Behind an adventurous and famous man, as a rule, stands a beautiful and wise woman. She not only shares family life with him, being a reliable support and like-minded person, but also his glory. So, at the beginning of the last century, news about the king of Odessa thieves, Mishka Yaponchik, swept across Russia. And his favorite woman and muse was Tsilya Overman.
Her vague biography and mysterious disappearance have become a reason for doubts and disputes among historians. But the short-lived sparkling romance and the family life of the Odessa raider and the intelligent girl were nevertheless reflected in art, and the enduring fame of Yaponchik forever left its mark on the name Overman.
Biography
Tsilya Overman (according to another version, Averman) was born in Odessa, in a Jewish aristocratic family. The exact date of her birth and death is not indicated in any source. But according to researchers, it was the period of 1890-1970s. Tsili had a younger sister, Sophia. Her fate is known only in a close family circle. It is only known that she did not manage to survive the GreatPatriotic war.
Tsilya received a good education, had intelligent manners. The beginning of the new century was marked by a difficult economic situation in Russia, so at about 20 years old, the aristocrat Overman Tsilya went to work at the Jaco factory, which produces wax.
Private life
In Odessa, there would hardly be a person who would boast of a close acquaintance with a Jewish beauty named Overman Tsilya. Her personal life is not rich in hot love stories. On the contrary, the girl was very well-mannered and modest, moderately witty and sharp. Some guys were even afraid to approach her. But not a young and enterprising raider. Moishe-Yakov Vinnitsky (or Mishka Yaponchik) and Tsilya Overman met at the dawn of his gangster glory, in line for water. For Odessa, the problem of water has always been in the first place. Huge queues lined up at the speakers, in one of which fate brought together a young stocky hooligan and a big-eyed tall girl. At first, Tsilya ignored and even rejected Misha Yaponchik's courtship in every possible way. But his assertiveness and patience still broke his temper and melted the severity of the beauty. And in 1918 (according to other sources, 1917), the news swept through Odessa: Tsilya Overman is the wife of Mishka Yaponchik.
Wedding
The wedding of Yaponchik and Tsili took place according to all Jewish traditions. The festivities were the most magnificent and loudest event in Odessa at that time. Hundreds of guests were invited and accommodated in the Dvoyres dance classes. The wedding was celebrated for several days. danced inindoors and outdoors. The whole of Odessa thundered, of course, this could not but attract the attention of the authorities. But this was foreseen by the fiancé-criminal. So that the event would not be suddenly spoiled and disrupted by the police chiefs (then in the slang of thieves "dragons"), the Yaponchik gang set fire to the police station. This was done with another intention - to burn the criminal cases of friends and the king of thieves.
Child
Tsilya was a wise wife and was condescending towards her husband's affairs. Soon the young couple had a daughter. She was named Ada (Adele). According to metric data, her name is recorded as Udaya Moishe-Yakovlevna Vinnitskaya (August 18, 1918). But happiness in the "royal" family did not last long. In 1919, Mishka Yaponchik got involved in the revolutionary struggle. But his gang was quickly losing people, which gave rise to a lot of rumors and condemnations against him. When trying to save the remaining people, he was shot without trial by the military county commissar. And his whole family was now under the supervision of the authorities and the Odessa bandits themselves.
Escape
Cile was threatened with arrest or even death. And she had a little daughter in her arms. Therefore, she simply could not risk and remain in Odessa. In 1921, Tsilya Overman (her biography is now fragmentary and based on memories and rumors), accompanied by a relative (Zhenya Vinnitsky), fled abroad. Later it was said that she married him.
First, hot India sheltered Tsilya. In the family archive, there are photos of her from Bombay in an Indian outfit, which she herself sent to her little daughter. Then to Odessa relativesnews came that Tsilya was living in France. She is well off, owns a small factory and several houses. Probably, funds and valuables in Western banks left by her late husband and natural business acumen helped her in this.
Trying to bring Ada back
The only pain for Qili now was the separation from her daughter Ada. Mother-in-law Dora (or Doba) did not give her to her own mother, leaving her in Odessa. Until 1927 (until the border was closed), she actively tried to return her daughter. Tsilya sent dummy people who tried in every possible way to persuade the mother-in-law to give the girl to her mother, even to steal or ransom her. But Yaponchik's mother was adamant. And all further attempts to return the child were unsuccessful.
As a child, Adele kept in touch with her maternal aunt Sophia Overman and her daughter. Family photos testify to this. In wartime, he and his grandmother had to be evacuated to Azerbaijan (Baku). But even after that, the location of the child for the desperate mother was not lost. Until the 1960s and 1970s, Tsilya wrote letters, helped with money orders and parcels, but she never saw her daughter again.
What prevented her from doing this when Adele grew up is unknown. Why didn’t Tsilya Overman, the wife of Mishka Yaponchik, return to her native Odessa in her free time from persecution? Her biography is silent about this. Perhaps the political situation, the long persecution of Yaponchik's relatives, wartime, a psychological barrier or other reasons - this has remained a mystery to historians. But according to the recollections of relatives, Adele never forgave her grandmother Doraand all Odessa relatives for separation from their mother. After the war, she never returned to her native Odessa, hosting her relatives in Baku.
