Natalia Levitan biography. Quarrels among the heirs of Levitan: revelations of the speaker's relatives. "The grandson was Levitan's favorite"

On October 2, Yuri Borisovich Levitan, a Soviet and Russian radio presenter, an announcer of the All-Union Radio and the State Committee of the Council of Ministers of the USSR on television and radio broadcasting, People's Artist of the USSR, turned 103. Pushkin ethnographer Vladimir Paramonov shared the material prepared in due time for the 100th anniversary of this extraordinary person.

So, in the summer days of 1938-39, Levitan and his bride and mother Faina Lvovna often appeared on the Klyazma, and even there they played a wedding: he is a famous radio announcer, she is a student of the Institute of Foreign Languages. It must be admitted that the young man enjoyed constant success with the girls. The Vladimir local historian Galina Mozgova even claims: “Almost all the girls in the class were in love with him, even in their diaries they dedicated poems to him, which began, for example, like this:“ Your eyes are like blue sky ”. And here love, like all young people, was passionately stormy, and already in 1940 their daughter Natasha was born. Life, with constant employment on the radio of his spouse, and despite his fame, was of average income, which could not suit the young spouse. Their marriage fell apart. And Raisa married the major, and they had a son. Levitan stayed with his daughter Natasha and, incredibly, with his mother-in-law Faina Lvovna! But he continued to maintain friendly relations with his ex-wife and her second husband. They even celebrated the New Year together.

But this marriage was not durable, the new spouse died suddenly ... Widowed, Raisa never married again. Until the end of her days, she did not lose good relations with Yuri Borisovich, often visiting his house on Gorky Street, but never returning to their family.

Levitan with his family

“Most often, Levitan was“ lucky ”for a certain type of women: selfish, calculating, selfish, bitchy, for ladies who first of all wanted to arrange their fate, - wrote about the announcer publicist Yuri Belkin, who was friends with Levitan, - I once asked from Levitan, why does not he marry. He simply replied: “I cannot marry young people, because I understand that they want to marry not for love, but for convenience. As for Raya and women of her age, she is no longer young, and old women do not turn me on ”.

As a Jew, and even a party member during Stalin's time, Yuri Borisovich never spoke about his personal life, he was very careful and secretive. Day after day, he silently covered the path on foot from Gorky Street to Pyatnitskaya Street in half an hour, where the radio committee was then located. In recent years, even having bought himself a Zhiguli, he has not abandoned this old habit of his. Decently earning, he regularly sent considerable sums to Vladimir, to his parents (Levitan was born on September 19 (October 2), 1914 in Vladimir, in a Jewish family. Father - Boris Semyonovich (Ber) Levitan was a tailor, mother - Maria Yulievna, a housewife. birth - Yudka Berkovich Levitan - V.P.). I moved them to Moscow. All recent years, Yuri Borisovich, his daughter Natasha and already an old mother-in-law Faina Lvovna (she died in 1992, having outlived her son-in-law for exactly two months - V.P.) lived in a small two-room apartment on Gorky Street (in the same house where Demyan Bedny lived before him, and later Alla Pugacheva lived - VP) directly opposite the Moscow City Council and the "Books of Socialist Countries" store. Daughter Natasha became a student at the Faculty of Journalism at Moscow State University.

With daughter

The apartment, literally, turned into a “courtyard”, and Yuri Borisovich moved to a three-room apartment on the fourth floor in Vorotnikovsky lane. But again, not for long, since Natasha, working in the reference and information department of the radio committee, married (becoming by her husband Sudarikova - V.P.) to a medical researcher, gave birth to a son, Boris, and the five of them moved to Yuri Borisovich. And he had to buy a two-room apartment on the tenth floor next door, on Medvedev Street, having moved there. This was the last dwelling in his life ...

ALL PHOTOS

Last Saturday, 65-year-old Natalya Sudarikova, the daughter of the legendary announcer Yuri Levitan, was killed in the center of Moscow. According to the investigation, the pensioner was beaten to death by her 35-year-old son Boris. The suspect has been detained, he will have to undergo a psychiatric examination.

