Those who read Greek myths cannot but remember the myth of Galatea. A talented sculptor named Pygmalion sculpted a statue so beautiful that he fell in love with it. Thanks to his strong sense, the statue managed to come to life. Elena Dyakonova, the heroine of this article, was also in a sense this Galatea. During her life she was the muse of several geniuses. But, at the same time, she was Pygmalion in some way for them. In any case, one of them owes their success to her.
Do not forget that this woman was called not only Galatea. She was both a witch and Cinderella… But she entered the history of world art precisely as Elena the Beautiful, Gnandiva, the divine and incomparable Gala.
Life through consumption
The origin of this enchantress and the first seventeen years of her life gave absolutely no hope that the girl was promised a brilliant fate. She was the daughter of a modest Kazan official who died early. The family moves to Moscow. Here a misfortune happens to the girl - she falls ill. Diagnosis does not suggesthopes: it was a common consumption for those years, tuberculosis. Contributed to the cure of her stepfather (lawyer). The family raised some money, and Elena Dyakonova leaves for a mountain resort in Switzerland.
She has already come to terms with the fact that she will not survive. This was reflected in her character: the girl became unsociable, very harsh, she did not trust people. But there was a man who managed to melt this thick shell of ice. He was the charming young Parisian Eugène Grendel. He wrote poetry. Eugene's father considered poetry to be nonsense and forbade him to engage in literature. But the son did not listen to him. He came to Elena and read her poems of his own composition. And she gradually softened. Gradually she began to believe. It was in those days that she began to call herself Gala (the emphasis was on the last syllable). Possibly from a French word meaning "holiday, revival".
The way home
Elena Dyakonova (Gala) returns to Russia in a year. She recovered and fell in love. Eugene wrote her letters full of passion and love. They were also in verse. Gala answered him with the same force of feelings. It is unlikely that in those bright days she thought that the same words that she now calls Grendel ("my child", "my chick"), she will call the rest of the geniuses in her life.
Meanwhile, Eugene publishes his first collection of poems under a pseudonym, which later became known in all corners of the world - Paul Eluard. Gala's foreboding did not deceive: life really pushed her into a great man.
And the First World War began in the world. Paul wanted to go to the front. Elena in letters begged him not to risk her life and he alth. But besides the war, Grendel's father was also on the way to their happiness. He did not want such a union: his son and some Russian! But then Elena Dyakonova, whose biography is permeated with a feeling of love for her geniuses, for the first time in her life was able to show worldly wisdom and acumen. She began to write warm and tender letters to Eugene's mother, who was kind enough to support the young.
Marriage of Lovers
February 1917. Elena Dyakonova (Gala) moves to Paris and marries her favorite poet. They vow to be together always, every minute. For the wedding, her husband's parents gave them an oak bed. The young made a vow to die together in her when their time came.
After only a year, their little Cecile was born. The couple will live together for twelve years. Many years will be unusually happy, but the first problems will begin already in 1921.
24 months threesome
The life of a successful poet and his beautiful wife took place in theaters, salons and cafes in winter, and exclusively in trendy resorts in summer. This summer of 1921 they also spent at the resort. Here they met the German artist Max Ernst and his wife Lou. All four were brilliant and young. Yes, and husbands will soon become recognized all over the world.
And then life gave them an unexpected turn. A feeling arises between Gala and Ernest. They are bothunderstand that this is not adultery, but something more. Max breaks up with his wife, but Paul couldn't. He stayed with Gala and Max.
Truly incomprehensible and surprising, but Gala manages to love both. Different, but love. Passionate and sincere. This fragile Paul can not stand it and one day just disappears.
Looking for a husband
Ernst and Elena Dyakonova, whose photo is a mixture of beauty, grace and luxury, are looking for him around the world and discover him in Indochina. Having taken him from there, the three of them also return to Paris, home. But this is only outwardly the three of us. At this point, Gala had already fallen out of love with Ernst. This caused him incredible pain. On the other hand, Eugene, whom she now loved even more than before, was also deeply and permanently wounded.
