in the story "Morphine". She was always there, nursing, supporting, helping. They lived together for 11 years, until Fate brought Mikhail together with Love...

Love: Mature love...

They met in January 1924 at an evening organized by the editors of "Nakanune" in honor of the writer Alexei Tolstoy. Mikhail already felt what it was like to be a writer and was looking for his muse, capable of inspiring and directing his creative impulse in the right direction, capable of soberly assessing the manuscript and giving advice. Unfortunately, Tatyana did not have such a talent (or, indeed, any other talent related to literature). She was just a good man, but this was no longer enough for him.

Lyubov Evgenievna Belozerskaya, on the contrary, had been moving in literary circles for a long time - her then husband published his own newspaper "Free Thoughts" in Paris, and when they moved to Berlin, they together began publishing the pro-Soviet newspaper "Nakanune", where Bulgakov's essays and feuilletons were periodically published.

By the time they met personally, Lyubov was already divorced from her second husband, but continued to actively participate in literary life Kyiv, where she and her husband moved after Berlin. When meeting with Bulgakov, she impressed him so much that the writer decided to divorce Tatyana.

The relationship between Mikhail and Lyubov resembled a creative union. Love helped him with storylines, was the first listener, reader. The couple got married only a year after they met - on April 30, 1925. The happiness lasted only four years. The writer dedicated the story “Heart of a Dog” and the play “The Cabal of the Saint” to her.

But on February 28, 1929, Fate prepared for him a meeting with his friend Lyubov - the one about whom the writer would later say: " I loved only one woman, Elena Nurenberg…"

Elena: Love forever...

They met in the apartment of the artist Moiseenko. Elena herself, many years later, would say about that meeting: " When I met Bulgakov by chance in the same house, I realized that this was my destiny, despite everything, despite the incredibly difficult tragedy of the breakup... we met and were close. It was fast, unusually fast, at least on my part, love for life…"

They were both not free. Elena was married to her second husband, a deeply decent man, and raised two sons. Outwardly, the marriage was ideal. As a matter of fact, he really was like that - Evgeny Shilovsky, a hereditary nobleman, treated his wife with incredible trepidation and love. And she loved him... in her own way: " He amazing person, there are no such people... I feel good, calm, comfortable. But Zhenya is busy almost the whole day... I am left alone with my thoughts, inventions, fantasies, unspent strength... I feel so quiet, family life not quite for me... I want life, I don’t know where to run... my old self awakens in me with a love for life, for noise, for people, for meetings…"

The romance between Bulgakov and Shilovskaya arose suddenly and irrevocably. For both of them it was a difficult ordeal - on the one hand, crazy feelings, on the other - incredible pain for those whom they forced to suffer. They then dispersed and then returned. Elena did not touch his letters, did not answer his calls, never went out alone - she wanted to save the marriage and not hurt her children.

But, apparently, you can’t escape fate. During her first independent walk, a year and a half after Bulgakov’s stormy explanation with her husband, she met Mikhail. And his first phrase was: " I can not live without you!..” She couldn’t live without him either.

This time, Evgeny Shilovsky did not interfere with his wife’s desire to get a divorce. In his letter to his parents, he tried to justify his wife’s action: “ I want you to correctly understand what happened. I do not blame Elena Sergeevna for anything and believe that she acted correctly and honestly. Our marriage, so happy in the past, has come to its natural end. We exhausted each other... Since Lucy had a serious and deep feeling for another person, she did the right thing by not sacrificing him... I am eternally grateful to her for the great happiness and joy of life that she gave me in her time…"

Michael Bulgakov was a connoisseur female beauty. Well-groomed hands, the intoxicating aroma of French perfume, elegance - all this could not leave him indifferent. Who managed to win the writer’s heart? AiF.ru remembers three main women in the life of Mikhail Afanasyevich.

Both into fire and into water

The share of the first wife of Mikhail Bulgakov Tatiana Lappa there were many trials. She withstood the blows of fate with dignity, but in the end it was her own husband who caused her the greatest pain.

Tatiana Lappa. Photo: Public Domain

From the very beginning, the lovers’ relationship was not to the liking of their parents, although the couple seemed to be ideal. Both from good families, with a decent education. But Tatyana’s mother did not dream of such a son-in-law. Bulgakov, in turn, did not like the fact that for the sake of his new hobby, their son began to take his studies frivolously. Despite the protests of their relatives, the young couple got married on April 26, 1913. However joyful event preceded by the first tragedy in the life of the future spouses - abortion. The writer was not ready to become a father, Lappa followed his lead and got rid of the child.