The murder of the pensioner became known by chance. On Saturday morning, a neighbor who lives on the floor below in house N2 / 11 in Vorotnikovsky Lane noticed fresh stains of a strange red color on the ceiling and walls of his room.

The man, deciding that the pipe had broken, went up to the neighbors and rang the doorbell. However, despite the persistent calls and knocking, no one opened the door. Other tenants came out of the neighboring apartments and said that early in the morning a scandal had occurred in the apartment of Levitan's daughter - the mother and son were loudly cursing and even the sounds of blows were heard.

Since the clothes and face of Boris Sudarikov were stained with blood, and kitchen knives, forks and a hammer lay next to him, he became the main and only suspect in the murder. He has already been arrested and sent for a special psychiatric examination.

At one time, Natalya Sudarikova, like her father, worked as a radio announcer. She retired several years ago and lived with her son. On the fact of the death of Sudarikova, the Tver interdistrict prosecutor's office opened a criminal case under article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (murder).

Yuri Levitan has been the country's main announcer since 1931. He conveyed the most important government messages: about the commissioning of the Dnieper hydroelectric power station, the flight to America of the crews of Chkalov and Gromov, from the 35th he was reporting from Red Square. In 1941, he read out a government announcement about the beginning of the war, materials "From the Soviet Information Bureau", all orders of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, in May 1945 he announced the end of the war, later - on the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite, on the flight into space of Yuri Gagarin.

In total, Yuri Levitan made about 60 thousand broadcasts. At the age of 66 he was awarded the title of People's Artist of the USSR. Died on August 4, 1983. Buried at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow.

Natalia was the only daughter of Levitan. When Natalia was 11 years old, her mother left Yuri Borisovich and went to another. The daughter stayed with Levitan. And she followed in his footsteps: all her life she worked as an announcer on the All-Union Radio.

According to "Komsomolskaya Pravda", Natalia Yuryevna herself had a happy and long marriage. Several years ago, her husband died, and the woman began to live in a three-room apartment with her son Boris. Sudarikova lived without extra funds. Rumor has it that her son sat on a needle a long time ago and often raised his hand to his mother.

The house in Vorotnikovsky Lane, where the Sudarikovs lived, was built 40 years ago for the then elite. The famous speaker's three-room apartment is on the fourth floor. According to "MK", ​​Natalya Sudarikova did not shy away from her neighbors, but she preferred not to talk about her family. As the neighbor says, the son of Natalia Sudarikova Boris never left the house. Natalya Yuryevna herself was friendly, but she never invited me home.

In December 1995, Levitan's apartment was robbed. Two rings and a watch were stolen. The most amazing thing: no one broke the lock, the windows are also intact. There were suspicions that the jewelry was taken by the son of Natalya Sudarikova, but nothing could be proved.

Two years ago "MK" was making material about Natalya Yurievna's father. Then she flatly refused to let a stranger visit her. Perhaps even then, the relationship between mother and son was strained. At least today, the main version of the police is a murder motivated by sudden insanity.

The police say that they do not rule out that Boris Sudarikov was related to any sect. He did not find any specific literature, but experience suggests that such murders, if the offender is not in a binge, are committed on the basis of some specific hobbies. On orders from above, as they often say themselves.

The voice of this man became truly legendary, bringing glory, honor and building a successful professional career to its owner. A rare talent, even a gift, made Yuri Levitan a guest in every home throughout the Soviet Union. He brought joyful and sad news to every family, reported information about important documents of national importance.

The announcer Levitan became the voice of an entire era in the history of the country, having survived, together with everyone, one of the most difficult trials that the Soviet people had to overcome. The phrase "Moscow is speaking" became Yuri Borisovich's trademark.

The real name and patronymic of Levitan at birth is Yudka Berkovich. He was born in 1914 in the city of Vladimir. The nationality of the family was well known both in appearance and in names - Jews. The boy grew up short, rather puny, with very violent curly hair.

