Today, a lot is written about the Great Patriotic War. Most of the memoirs featured the name of the Marshal of Victory - George Zhukov. In memory of his second wife, whose name was Galina Aleksandrovna Zhukova, this article is devoted to.
Beautiful girl named Galina
Galina was born in 1926 in Saratov. Since childhood, she dreamed of becoming a doctor. Despite the fact that her youth was seared by the war, she was able to realize what she wanted. I entered the medical institute. She received a higher medical education and became a military doctor, since at that time such specialists in the field of medicine were required.
Military service threw Galina into the distant city of Sverdlovsk for her. However, the young girl did not know that it was in this city that she would meet her fate.
Galina from her youth was pretty, young people looked at her, however, the girl was decorated not only with external attractiveness, but also with modesty. And after the war there were few peers left, it was too terrible a war, many young people never returned home, did not create their families, did not give birth to children. So the girls were longing alone.
Unusual meeting
Galina Aleksandrovna Zhukova (Semenova) met her future husband in Sverdlovsk, where she served as a military doctor. It happened back in 1950. Five years have passed since Marshal Zhukov led the Victory Parade on a white horse. Now the great military leader himself fell into disgrace. He was no longer allowed to stay in Moscow, fate threw him into the big cities of the Soviet province.
The famous Marshal, who then commanded the Urals Military District, ended up in 1950 with a microinfarction hospital. Zhukov was fascinated by the young female doctor Galina Semenova, whom she accidentally saw in the hospital. Good friendships immediately arose between them, which turned into a strong love affection.
By the way, it was an unusual couple. Zhukov was 30 years older than Galina, but this did not prevent the lovers from feeling infinitely happy. Indeed, love can transform us.
First difficulties
However, Galina Aleksandrovna Zhukova could not immediately become the wife of Marshal in love with her. The fact is that for many years Georgy Zhukov lived in a civil marriage with Alexandra Zuikova, from whom he had several children.
His common-law wife, who was generally accustomed to the fact that her husband was known as a famous womanizer, this time made every effort to keep the marshal near him. As a result of a long struggle, it was Alexander who made Zhukov marry herself. This event happened already when Zhukov and Galina were familiar with each other and planned a joint family life.
It would seem that for Galina this should be a point in their relationship with Zhukov, but the marshal himself did not even want to hear about a possible break in relations.
He ensured that his beloved was transferred to Moscow, to the Burdenko hospital. He was able to help Galina and her mother in getting an apartment. The novel of the marshal and the young military doctor continued with renewed vigor, despite the fact that external circumstances rather contributed to the severance of their relationship.
Birth of a daughter and hardship
The joyful event of 1957 was the birth of the last daughter of Zhukov, Maria. Galina Aleksandrovna Zhukova at that moment was not yet officially married to her future husband.
Zhukov had to live in two families. This difficult marital status of a well-known marshal in the USSR aroused malicious ridicule among others. There were also those who sought to avenge Zhukov for past grievances and write a denunciation that he behaves like a bigamist.
Galina Aleksandrovna Zhukova, being an honest and decent woman, was hard pressed by the situation around her, because she also had to live in an atmosphere of envy and gossip. However, the birth of her daughter was a real miracle for her, because before that she had lost her baby.
Wedding
Marshal and Galina could register their marriage only in 1965. Now everyone knew that Galina Aleksandrovna Zhukova was the wife of Marshal Zhukov, official and legal.
However, the very hero of the war, this marriage was expensive. At that time, there was a struggle within the Central Committee of the CPSU for the role of the leader of the Soviet state, Zhukov, who served as Minister of Defense, also had to take part in this struggle. Therefore, he could not solve the issues of his personal life. Only after retiring did the marshal finally marry the woman he loved with all his heart.
By the way, his first wife could not bear the betrayal of her husband, tried in every possible way to return him to his family and died after a divorce three years later.
After the wedding, the Zhukovs began to live a quiet and peaceful life. When leaving for business, the marshal always wrote beautiful sincere letters to his wife, telling her about everything he saw. These letters are full of love, tenderness and care.
Tragedy
It would seem that the age difference between the spouses could enable Georgy Konstantinovich to die quietly in the arms of his beloved wife, but life prepared the last difficult test for the spouses.
Galina Aleksandrovna Zhukova, whose biography tells us about her love for her husband, fell ill. The diagnosis was very serious: "breast cancer." Surgery was late. Marshal, learning about this, he was very worried, which undermined his health.
Doctors vainly fought for the life of a very old woman, but could not do anything. Zhukova's wife Galina Alexandrovna died of cancer in 1973. They buried her at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow.
Georgy Konstantinovich was inconsolable, although he did not show his grief to others. He survived his beloved wife only for six months, passing away in 1974. The marshal himself asked to be buried with his wife, but the Soviet leadership decided to bury Zhukov's ashes in the Kremlin wall. The daughters of the spouses Mary in 1974 only turned 17 years old.
Memoirs of the daughter of Masha
Maria Zhukova became the last and youngest daughter of the marshal. Left at a young age without parents, Maria Georgievna keeps a bright memory of them all her life. It was Maria Zhukova who published a book of memoirs about her mother and father ten years ago. In this book, the author talks about what his last love meant in Zhukov’s life, gives the texts of his father’s numerous letters to Galina Alexandrovna.
Marshal’s daughter’s memories are imbued with a desire to tell about the most important thing in their family: love and mutual respect, which can destroy all obstacles.
Maria Georgievna compares her mother with the image of a doctor who was embodied in her film production by Elina Bystritskaya. Zhukova Galina Aleksandrovna, the photo of which is presented in the article, was a kind and faithful man. Devoted to their profession, their work. She became the last love of the great Soviet military leader, giving him both her care and her tenderness.