Ruben Gallego is a famous writer and journalist born in the Soviet Union. The autobiographical novel "White on Black" brought him fame. For him, he received the prestigious literary award - "Booker - Open Russia".
The writer's parents
Ruben Gallego was born in Moscow in 1968. His biography is truly amazing. Ruben's parents met at Lomonosov Moscow State University. His father came to the USSR to study from South America. He was Venezuelan. In the capital of the Soviet Union, he learned the basics of economic theory.
Mother was Spanish, her name was Aurora Gallego. Her father, the grandfather of the hero of our article, was very famous. Ignacio Gallego was the General Secretary of the Spanish Communist Party. After graduating from the Faculty of Philology of Moscow State University, Aurora worked as a translator and journalist, collaborated with the international independent radio station Radio Liberty. Her relationship with Reuben's father was not long-term.
In 1974, she married the writer and journalist Sergei Yurienen, who emigrated to the West in those years. They worked together for Radio Liberty. The couple separated in 1998 after 24 years of marriage.
A terrible diagnosis
Ruben Gonzalez Gallego received a terrible diagnosis from doctors at birth. The child was almost completely paralyzed. Doctors diagnosed him with cerebral palsy.
When Ruben was one and a half years old, his mother was informed that he had died. In fact, the baby was sent to a nursing home for children. In the Soviet Union, this was often done with terminally ill babies.
As a result, Ruben Gallego spent his entire childhood wandering from one orphanage to another. Moreover, these were not only orphanages, but also homes for the elderly. The young boy visited the town of Pasha in the Leningrad Region, Nizhny Lomov near Penza, Novocherkassk, and a boarding school in Trubchevsk in the Bryansk region.
In all these social institutions, even basic medical care was often not provided, not to mention the fact that a patient with a diagnosis like Gallego's needs specific treatment and care.
In Nizhny Lomovsk, teachers recalled that Ruben Gallego still could not write, but he could easily reproduce large volumes of text from memory, like a tape recorder. Such a memory of him remained with the mathematics teacher Olga Amvrosenkova. Many who spoke with him even in childhood admitted that the boy's brain was arranged in a special way. He was a real walking encyclopedia. I re-read all the books I found in local libraries at orphanages and nursing homes several times.
Love life
Only love of life, like the heroes of the same namestory by Jack London, saved Gallego from a quick death and vegetating in boarding schools for the hopelessly ill. Ruben David González Gallego constantly strived for self-education, dreamed of breaking out of this environment.
As a result, he managed the almost impossible. He received a secondary education and entered the trade and commercial technical school in Novocherkassk. This is in the Rostov region. Here he received a law degree.
Life in Europe
In 2001, when he was 33 years old, he met his mother for the first time at a conscious age. He stayed with her in Prague. After that, he began to travel around Europe and the world. Lived in German Freiburg, Spanish Madrid. In the mid-2000s, he left for the USA.
In 2011, in America, a misfortune befell him that almost led to tragedy. Ruben David Gallego, along with the wheelchair in which he was sitting, fell on the subway tracks in Washington. The writer ended up in the hospital, spent almost a month in an unconscious state. Readers and fans of his talent from all over the world collected money to help him recover. Moreover, many accompanied this with the following words: "The book" White on Black "helped me, now it's my turn." He was even offered to be nominated for the Russian Booker of the Decade award, but Gallego turned it down when he came to his senses.
Now lives in Israel. Leads a full life. Was married three times. He has three daughters. Two, from their first two marriages, now continue to live in Russia.
White on black
The most famous novel written by Ruben Gallego is "White on Black". It was published in 2002. In 2003 he received one of the most prestigious domestic literary awards "Booker - Open Russia".
This is a sincere autobiographical novel in which the author talks about his life in Soviet orphanages. Seriously ill children like Gallego had a hard time in these social institutions. The narrative is bright, memorable, shocking in places with its frankness and the way it really works and what are the rules in such institutions.
After publishing in Russia, the book was translated into dozens of world languages. Marina Brusnikina staged a play based on Gallego's novel at the Chekhov Moscow Art Theatre. In 2009, Gennady Trostyanetsky, director of the Oryol Drama Theater, performed another incarnation of the novel on stage.
For those who care
It's safe to say that the novel "White on Black" will not leave anyone indifferent, so this is a novel for everyone. Ruben Gallego, whose biography could become the basis for the script of some life-affirming Hollywood film (and maybe even will), describes his difficult life in detail.
Being paralyzed from birth, he managed to get an education. Roman wrote on the computer with two fingers of his left hand. They are the only ones that work for him. In his work, Gallego talks about his childhood, friends, most of whom, like him, are confined to wheelchairs.or beds. The staff in these establishments treats guests with disdain. The nannies are constantly angry at them, cursing and calling names, knowing that these children have no one who could help or protect them. There were also teachers in these specialized orphanages. Only they constantly talked about the great Land of the Soviets and its wise leaders, practically without giving any other knowledge. Although, of course, there were exceptions.
The situation in orphanages
Ruben Gallego, whose books are imbued with sincerity, describes in detail the state of affairs in Soviet orphanages. Readers will learn which establishments can be considered good and which can be considered bad orphanages.
A good one is one that provides the basic necessary conditions for life. Warmth, timely care, proper nutrition. The main thing is the opportunity to get an education. This is one of the key points.
According to Gallego, a disabled person should be able to develop his legs if he does not have arms, and vice versa. At the same time, the main thing that must always be done is to develop your head. Self-educate.
Teachers play a big role in orphanages. Moreover, Gallego admits that in his novel he talks only about good teachers. Often these were people with a brilliant education, but they turned out to be unnecessary and superfluous in society.
Hero Story
It is worth noting that Gallego's novel is absolutely truthful and autobiographical. Everything that is stated on its pages is true. Every story is realepisode.
But "White on Black" is not a classic documentary. If it were such, dozens of real criminal cases could be opened based on the events described in it. Because the actions that nannies and medical staff do often fit the definition of "negligence" at best. But Gallego, describing all these horrors, does not give names and dates. Although, of course, he remembers them.
His main goal is to write a novel about the Hero. The man who defeated this system against all odds.
I'm sitting on the beach
In 2005, Ruben Gallego released another novel. A photo of the writer by that time often appears in literary magazines.
In the center of the story is the life of two friends who, against their will, live in isolation from the whole world around them. All they can do is play chess and talk. Almost their whole life passes behind the chessboard, each piece begins to acquire its deep meaning. One, smart, plays chess brilliantly. The second is a fool who does a great stupidity - he writes a book about it. It's a fool - Reuben. He sincerely believes that in war you need to take the side of the weak and fight to the end. He who fights on the side of the strong has no chance. He is doomed to forever kill and serve his master.
If you fight on the side of those in power, then you have no chance to die with dignity with a weapon in your hands. This is the main idea of this book. This is a book about a game of chess with the devil, in whichcannot be defeated. The most you can count on is a draw. And it's best not to make a deal with the devil at all.