From a very young age, Yuri stood out among his peers with an incredibly strong voice - his neighbors often asked him to call their children home, and then Levitan's voice could be heard even across the river. Thunderous Yura was a favorite of all neighbors, had many friends and grew up as a happy child.

Since childhood, the purposeful Yuri dreamed of connecting his life with cinema, he dreamed of fame and all-Union fame. Such that they would run up to him on the streets and ask to leave an autograph. In Vladimir, he received a referral to sample in a specialized technical school.

After graduating from school, Levitan comes to Moscow and does not pass the selection stage by the selection committee. Of course, they did not see the actor in Yuri Borisovich - short stature, thin physique, specific dialect, ill-conceived appearance and lack of a clear image prevented the announcer from becoming a movie and television star.

Perhaps the world would never have known about Levitan if fate itself had not prompted him to try his hand at working on the radio. On the way from the tests to the technical school, Yuri saw a nondescript announcement that a set of announcers had opened. He decided to try his luck and was right.

Of course, the admissions committee did not take the boy seriously at first. He appeared before the commission as a nondescript young man, in sportswear and with an incomprehensible haircut. Moreover, he had a strong regional accent. However, the voice of Levitan amazed the professionals - it was so clear, strong and viscous, the timbre was rare, almost unique. He was immediately offered an internship on the radio as part of a group of students at the Radio Committee.

Yuri Borisovich started out as a newspaper peddler and coffee brewer for eminent announcers. It was during the day, and at night he spent many hours working on his pronunciation. He read everything - prose, poetry, news, did it while standing, sitting, constantly changing position, sometimes even standing upside down.

The future main announcer of the country methodically got rid of the "okan", delivered a speech and developed his rich natural voice data. He made his voice even more sonorous, melodic and all-consuming. Gradually, it began to be aired at night - Levitan read the latest editions of periodicals so that residents of remote regions of the country could be the first to hear the most important news in Moscow.

Carier start

One such night became decisive for the fate of Yuri Borisovich. Out of habit, he read the newspapers on the air in a measured and attentive manner, voicing the agenda for the coming day in the country. And I did not know that at these very moments the main person of the country was listening to his night air.

It is well known that the head of the Soviet Union worked at night with the radio on. And the confident, rich and impressive voice of Levitan heard and appreciated himself. Joseph Vissarionovich urgently called the head of the Radio Committee and said that this announcer, this "voice" should read his report for the Party Congress on the radio.

The next day, Yuri, who was incredibly worried and was almost on the verge of fainting with nerves, was seated to read Stalin's report on the air. For five long hours, the announcer completed this task without ever getting lost or making a mistake. So, in fact, in one day, Levitan became the main voice of the country.

Voice of Victory

The most difficult period of Levitan's work was, of course, the period from 1941 to 1945. It was he who, overcoming his own fear and horror, loudly informed the inhabitants of the country that he had declared war on the Union. It was Levitan who reported all the information about the course of the battles, received around the clock from the Soviet information bureau.

For five long years, he worked virtually without rest - the inhabitants of the Soviet Union woke up and fell asleep with him. The soldiers at the front, rear workers and evacuees, people in the occupied cities listened to the voice of Yuri Borisovich.

In 1941, Yuri was evacuated from the capital to Sverdlovsk, and the announcer Olga Vysotskaya went with him to work in complete secrecy. They worked together at the microphone, informing the inhabitants of the USSR about the course of events, instilling in them hope and belief that victory is possible and achievable.

There is a legend that the association between Levitan and the imminent victory over the Germans was so strong among the people that Hitler urged his compatriots to find and neutralize the speaker, assigning a huge amount of money for his death.

In 1945, it was Levitan who announced the long-awaited victory over the enemy. This was logical - only Yuri Borisovich, who read the announcement of the beginning of the war, could complete this sad part of the country's history.

Postwar years

After the war, the announcer stopped working on the radio, reading the usual news. The voice associated with all, without exception, residents of the USSR with great news, complex and serious, could not be exchanged for informational messages. Levitan begins to voice documentaries about the war, broadcast programs about veterans, reports from the main events of the country on Red Square.