Now obsessive ideas are roaming in Eugene's head to take possession of her not only in the presence, but also with the participation of another man. He writes many letters to her in which he describes his erotic fantasies of threesome love. Even after their separation, Paul will be obsessed with these fantasies, despite the fact that he himself will have a new muse, and Gala will marry again. The photo of Elena Dyakonova will always be with him until the end of his life.
Helena's next husband Paul himself will bring to their house.
Extravagant loser
In the late twenties, friends introduce Elena and Eugene to a strange young Spaniard who was an artist. He was incredibly skinny, with a very long and ridiculously curled mustache. He was very fearful and shy. Heseemed like a weirdo. He laughed almost constantly. Literally rolled on the ground as he choked with laughter.
Who was he - a madman, a psychopath or an ordinary loser, seeking to hide his difficult life behind such an appearance? The extravagance in his clothes was unpleasant for the spouses - beads around his neck, women's puffs on his shirt …
But Elena's incredible intuition helped her see a genius in this strange man. What drove her then? She couldn't explain. Together with her husband, they accept an invitation to visit the artist in Spain. The journey took place in the heat of the day. And this despite the fact that Gala always preferred coolness. Much later, she claimed that she immediately realized that she would be the wife of this man. During that period of her life, she was very lonely. Yes, she was married, she and her husband allowed themselves light intrigues on the side. But there was nothing serious about it. But Elena Dyakonova considered her loneliness the greatest misfortune.
One day the artist took her for a walk in the mountains. And there, over the sea, he began a decisive assault on the beauty. The Spaniard pressed his greedy lips to her and asked what she would like him to do with her. She seriously enough asked the artist to blow it up. This artist was the great Salvador Dali.
Gala and Dali are the most important thing in the whole world
Many years later, being already a famous and we althy person, the artist wrote in his diary that Gala and Dali are the most important in the world. In second place is Dali. On the third - the rest, andGala and Dali.
Lena Dyakonova, Dali's muse, unconditionally believed in her destiny and the genius of Salvador. She decided to leave her rich husband and stay for several years in a rural Spanish house, completely devoting herself to this strange man. This time, she was no longer a dowry. She was the queen of Parisian bohemia who gave her attention and care to the poor.
The first time they spent in complete seclusion, Gala even sewed dresses for herself. Dali was sure that he was destined to live and die in complete poverty. But Gala did not give up: she went around museums and exhibitions with his drawings. And she won. Taking her literally at her word, the Viscount de Noailles sent almost thirty thousand francs to Dali for a picture that he had not yet painted. Just a year later, Dali became famous!
Now he was a famous artist. And from many of his canvases she looks, his muse, Lena Dyakonova, Dali's wife. Finally, Gala's dream came true: the great master immortalized her image! After all, since childhood, she dreamed about this.
Tough Times
Unfortunately, only images in paintings can be immortal. The day comes when Lena Dyakonova, whose date of birth is September 7, 1894, feels that she has begun to age. For her, this was the beginning of the end. Now every day was devoted to different cosmetic procedures. And love. Only now exclusively for psychotherapeutic purposes. Elena Dyakonova has changed a lot internally. Now she needs young men.
In old age, Gala's feeling is aggravatedgreed. All the money that fell into her hands, she counts several times and hides, like a peasant woman, behind the bodice of her dress. After her death, a suitcase full of banknotes will be found under the bed where she slept.
The end of her life was completely unhappy. Being elderly, she began to fall frequently. The result was a hip fracture. She ends up in the hospital. June 10, 1982 she dies. This was Lena Dyakonova (born September 7, 1894).
Salvador Dali outlived her by several years. All this time, every morning, his assistants rolled the stroller with him into the round tower, located above the crypt in which he rested, only his Gala.