From the very beginning, the newlyweds lived modestly. Tatyana's father helped, sending 50 rubles a month, but the funds quickly ran out. Mikhail Afanasyevich did not like to save; he could easily spend his last money, knowing that tomorrow there would be nothing to buy bread with.

When her husband was sent to the frontline zone as a military doctor, Tatyana followed him. The woman worked as a nurse. She was not afraid of blood, pain, or death. Not every man could watch another patient’s leg or arm be amputated, but she could! After several months of such an unbearable life, the couple settled in the village of Nikolskoye, Smolensk province. But soon another misfortune overtook them. Saving a child from diphtheria, Bulgakov tried to suck out the diphtheria films from his throat with a tube. One of them inadvertently infected Mikhail Afanasyevich himself. He was immediately given a vaccination, which caused a severe allergic reaction: itching, swelling, fever. Then he first injected himself with morphine, which became the beginning of his drug addiction.

House on Reitarskaya Street in Kyiv, where Mikhail Bulgakov and his wife Tatyana Lappa lived in 1913 - 1917. Photo: RIA Novosti / Igor Kostin

Tatyana silently carried this cross. She lived like on a volcano, not knowing how her husband’s next withdrawal would end: in tears and pleas for forgiveness or uncontrollable aggression. One day the writer, in a rage, threw a burning Primus at his own wife. Of course, in such a situation, another pregnancy was a disaster. Fearing the birth of an unhealthy child, Lappa had a second abortion.

The dependence on morphine eventually passed. However, life threw the spouses more and more challenges. In 1920, Bulgakov fell ill with typhus, almost died, and to get rid of the disease, the couple went to the Caucasus. In the fall of 1921 they returned to Moscow. In the hungry capital one had to not live, but survive. However, this did not stop Mikhail Afanasyevich from creating. At night he did not sleep, he wrote his “White Guard”. The wife did not leave her husband in this situation either. She brought him basins with hot water so he could warm his frozen fingers. But Tatyana’s sacrifice, her willingness to always lend her shoulder in everything could not save their marriage. In April 1924, Lappa and Bulgakov divorced due to new love writer. By the way, they say that before his death, Mikhail Afanasyevich really wanted to see his first wife, because all his life he felt guilty about her.

Love with Love

The writer made the decision to separate from his wife after meeting with Lyubov Belozerskaya. Their acquaintance occurred at an evening organized by the editorial office of the newspaper “Nakanune” in honor of the writer Alexey Nikolaevich Tolstoy. She was no match for Tatyana - fashionable, sophisticated, and had acquaintances with many progressive people of that time. For some time the woman lived abroad with her husband, famous journalist Ilya Vasilevsky. But she returned to Russia already being absolutely free. At first, by the way, Bulgakov even suggested that the three of them live with his legal wife, together with his new lover. Naturally, Tatyana was outraged by her husband’s proposal, and then he packed his things and went to his mistress.

Lyubov Belozerskaya. Photo: Public Domain

Relations with Belozerskaya were registered at the end of April 1925. The couple was active social life, especially since Bulgakov’s popularity was gradually gaining momentum. Lyubov Evgenievna often performed the work of a secretary. Bulgakov dictated his works to her. One day they began to compose the comedy “White Clay” together, but later destroyed it. Mikhail Afanasyevich dedicated the story “The Heart of a Dog” and the play “The Cabal of the Saint” (Molière) to his second wife. Many researchers of the writer’s work are confident that it was Belozerskaya who prompted him to introduce the main character into the novel “The Master and Margarita”.

However, not everything was smooth in these relations. Lyubov Evgenievna was interested in everything, just not home. In addition to horse riding and a love of cars, she was partial to telephone conversations with friends. And since the telephone hung above Bulgakov’s desk, the endless chatter more than once became the reason for minor quarrels. One of them cut into the writer’s very heart. One day Mikhail Afanasyevich made a remark to his wife:

- Lyuba, this is impossible, because I work!

And in response I heard:

- Nothing, you are not Dostoevsky!

Their relationship was built on the ruins of their first marriage. Once Lyubov Evgenievna stole the writer from Tatyana Lappa, and seven years later Belozerskaya herself found herself in her place. In 1929, Bulgakov met Elena Shilovskaya, who, despite her own marriage, began an affair with the writer. It would seem that in such cases a scandal is inevitable. However, Mikhail Afanasyevich not only maintained friendly relations with his ex-wife, but the homewrecker Shilovskaya herself did not refuse friendly communication with Belozerskaya.

God loves trinity

Apparently, it is not for nothing that they say that God loves the Trinity. For the writer, Elena Shilovskaya became the third wife, and he became her third husband.