Few people know, but up to the 60s and 70s, Levitan's speeches on the radio were conducted live, so there are no recordings of his messages on the radio. All those audios that in modern Russia are considered recordings of "Levitan reporting the war" were actually recorded separately, many years later. They do not contain those non-fake emotions that the announcer experienced at those specific moments, but in general they give an idea of ​​the sound of Yuri Borisovich during the war years.

Yuri Borisovich became the first announcer in the history of the country who received the title of People's Artist.

Death

Levitan remained the country's main announcer throughout his career, so all important dates and occasions associated with the Patriotic War did not pass without his participation. In 1983, the great announcer was invited to his homeland, to the Belgorod region, to an event with the participation of veterans of the Battle of Kursk. Even before the trip, Yuri noted that he was not feeling well.

Levitan was determined to go, but no one expected that the unbearable heat and sunshine would lead to the onset of a heart attack. The cause of death turned out to be prosaic, age and heart failure against the background of high air temperatures led to such a tragic result.

The funeral of this great man took place in Moscow; Levitan's grave is at the Novodevichy cemetery.

Personal life

He was famous throughout the country, but only a few knew in the face of Levitan - only close colleagues, friends and relatives. Yuri Borisovich had a legendary voice that did not correspond to his appearance in any way. This gave him the right to privacy without interference from bystanders and fans.

Yuri Levitan had a full-fledged family for 11 years - a loving wife and well-bred children. However, the marriage broke up, the wife of the main voice of the Soviet Union went to another man, leaving the family. By the way, the woman's second marriage did not last long, she left this man with her son in her arms.

Yuri did not enter into a second marriage with another woman, remaining virtually alone until the end of his days. He began to live with his former mother-in-law, who adored her son-in-law. Later, Levitan's own daughter joined them in the house. When the daughter started her own family and gave birth to a son, Yuri Borisovich moved into a separate apartment in a nearby residential building.

A great misfortune happened in Levitan's family after his death - at the beginning of the new millennium, his only daughter was killed. The main suspect was the grandson of Yuri Borisovich, who was with his mother in the apartment at the time of his death. How exactly the murder took place and what led to it is still to be established by the investigation. This case received extensive press coverage.

House No. 2/11 in Vorotnikovsky Lane, which is not far from the Mayakovskaya metro station, is still called the General's. At the entrance in the Soviet years, there were lined up entirely "Seagulls" and "Volga", and now it is dazzling from foreign cars. The Levitan family occupied a spacious three-room apartment on the fourth floor. It was in it that the tragedy took place on the night of February 4.
The neighbors have long been accustomed to scandals in apartment No. 12, where the descendants of the legendary speaker Yuri Levitan lived. They raised the alarm when the ceiling above them changed color: it was stained with bloody stains.
Having broken down the door, the policemen saw the owner of the apartment, 65-year-old Natalya Sudarikova, in the corridor. She lay with a smashed head. Before her death, the woman was tortured. In addition to traumatic brain injury, she was found to have fractures of the bones of the nose, cut wounds to the face. There were murder weapons in the room - a bloody fork, a hammer, two knives ... The furniture and the carpet were spattered with blood clots and brain matter.
In the kitchen, in a dressing gown and sneakers, the hostess's son, 35-year-old Boris, was sitting swinging in a chair. When asked why the floor in the apartment was flooded with water, he said: "I washed my mother's soul."
The psychiatric team that arrived at the scene diagnosed Boris Sudarikov with an acute delusional disorder.
The nomenclature apartment is now sealed. Natalia Yurievna was buried, her son is undergoing a forensic medical examination at the Serbsky Institute.

