In the Olympic 1980, a woman died in the very center of festive Moscow, who in her youth conquered many of the world's elite with her beauty, and in the post-war years she was one of the richest women in the capital. She died of severe exhaustion, or, more simply, from hunger. This woman was Margarita Ivanovna Konenkova, whose biography could form the basis of a fascinating novel.
Province girl
Two years before the revolution, a family of impoverished Vorontsov nobles came to Moscow from the small city of Sarapul. Despite the fact that their life had previously gone on in the distant and remote Udmurtia, these people were not at all like provincials. They gave their daughter Margarita, who was born in 1894, an excellent home education, which allowed her to be fluent in English, German and French. Sitting at the piano, the girl could fluently from the sheet perform very complex plays and shine, albeit with a weak, but well-posed soprano.
In her youth, Margarita Konenkova, whose birth date was marked by the accession to the throne of the last Russian emperor, was a great success in society. But her main talent was not in playing music and not in the ability to conduct elegant conversation in a foreign language. This girl was sent a gift to charm everyone who had to communicate with her. Especially vulnerable to her charms were men, including those who had already reached a considerable age and high social status.
The new star of Moscow salons
Once in Moscow, Margarita without any apparent effort managed to quickly enter the circle of high society, where she immediately found herself worthy patrons. Very soon the doors of the best houses opened for her. Rotating in the cycle of social life, she became a frequent guest in the Chaliapin family, where she made acquaintance with representatives of the highest Moscow bohemia. Among her new fans was also recognized by then musical genius Sergei Rachmaninov.
However, the first victim of the young seducer was Boris Chaliapin - the son of a famous singer, and then the respected Fedor Ivanovich himself. He was still young - a little over forty, and is it any wonder that his father squeezed his offspring. Secular life does not exist without gossip, and many of the then beau monde claimed that Margarita also did not disappoint with the refusal of two other Russian celebrities - S. Rachmaninov and A. Blok, who often visited the hospitable Chaliapins.
Wife of the venerable sculptor Margarita Konenkova
Biography, photos and other documents of those years paint us the image of a young beauty who decided to get a winning ticket from fate. There, in the circle of people of art, Margarita met a young Moscow sculptor Pyotr Bromirsky, who soon proposed to her.
Preparations for the wedding were in full swing when Peter introduced the bride to his older comrade and colleague, sculptor Sergei Timofeevich Konenkov. This acquaintance determined her entire future fate. The famous sculptor quickly fell under the charm of a young provincial woman, who soon became for him a muse, model, and common-law wife.
Officially, the marriage was concluded only six years later. The reason for the delay was the reluctance of the bride's parents to give their blessing because of the age difference - Sergei Timofeevich was twenty-two years older than their daughter. The wedding took place in 1922, and now it’s not Rita Vorontsova, but Margarita Konenkova (photo see at the beginning of the article) that has become an inseparable companion of the famous sculptor until the end of her life.
Departure overseas
In 1923, an exhibition of Russian and Soviet art was held in New York. For the Bolshevik government, which recently came to power and compromised itself with the horrors of the Civil War, it was extremely important to demonstrate to the whole world the desire to move in the general stream of spiritual progress.
The New York exhibition was a convenient excuse for this, and soon Margarita Konenkova with her husband as part of the Soviet delegation went overseas. The trip was supposed to last several months, but fate decreed otherwise. They saw Moscow only twenty-two years later.
Success in High American Society
In America, Margarita Konenkova was an extraordinary success. Beautiful by nature, elegantly dressed and fluent in English, she just as easily conquered New York high society, as in previous years, Moscow. Thanks to her gift to win the sympathy of others, Margarita was soon accepted among the highest representatives of the political and business elite. Using this, she always knew how to provide her husband with expensive orders and prestigious exhibitions, so he soon became one of the most fashionable and sought-after portrait painters in America.
Muse and assistant artist
Margarita Konenkova, as is known from the memoirs of a family of people who knew them, was extremely necessary for her husband while working with the model. It is known that one of the main advantages of his sculptures is an extraordinary liveliness, captured in facial features. This was possible due to the fact that the artist’s wife during the session knew how to captivate the posing person so pleasantly that all traces of tension disappeared in him and naturalness appeared.
The Secret Mission of the Four Konenkovs
However, the activities of the Konenkovs were not limited only to art and social life. As it turned out much later, they also carried out a secret mission assigned to them by the Soviet secret services. The fact is that this whole aspect of their life has not yet been declassified, and what tasks they performed can be judged only from fragmentary data.