Her first marriage to an officerYuri Neyolovdidn't last long. Second marriage withEvgeniy Shilovskywas much happier, in it the couple had two sons. The husband surrounded Elena with care, he was in the family good income. Their life could be the envy of many people of that time. But just like Bulgakov’s Margarita, Shilovskaya was burdened by this satiety.

Lucy Nurenberg, future Elena Bulgakova. Riga, 1907. Photo: Public Domain

The acquaintance with the writer took place in February 1929 at the house of their mutual friends. Elena Sergeevna immediately attracted the attention of Mikhail Afanasyevich: well-groomed, elegantly dressed, with good manners. The writer always admired such women.

At first they tried to just be friends as families. The Bulgakovs went to visit the Shilovskys, and the Shilovskys visited the Bulgakovs. Elena Sergeevna and Lyubov Evgenievna were friends. However, the lovers soon realized that the feelings that exist between them are not friendship at all. Mikhail Afanasyevich was ready to dot the i’s and leave the family again. But Shilovskaya could not take such a radical step. She knew that her husband saw the meaning of his life in her alone. Leaving your family meant hurting your loved one.

Every day it became more and more difficult to hide the feelings that arose. When Evgeny Alexandrovich learned about his wife’s love affair with the writer, a difficult conversation took place between the men. Bulgakov promised Shilovsky not to see Elena again. The separation lasted almost a year and a half. However, having met again at the Metropol restaurant, they realized that their love had not disappeared anywhere. Elena Sergeevna wrote a letter to her husband asking him to let her go. Evgeny Alexandrovich agreed. The divorce was not easy, they had to decide who the children would stay with. As a result, the eldest settled with his father, and the youngest with his mother. On October 4, 1932, Elena Shilovskaya and Bulgakov got married.

This woman became Mikhail Afanasyevich’s wife and muse, literary secretary and biographer, friend and adviser. She did everything to preserve the writer’s archives. Thanks to her, after Bulgakov’s death, his unpublished works, including “The Master and Margarita,” saw the light of day. Elena Sergeevna outlived her husband by 30 years, never marrying again. She died in July 1970 and was buried at Novodevichy Cemetery next to my husband.

From Riga to Moscow

Elena Sergeevna Bulgakova (née Nuremberg) was born on October 21, 1891 in Riga in the family of a teacher descended from German settlers invited to live in Russia by Catherine II. In 1909, Elena, having completed her studies, left the Riga Women's Gymnasium at the request of her father and since then studied at home with her older sister Olga.

Soon the Nuremberg family moved to Minsk, and there Elena received the first and far from the last marriage proposal in her life. The idea to become related to the Nurembergs came from a certain Bokshansky, an officer and landowner. But either Elena didn’t want to get married, or she didn’t want to get ahead of older sister Olga, in any case, Elena Sergeevna turned things around in such a way that the landowner ended up marrying Olga and was very pleased with it.

In 1915, the whole family ended up in Moscow. After the October coup, Elena's parents returned to Riga, and the future Margarita remained in the capital and began independent life as a typist in the editorial office of the newspaper Izvestia.

Less than a year had passed since Elena’s acquaintance and wedding with a brilliant officer, the son of the then famous artist Mamont Dalsky, Yuri Mamontovich Neelov, took place. Soon the husband received the position of adjutant to the commander of the Western Front and moved to Minsk with his wife.

There they met E. A. Shilovsky, former tsarist officer, who knew Neelov from his service in Moscow. From the first meeting, Shilovsky fell madly in love with Elena Sergeevna and, as a result, did not behave in the best way. Taking advantage of his official position, he got Neelov sent to the Southern Front, and persuaded his wife to file for divorce and marry him.

For Elena, this replacement of husbands was painless. She recalls: “It was in 1921 in June (or July). Evgeniy Alexandrovich and I came to the patriarch to ask for permission to marry. The fact is that I was married to my first husband, but not divorced. We were sitting in the reception room of the patriarch's house, when suddenly the door on the far wall opened and the patriarch came out. Right hand he put his arm around Gorky's waist and they walked across the room. Then he, having escorted Gorky to the door, came up to us and invited us to his place. When Evgeniy Aleksandrovich expressed his request, he smiled and told some witty anecdote, either about bigamy or bigamy, - I don’t remember, unfortunately. And, of course, he gave permission.”

Sweet life

Elena Sergeevna's new husband very quickly climbed the career ladder. This part of Elena’s life in the image of Margarita, like much else, was later described by Bulgakov in his novel: “We can say with confidence that many women would give anything to exchange their lives for the life of Margarita Nikolaevna.