"The apple fell far from the apple tree"

It only seemed that the Levitanians had everything in openwork! - says the oldest radio announcer Lydia Chernykh. - Yuri Borisovich's personal life, for example, was not very successful. Friends introduced him to his future wife, a graduate of the Institute of Foreign Languages.
- Raya was a beauty! - adds the announcer Lyudmila Larionova. - When I walked down the street, all the men turned their heads.
Levitan's work was intense. During the war years, he read the reports of the Soviet Information Bureau, orders of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, and later - all government messages. In the apartment of the young officers every now and then appeared and escorted Yuri Borisovich to the car.
Raisa was never able to get used to the night visits of people in civilian clothes.
Their marriage lasted 11 years. And then Raisa told Levitan that she “met true love”. In 47, she filed for divorce and immediately married an officer of the military academy. Soon they left to serve in Germany. There Raisa's son Semyon was born.
- Ten-year-old Natasha stayed with her father?
“Yes, in a small apartment on Gorky Street,” says Lydia Chernykh. - Then they were given a three-room apartment in a new nomenklatura building in Vorotnikovsky lane, where generals and party workers settled. Remained to live with Levitan and his mother-in-law - Faina Lvovna. When the Administrative Department of the Central Committee offered Yuri Borisovich to attach his family to a special dining room on Granovsky Street, his mother-in-law waved her hands: "I will feed you myself!" So Faina Lvovna lived with Levitan until she was 92 years old. Often they were visited by Yuri Borisovich's sister, Irina. Together they brought up Natasha.
But universal love and care did not go to Natasha's favor. The girl grew up closed, unsociable.
- Natasha often showed up at her father's work, - says Lydia Nikolaevna. - We thought she was a narrow-minded girl, even stupid. Sometimes she would begin to tell something, she would start to carry, to carry ... After five minutes she could no longer remember what she wanted to say. Yuri Borisovich could not stand it, he made remarks to her: "Stop it!" Despite the fact that Natasha graduated from school somehow, Levitan went to Moscow State University for an appointment with the rector, they did not dare to refuse him, they accepted their daughter. But Natasha did not study, but suffered: endlessly retaking exams. Only thanks to the loud name of her father she was given a diploma. Around everyone kept repeating: "Like the apple fell far from the apple tree."
- Yuri Borisovich called his daughter "my fool", - recalls Roza Georgievna Medvedeva, who once headed the department at the All-Union Radio. “Like any Jew, he was an ideal father. Realizing that his daughter does not shine with intelligence, he commented on her actions with humor. But his patience was also coming to an end. Sometimes, when he heard his daughter's voice in order to evade meeting and communicating with her, he hurried to retreat through the emergency exit.
- Natalia, like her father, worked as a radio announcer?
- Yes you! Here the authority of Yuri Borisovich would not have helped. This is a responsible job. Levitan placed Natasha as an editor at Inovation, then she worked at the Tourist radio station, where she was engaged in answering letters from radio listeners.
- Natasha did not get married for a long time, - continues Roza Georgievna. - Then Yuri Borisovich introduced her to the quiet, docile physician Leva, whom Natasha pompously called “academician”. When she became pregnant, she walked, sticking out her stomach in every possible way. Even for a long time, she wore tight dresses. When she appeared in our radio studio, the men averted their eyes in embarrassment. And Natalya, it seemed, was not at all embarrassed. She was a very strange woman. All of a sudden I could start singing and reciting poetry.

"The grandson was Levitan's favorite"