Grandchildren
For a long time, the descendants of Mishka Yaponchik were not known. Only recently it turned out that Tsili and the legendary Odessa raider have grandchildren - Rada, Lilya and Igor. They live in Israel. The successors of a famous Jewish family know about the history of their grandfather and grandmother. Since that time, their parents have gone through a difficult path, having endured many hardships. Light was shed on the fate of Adele - the daughter of Tsili and Yaponchik. As it turned out, she was in prison for speculation. During the hungry wartime, a young girl was left alone with her son Mikhail (named after his grandfather) in her arms, she had to survive by selling oil at the market in Ganja.
Memories
According to the recollections of Odessa relatives, Overman Tsilya was a tall, slender girl, very polite and well-mannered. She had good taste in clothes. Before marriage, despite the economic complexity of the time, she looked elegant and restrained. This was conveyed not only in a clear selection of style and elements of clothing, but also in her aristocratic manners, straight posture and a slightly arrogant look. She spoke little, aptly and in the famous Odessa dialect.
She moved around the city of Tsilya exclusively by cab, which demonstrated her high status. Such a proud and impregnable young lady simply could not help but fall in love with herself as the king of thieves. As Odessa relatives recall, Tsilya positively influenced Mishka Yaponchik, triedto pacify his hooligan prowess, to reason and turn him into a quiet, family life. But, apparently, the tense political situation in Russia and the old habits prevented this.
Tsilya Overman - the wife of Mishka Yaponchik - is positively remembered by the heirs. And she was never condemned for separation from Adele, on the contrary, they considered it a necessary measure.
Family Traditions
The memory of the legendary great-grandfather is passed down from generation to generation. The descendants of Yaponchik keep family photos, some of his things. The fame of him has not yet cooled down in Odessa. The famous house in Moldavanka, where the legendary “king” was once born and raised, still stands in the city and keeps the memory of its former owner. Already the third family generation visited it.
The family line of Vinnitsa has a tradition of naming boys in honor of the legendary great-grandfather, and girls in honor of his daughter - with the name Adele. Surprisingly, no heir to the family has yet been named Tsilei.
Was Tsilya real?
There is a version that the person of Overman Tsilya is fictional. This is indicated primarily by the scarcity of biographical data, a lot of white spots, questions and inaccuracies. This thought slips in the documentary “In Search of Truth. Mishka Jap. Death of the King. It was filmed in 2008 and was based on documentary data and evidence collected about the life of the Odessa Robin Hood. So, the name of Tsili Overman was not mentioned there. Moreover, some researchers believe that her image is exclusivelyliterary, it was created to give the type of Odessa raider an aura of romance. Once Mishka Yaponchik was a regular in Odessa brothels, the result of this was a venereal disease. And this is an established fact. But after all, a girl of easy virtue cannot be attributed to a charismatic bully. A legendary hero needs an equally legendary companion. Therefore, according to skeptics, the aristocrat Overman Tsilya was invented - his wife and only love. However, the descendants of Yaponchik still insist on the official version. And where and whose truth is now unlikely to become known.
In art
The image and activities of Mishka Yaponchik and his love story with Tsilya Overman became a source of inspiration for the creation of many literary and cinematic works. So, in 2011, the Russian crime series “The Life and Adventures of Mishka Yaponchik”, based on the “Odessa Stories” by Isaac Babel, was released. The writer was a contemporary and acquaintance of the raider, therefore he was aware of the main ups and downs of the hero's life. The film is full of bright, eccentric images, characteristic Odessa dialect, jokes and speech patterns. Many of them, such as "chic look", "shut up your mouth" and others, have become part of the everyday life of contemporaries.
The TV series mainly tells about the touching and romantic love story of a bandit and a beautiful aristocrat. The authors did not pursue an exact correspondence to real events, their task was to convey the characters of the main characters. Yet critics point to a number of factual inaccuracies. For example, father QiliOverman has never been associated with commerce. The TV show shows the opposite. Although, again, it is impossible to say for sure for lack of documentary evidence.
The main role - Mishki Yaponchik - was played by Evgeny Tkachuk. Elena Shamova appeared as the charming Tsilya Overman. The actress, according to critics, created the magnificent psychological character of Yaponchik's wife. Although the heroine Tsilya in the series is more correctly defined as a collective image that reflects the mentality of the representatives of the intelligentsia of that era.
P. S
Today, the personality of Tsili Overman is one of the most mysterious. After the 1970s, communication with her was finally cut off. Perhaps this meant the end of her life. Whether she was a literary fiction or a real person will forever remain a family secret of the Vinnitsa. However, the evidence in favor of its real existence is much more weighty and convincing than contradictions and doubts. One thing is clear: behind the shoulders of the legendary Odessa "Robin Hood" was a certain Tsilya Overman. Photos with her image and personal signature are still kept in the family archive, protect the blessed memory of Mishka Yaponchik. She is the mother of his only daughter and heirs of a well-known Odessa family. And although the name Qili is more shrouded in questions and secrets, she is forever inscribed in history as a wise and enterprising woman - the first and only wife of the king of thieves.