Childless thirty-year-old Margarita was the wife of a very prominent specialist, who also made a very important discovery of national importance. Her husband was young, handsome, kind, honest and adored his wife. Margarita Nikolaevna did not need money. Margarita Nikolaevna could buy whatever she liked. Among her husband's acquaintances there were interesting people. Margarita Nikolaevna never touched a Primus stove... She didn’t know the horrors of living in a shared apartment.”

All of the above is the pure truth, and an impossible dream for the 99 percent who lived in Russia in those terrible famine years. And many of us know firsthand about the horrors of communal life, which have not been exterminated to this day.

But what happens to Elena? “Gods, my gods! What did this woman need, in whose eyes some kind of incomprehensible light always burned?” In October 1923, she wrote to her sister Olga: “I feel that such a quiet, family life is not quite for me. Or rather, sometimes I get into such a mood that I don’t know what’s happening to me. Nothing interests me at home, I want life, I don’t know where to run, but I really want to.”

Love

In such a difficult, hopeless state of mind and her meeting with M.A. Bulgakov takes place. They met on February 28, 1929 at the apartment of the artists Moiseenko.

Elena Sergeevna recalled this meeting: “I was just the wife of Lieutenant General Shilovsky. But when I met Bulgakov by chance in the same house, I realized that this was my destiny, despite everything, despite the incredibly difficult tragedy of the breakup. I did all this because without Bulgakov for me there was neither the meaning of life nor justification for it...”

Mikhail Afanasyevich himself most clearly conveyed his feelings in the novel: “I was struck not so much by her beauty as by the extraordinary, unprecedented loneliness in her eyes! I suddenly realized that I had loved this woman all my life! We talked as if we had parted yesterday, as if we had known each other for many years.”

The break with Shklovsky was extremely painful. Initially, Elena was terribly worried about her sudden love; she did not want to part with the children - by that time they had two boys.

The step from a wealthy life to virtual poverty and uncertainty is extremely difficult to take. For twenty long months, Elena forbade herself to see Bulgakov.

But love won. On October 3, 1932, Elena Sergeevna’s marriage to Shilovsky was dissolved, and on October 4 she became the wife of M. A. Bulgakov. Elena took her youngest son, Seryozha, with her, and he and Mikhail Afanasyevich established a good relationship, and the eldest son remained with his father. Shilovsky never forgot about his ex-wife, And for a long time helped her and his youngest son. But he hated Bulgakov and never met him.

Tragedy

Elena Sergeevna plunged headlong into the life and work of her new husband, a writer. She took upon herself all the routine part of the work: reprinting manuscripts, concluding contracts. When Bulgakov began to lose his sight, Elena typed from his dictation.

Even before the wedding, according to Elena’s recollections, she and her new husband had the following conversation: “But then he (Bulgakov) told me something that I don’t know why, I accepted with laughter. He told me: “Give me your word that I will die in your arms”... And I, laughing, said: “Of course, of course, you will die in my arms...”. He said, "I'm very serious, swear." And as a result, I vowed.”

Elena Sergeevna kept her word. On March 10, 1940, Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov died in the arms of his Margarita.

After the death of her third husband, Elena was left with an apartment on Nashchokinsky Lane and the rights to Bulgakov’s literary and dramatic works.

Elena Sergeevna spent the rest of her life ensuring that all of Bulgakov’s works were published. Sergei Shilovsky, grandson of Elena Sergeevna, says: “The first complete collection of Bulgakov’s works was prepared by Tyupa, excuse me, my grandmother. That's what her close people called her, including me. How grandma got this nickname and what it means - no one knows. It was fashionable for her generation to give each other humorous names. So, in the late 1950s, my grandmother typed out all the texts of Bulgakov’s works, sewed them together, and the result was a complete collection of works.”

This typewritten collection of Bulgakov's works is kept by Sergei Shilovsky. With a question about mass publication literary heritage Elena Bulgakova appealed to the highest authorities and even to Stalin himself. However, the first collections of Bulkakov’s plays were published only after the leader’s death, in 1955.

Meetings in a dream

Elena Sergeevna claimed that she saw Bulgakov even after his death - in a dream. A word from Sergei Shilovsky: “She often talked about “meetings,” not at all embarrassed that they were just dreams. One case was described by the famous Bulgakov scholar Yanovskaya. When she told Elena Sergeevna that the novel “The White Guard”, in her opinion, was not completed, my grandmother replied matter-of-factly: “I also wanted to ask Misha about this. I’ll definitely do it today.”

People who didn’t know her might think that the old woman was simply out of her mind. However, I can assure you that even in old age she retained her sound mind, excellent memory and a cheerful disposition. For example, she knew The Master and Margarita by heart.”