- Levitan adored his grandson?
- I didn’t have a soul. At that time I had a son, Boris, and he had a grandson, Boris, ”continues Roza Georgievna. - We had a constant topic of conversation. Since childhood, Levitan's grandson was littered with toys. He was allowed to do whatever he wanted. In order not to embarrass his daughter's family, Yuri Borisovich moved to a neighboring house on Medvedev Street, buying there a cooperative two-room apartment.
- It's just that it became more and more difficult for Levitan to find a common language with his daughter, - lawyer Alexander Ostrovsky is sure. - When we were on vacation together in Pitsunda, he talked about the difficult relationship with Natasha.
The death of her father was a disaster for Natalya, unadapted to life.
- Natasha became even more isolated, she did not let anyone into the apartment, - says Roza Georgievna. - When I came to her in Vorotnikovsky lane to pick up Yuri Borisovich's party card, Natasha was waiting for me on the stairs in the corridor, and there she gave the document.
Subsequently, she never gave a memorial to her father. We brought snacks to the cemetery in bags. They were located right on the bench near the monument. Natasha came up, took a sip of a glass, had a snack and kept asking: "Do you remember your father, except for this day?" She called only with reproaches: "Why didn't you come to your father's grave this year?" But the people of our generation are all already sick, getting out of the house for us is a whole problem.
- Natalya Yurievna did not talk about the mental disorders of her son Boris?
- I remember Boris as a smart boy. Levitan could not get enough of him: in the report cards, the grandson had more fives than fours. After school, Borya entered the university at the prestigious Faculty of History. After graduation, he worked in some research institute, went on business trips. Then in one of the telephone conversations Natasha mentioned that her son got married, did not want to talk about her daughter-in-law, she only said that she was “liable for military service”. In the future, she did not even mention her son's family. Natasha was a very secretive woman. She did not invite anyone to her house. About the fact that she had buried her husband, she told us by phone only two months later. And we would have come and said goodbye to Leva. He was a good man. And he died a good death - right at the table from a heart attack. They say that Borya changed a lot after that. Leo, unlike Natasha, was an adequate person, he could talk, calm his son down. His mother often turned him on on purpose ... In what happened to Borya, there is also Natasha's fault. She did not bring the warmth to the family that the child needed. When her son matured, she actively intervened in his personal life and eventually divorced him from his wife. After the death of Bore's father, they often called an ambulance.
In April 1998, one of the teams took Boris to a psychiatric hospital. Boris spent two weeks in the hospital building behind two fences. A note appeared on his medical record: "paranoid schizophrenia." Having received a disability, he no longer worked anywhere else. His world was closed by the walls of an elite apartment, which he practically never left.
Natalia lived on the memories of her great father. They overshadowed her reality.
For days on end, with various authors, she negotiated the writing of the book. However, I was in no hurry to transfer these rights to anyone in particular.
“With the archive collected by Levitan, Natasha behaved like a dog in the manger,” says radio veteran Vladimir Churikov. - Yuri Borisovich with a friend - Boris Leshenko - at one time began to write a book. When Levitan died suddenly, his daughter hid all the manuscripts, did not give a single leaflet to the co-author from the archive, but she promised all the time - she drove the elderly man by the nose. Once she received a call from the Museum of Modern History, asked for archival documents for the design of an exposition about the announcers of the Great Patriotic War. Natalya, under a plausible pretext, refused them too.
- Natasha went to the authorities, bothered to organize the Levitan Museum in her apartment, - says Nina Eremina, who lives next door. - But the house is nomenclature: security, concierge. She was not given permission.
Natalya Yurievna, it seems, was not at all embarrassed by the fact that her sick son lives in the same apartment, and, in the end, her fifteen-year-old grandson is growing up.
- The daughter-in-law with her grandson Arthur lived separately, - says Roza Georgievna. - Natasha did not communicate with them. How many phoned us - even a word about her grandson!
With the death of her husband, the income of Natalya Yuryevna, who has practically never worked all her life, has fallen sharply. When at “Mayak” they wanted to make a program about Yuri Levitan, she first of all asked what the fee was due to her. In 2004, for her father, she was awarded the “Radiomania” prize in the “Radio Legend” nomination. Natalya Yurievna, both in the office, and even standing on the stage, was interested in whether a sum of money was due to her.
But at the same time, Natalya Yuryevna, like her son Boris, knew perfectly well that she was literally sitting on a treasure. The expert invited to the prosecutor's office knew that in the post-war years her father - “the voice of the Sovinformburo” - the major who stormed the Reichstag handed over the most valuable documents of the Third Reich. Yuri Borisovich kept them away from sin literally behind seven locks, saying that it was not time to make them public. They were kept in the archives of Levitan and papers from the headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. Operatives assume that shortly before her death, Natalya Yuryevna showed someone some of the documents from the archive. At least the experts were missing in one of the fifteen-sheet folders. They stole the documents or Natalya voluntarily handed them over to someone - so far it remains a secret. As well as whether the papers were the cause of the death of the 65-year-old pensioner.