It was the Soviet intelligence agent Margarita Konenkova who even before the start of World War II reported to Moscow that in America, under the leadership of Robert Oppenheimer, nuclear weapons were being developed. But this was preceded by an extraordinary romantic story, which lasted several years and became one of the brightest pages of her life.
Einstein's relocation to America
It all started with the fact that when in 1933 Hitler came to power and began to pursue a fierce anti-Semitic policy, many Jews living in Germany, scientists and artists, were forced to leave the country. Among them was a professor at the University of Berlin Albert Einstein. He immigrated to America, where he was received with great joy.
Soon, the management of the scientific center, in which he began to work, wished to have a bust of his honored employee. Margarita Konenkova, spinning in higher circles, managed to make her husband receive the order. As a result, a brilliant physicist ended up in their house, at first as a model, and very soon becoming a friend of the sculptor and his wife.
Socialite
There is much evidence that, being among the creams of New York society, Margarita did not always reject the courtship of its most interesting representatives. Despite the status of a married lady, many famous politicians and businessmen of those days found their place in her heart. That friendship with the scientists who frequented in their house soon grew into a love affair.
As her former friends recall, Margarita Konenkova, whose personal life has repeatedly attracted the attention of biographers, in her thirty-five years possessed, as in early youth, an extraordinary attractiveness, the secret of which was hidden mainly in the gaze of her radiant green eyes. They were simultaneously both vicious and innocent so much that Sergei Timofeevich for a long time remained in happy ignorance regarding the adventures of his loving wife. However, this is by no means uncommon.
Margarita and the "father of the atomic bomb"
Albert Einstein and Margarita Konenkova were very frank with each other, and the scientist knew about her cooperation with the Soviet intelligence services, but he was sympathetic to this. For him, a Jew, Hitlerite Germany was the main enemy, and the Soviet Union, in his opinion, was the main force capable of resisting this evil. After Einstein's wife died in 1936, Margarita began to visit his house often. Physicists constantly gathered here, among whom was the "father of the atomic bomb" Robert Oppenheimer.
Despite the fact that much of her activity is still hidden in the archives of the special services, it is reliably known that it was during that period that Margarita received information about the development of nuclear weapons by the Americans in Moscow. It is hard to say how she managed to get them. Einstein had nothing to do with secret work, therefore, she could not learn anything from him. It is unlikely that conversations at the table concerned forbidden topics. It remains to be assumed that Konenkova managed to win over Oppenheimer himself.
Fame and fame
Margarita's peak in high American circles falls at the start of World War II, when the Russian Aid Society is created in the USA. Many prominent figures of the Russian emigration of those years become its members. Her husband Sergei Timofeevich is elected a member of the Central Council, and Margarita becomes his managing secretary.
On the pages of newspapers her photographs are printed in a multitude. She is in the center of public attention and becomes even more famous. Among the close friends of Konenkova appears Eleanor Roosevelt - the wife of the President of America. Demand rises again, and with it the price of sculptures made by her husband. Perhaps this is the best period of her stay abroad. She is happy, rich, popular and loved by men.
Return to Moscow
But everything comes to an end. In 1945, two people who love each other are forever separated - Albert Einstein and Margarita Konenkova. The biography of this woman makes an unexpected turn. It was then that an order came from Moscow to return to their homeland, and the couple were getting ready to see Russia again after twenty-two years of separation. Over the years spent in America, they acquired so much property that for its transportation to the Soviet Union it took to rent a whole ship.
In Moscow, however, a rather cold welcome awaited them. The war had just ended, and the country was recovering from heavy losses. People lived poorly, often huddled by large families in the cells of communal apartments. It is understandable that the rich gentlemen, who came from abroad and immediately received a huge luxurious apartment in the center of the capital, caused general irritation. Spouses were isolated.
last years of life
Margarita Konenkova, whose photo of those years completes the article, even tried to seek support from L.P. Beria himself by sending him a letter with a list of her and men's merits. It is not known whether she received an answer, but since then they have led a very closed life. In 1971, Sergei Timofeevich dies.
The last years of her life are very sad. Left alone and having no relatives, Margarita Ivanovna becomes a victim of a swindler who, using the helplessness of this eighty-year-old woman, shamelessly robs her. A beggar, forgotten by all, she died in 1980, the Olympic year, in the center of festive Moscow. So Konyonkova Margarita Ivanovna passed away. Biography, photos of this woman and the memories of her friends formed the basis of this article.