The accident occurred in July 1970. While watching fragments of the film “Running,” which took place in a small, stuffy hall at Mosfilm, Elena Sergeevna began to feel ill. Her son took her home, doctors were invited, but they failed to save 76-year-old E. S. Bulgakova: on July 18, she died.

Elena Sergeevna was buried in the same grave with her Master - at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow.

Mikhail Bulgakov was once told that he would be married three times. According to legend, the first wife is from God, the second from people, and the third from the devil. On the third and last time the writer married Elena Shilovskaya, in whose beauty, if you believe the portraits, there really was something devilish... She was destined to become the prototype of the fatal Margarita from the immortal novel.

Read other articles from the “Love Stories” series:

Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov was born on May 3 (15), 1891 in the family of Afanasy Ivanovich Bulgakov, a teacher at the Kyiv Theological Academy. In 1909 he entered the medical faculty of the Imperial University of St. Vladimir in Kyiv and graduated with honors in 1916. While still a student, he married Tatyana Nikolaevna Lappa, with whom he fell in love as a high school student. They lived together for 11 years, walking hand in hand through the First World War, the Revolution and the Civil War.

In the early 20s, the family moved to Moscow. By that time, Mikhail had left medicine and taken up writing. They lived hard, sold things, Bulgakov published his essays and feuilletons in newspapers.

In January 1924, Mikhail Afanasyevich met the bright and charming Lyubov Evgenievna Belozerskaya and fell in love with her. The feeling turned out to be mutual, and in April Bulgakov’s divorce from his first wife followed. A year later, he married Belozerskaya, who began to help him in all literary matters.

Elena Sergeevna Nuremberg, who later became Bulgakov’s third wife, was born in 1893 in Riga into a family school teacher. She received a good education: she knew several foreign languages, understood literature, classical music, theater arts...

From a young age, the beautiful Lenochka had fans. When she was only fifteen, Lieutenant Bokshansky wooed her, but the girl persuaded him to marry her sister Olga, who was in love with Bokshansky.

Without finishing her high school course, Elena moved to Moscow with her parents, and in 1918 she got a job as a typist at the Russian Telegraph Agency (ROSTA). In December of the same year, she married Yuri Neelov, the son of the then famous artist and revolutionary anarchist Mamont Dalsky. The marriage lasted only two years: Elena left her husband for Lieutenant General Yevgeny Shilovsky. At the end of 1920, she and Evgeniy got married, and soon they had a son, named Evgeniy after his father. Then another one - Sergei...

Despite the fact that Evgeny Shilovsky was a decent man and loved Elena Sergeevna, she was not happy with him: the husband was busy all day at work and could not pay much attention to his wife. She was burdened by this.

On February 28, 1929, with mutual friends, the Moiseenko family of artists, Elena met Mikhail Bulgakov, who was married at that time to Lyubov Belozerskaya. Later in her memoirs, E. S. Bulgakova will write: “I realized that this was my destiny... It was fast, unusually fast, at least on my part, love for life.”

For almost two years, Elena Sergeevna was tormented by doubts, her heart was torn between her family and her loved one. But still, love for Mikhail Afanasyevich won. When Shilovsky found out about the affair, he demanded to break off the relationship and stated that in the event of a divorce he would not give Elena his sons... She did not meet with Bulgakov for a long year and a half. Then they met again by chance, and Shilovskaya decided to finally leave her husband and marry Mikhail. “I did all this because without Bulgakov for me there was neither the meaning of life nor justification for it,” Elena will say.

On October 3, 1932, Elena dissolved her marriage to Evgeniy, and on the same day the marriage between Bulgakov and Belozerskaya, who by that time was already having an affair, was dissolved. Already on October 4, Mikhail and Elena got married. Elena Sergeevna's eldest son stayed with his father, and the youngest began to live with his mother and stepfather.

The novel "The Master and Margarita" was completed in early September 1936. There was no need to guess who was hiding under the names of the main characters: of course, it was Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov himself and his beloved wife, his muse Elena Sergeevna! The writer admitted that he had never loved a single woman in his life as much as she did...

They lived together for eight years. Elena Sergeevna devoted herself to her husband and his work. She was his literary secretary, took dictation and typed his manuscripts, and then edited them, drew up contracts, answered letters...

At the end of 1939, Bulgakov’s health deteriorated sharply, he suffered from severe headaches and practically lost his sight... On March 10, 1940, Mikhail Afanasyevich died in the arms of Elena Sergeevna.

The writer's widow survived him for thirty long years, and all these years she kept his memory alive and created an archive of Bulgakov's works. She died on July 18, 1970 at the age of 76 and was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery, next to her husband.