"Natalia was buried by her stepbrother"

On February 6, Natalya Yurievna was going to come to congratulate the oldest radio operator Boris Leshenko on his birthday. And on February 4, she was gone. This number became fatal for the Levitan family. On the night of August 4, 1983, the country lost Yuri Borisovich. On the night of February 4, his daughter was killed.
At the coffin of Natalya Sudarikova, in addition to representatives of the Moscow government, the oldest announcers - friends of Yuri Levitan, there was Natasha's husband's sister and her grandson Arthur, not recognized by her. Natalya never made friends in her entire life.
The funeral was organized by her half-brother Semyon, with whom, due to her difficult nature, she did not communicate for 17 years.
- At the cemetery, Semyon stood aside, did not talk to anyone, - says Lyudmila Larionova. - We only knew that he studied in Poland, knows Polish well, worked for more than ten years as a radio journalist, then went into the furniture business, left for permanent residence in Israel. He learned about the murder of Natasha on the radio in the car. I immediately took a ticket and came to help with the funeral. Moreover, he basically refused material assistance from the Moscow government.
- Semyon is a wealthy man. Apparently, he remembered how Yuri Levitan helped their family in his time. Celebrating the New Year at the WTO restaurant, the announcer invited his closest friends to the celebration, including his ex-wife with her husband and son, - says Lydia Chernykh. - Introducing Paradise to those around him, he said: "My cousin", nodded at her military spouse: "This is also one of my relatives." Helped Levitan and Semyon, who at one time worked in the Polish editorial office on the radio. Everyone around was convinced that he was Yuri Borisovich's nephew.
When the coffin was lowered into the ground, someone quietly said: "Thank God that Levitan did not live to see this day."

* * *

When his mother was buried, Boris was in the familiar Gannushkin psychiatric clinic. Four days later, having removed an acute attack with droppers, he was transferred to the Serbsky Institute, where for a month he will undergo a forensic psychiatric examination.
We managed to contact the doctors of the Institute of Psychiatry and ask them a few questions.
- What could provoke an acute attack in a patient?
“Any emotional shock,” says an experienced psychiatrist Irina Abramova. - Schizophrenia is a hereditary disease that can start at any age, but in men it often manifests itself at 25-30 years old. Typical symptoms include different types of delusions. It seems to the patient that someone is putting thoughts into his head, influencing the body, forcing him to do things. In books, newspapers, television programs, the patient sees hidden messages addressed to him personally. A companion of schizophrenia is hallucinations in the form of “voices in the head” that tell the patient to do something. It happens that a patient has only one attack in his entire life.
- Boris was already admitted to a psychiatric hospital eight years ago.
- After treatment, he should have been prescribed supportive therapy. Another thing is that at home, patients often violate the medication regimen. Perhaps this happened to our ward.
- The operatives said that in the department, filling out the questionnaire, Boris clearly answered the questions, he remembered his passport number by heart.
- There is nothing surprising. Polyphony in the head does not prevent schizophrenics from acting logically and consistently even during an acute crisis.
- Can you recover over the years?
- No, schizophrenia is a chronic disease. It is not contagious and not fatal, although such patients live on average 10 years less than mentally normal people: they often commit suicide, and men more often than women.
Now specialists are constantly watching Boris: they talk, analyze the materials of the criminal case. If he is found insane, and most likely will happen, he will be sent for several years for compulsory treatment in one of the closed suburban psychiatric hospitals. Based on what Boris has done with his mother, he faces a “fortress clinic” named after Yakovenko. And in a few years Boris may be released. Whose soul would he still want to wash?
The Levitan family's entourage is now discussing only one question: who will get the priceless archive?

The legendary announcer was betrayed by his wife, and his daughter was brutally killed by his grandson

The voice of the era. How else to call a person whom every inhabitant of the USSR listened to for decades. Yuri LEVITAN gave joy, hope, confidence to millions. He was the first to learn the most important news - about the Victory in the Great Patriotic War and the great construction projects of socialism, about the first manned flight into space and the conquest of virgin lands. A 17-year-old provincial Jewish youth who came to conquer Moscow could not even imagine that in two years he would become the main announcer of the largest country in the world. His 100th anniversary passed in Russia quite unnoticed. It's a pity...

It was already deep after midnight when a red "turntable" with a coat of arms rang on the table of Konstantin Maltsev, chairman of the All-Union Committee on Radio Broadcasting. Maltsev instantly answered the receiver and, straightening his back, exhaled: "I'm listening, Comrade Stalin!" - “Konstantin Alexandrovich! Now on the radio I am listening to the reading of the editorial of Pravda. I want this voice to read the text of my tomorrow's report at the 17th Congress ”. - "Let's do it, Joseph Vissarionovich!"

Eyes are like blue sky

So the fate of 19-year-old Yura (nee Yudka Berkovich Levitan), who until recently considered himself a failure, was decided. Arriving from Vladimir to enter the film school, he was laughed at for his good dialect and "specific" appearance. It was a terrible blow to his pride. Indeed, among the weaker sex, Yuri enjoyed constant success. Galina Mozgova, a local historian from Vladimir, asserts: “Almost all the girls in the class were in love with him, even in their diaries they dedicated poems to him, which began, for example, like this:“ Your eyes are like blue skies ”. And then, you see, I didn’t come to court.
Then the stubborn guy decided to enter the group of radio announcers, not really even understanding what it was. His voice was appreciated by the great Vasily Katchalov, sitting in the selection committee. But, being enrolled in the group of trainees of the Radio Committee, Levitan almost ruined everything.
While the masters of the profession gave him pronunciation, he was used in the wings. For example, he put records on an electric turntable, giving music to the air. There was a lot of free time, and Yura read voraciously. So on that fateful day, having put on a record, he plunged headlong into another book. He was brought back to reality by the heart-rending cry of the editor. It turned out that a listener called the studio and asked sarcastically: "Tell me, how much more does the Radio Committee want to milk cows?" Jumping up to the turntable, Yura found that the record had stuck and she had been broadcasting one phrase for a long time: "I milked a cow ... I milked a cow ... I milked a cow ..." they were soon allowed. And suddenly such a turn!

Family collapse

At the very beginning of his career, Levitan meets a pretty student of the Institute of Foreign Languages, Raisa. In 1940, their daughter Natasha was born. And in the house of Levitan appeared energetic, caring mother-in-law Faina Lvovna, who adored her son-in-law. Which, unfortunately, cannot be said about his wife, who eventually grew cold towards him. Levitan did not have much income, he often conducted night broadcasts. And the windy Raechka was seduced by the handsome major. They divorced, but the daughter and mother-in-law remained to live with their abandoned husband.
Raisa's new marriage, in which she gave birth to a son, also did not work out. Her husband, having risen to high ranks, either went on a spree or died. Raya will appear in the apartment of the "former" on Gorky Street almost every day. And hint at the restoration of marriage bonds. But Levitan, cordially accepting the cheater, joked: “Don't worry. In the XXI century, we will still be together ... ”He was in complete order with a sense of humor. What was the cost of just one drawing of the writer Vitaly Gubarev.

Scandalous joke

In the apartment of the composer Nikita Bogoslovsky, the feast went on like a mountain. The writer Gubarev was affixed. Still would! A government message has just been broadcast on the radio - he won the Stalin Prize for his play Pavlik Morozov! Guests dashingly eat Armenian brandy with sturgeon and black caviar. The toasts are becoming more and more colorful and fluffy. And then Bogoslovsky raises his hand. “Quiet, comrades! News time. Let's hear about our birthday boy again! " The intoxicated hero of the occasion broke into a smile. Bogoslovsky turned on the radio, and there the voice of the country's main announcer, Yuri Levitan, solemnly lists the awarded "engineers of human souls". And at the end a murderous phrase sounds: Gubarev Vitaly Georgievich - not a damn thing! " (The last word actually consisted of three letters.) It turned out that Bogoslovsky conspired with his "vociferous" friend and recorded two "government messages" on a tape recorder, which he subsequently reproduced. The scandal was terrible.

Bloody tragedy