Nikita Khrushchev's wife: biography, history and interesting facts

The biography of the wife of this odious general secretary of the Soviet Union in sources for historiography is not so detailed and informative, therefore, Nina Kukharchuk is mentioned only in the context of Nikita Sergeyevich's personal life. At the same time, Khrushchev's wife is a pretty colorful figure who for many years provided a reliable back to the secretary general of a great country, supporting him in all undertakings. How did she transform herself from a simple girl into the first lady of the USSR? Let's consider this issue in more detail.

Years of childhood and adolescence

Nina Petrovna Kukharchuk (Khrushchev's wife) is a native of a settlement called Vasilev, located in the Kholm province of Ukraine. She was born on April 14, 1900 in an ordinary peasant family. Nina had a younger sister, Maria, who later married the famous writer Mikhail Sholokhov, and two older brothers.

The future wife of Khrushchev will finish the rural school at the age of twelve. Teachers noted the girl's diligence and interest in science, so they recommended that parents move on in this direction, but already in the city. Soon Nina was already a student of one of the Odessa schools.

In the midst of the Civil War, Kukharchuk imbued with "left" ideas and replenishes the ranks of the RCP (b). In Odessa, she (the future wife of Khrushchev) is developing active underground activities.

In the winter of 1920 Nina Petrovna became a member of the newly created Galician bureau. Working here, she meets with famous Ukrainian figures: Osip Buskovann and Taras Franco.

Soon, Nina Petrovna is transferred to the Polish front, where she, at the risk of her own life, conducts propaganda work among the military.

Fateful acquaintance

In 1922, the future wife of Nikita Khrushchev receives an appointment to Moscow and on the road (in the area of Donetsk Yuzovka), she feels a serious malaise. She gets sick with typhus. She is courted by the famous Bolshevik Serafima Gopner.

It is she who introduces the girl to a young man named Khrushchev, who was sent to party work in the Donetsk region. To be fair, Nikita Sergeyevich liked the pretty Ukrainian woman with a round face and a short haircut. Sympathy turned out to be mutual. Their fates were similar: they both wanted to serve the ideas of the Communist Party wholeheartedly. Nikita Sergeyevich was in desperate need of a close friend. Khrushchev's first wife died in 1920, and he alone remained with his two children. Soon the young people began to live together.

An exemplary Soviet family

In the early 1930s, Nikita Sergeevich and Nina Petrovna moved to live in the capital. While the husband devoted all his time to party work, she was engaged in housekeeping and raising children. In a marriage with Khrushchev, three offspring were born: Rada's daughter (1928), son Sergei (1935) and daughter Elena (1937). But Nina Petrovna was protecting her husband's children from his first wife and was surrounded with care. But in education she was strict and demanding. Despite the fact that she produced the impression of a woman-keeper of the hearth, in reality everyday issues were not her element.

She herself did not like to clean, wash, cook, unlike, for example, the wife of Leonid Brezhnev. All "rough" work was done by housekeepers, who were changed, like gloves. Nina Petrovna also successfully served as administrator, scrupulously monitoring the quality of cleaning, cooking and washing. And if some assignment was not made, then the dismissal should be immediately.

At the same time, the wife of the secretary general never boasted that Nikita Sergeevich occupies high management positions in the apparatus of state administration. She herself did not enjoy a privileged position, preferring to get to work by public transport.

During the war

The Khrushchev family had a hard time surviving the death of Nikita Sergeyevich's son from his first marriage, Leonid. Another son, Sergei, was ill with tuberculosis. Well, Nikita Sergeevich himself fought on the battlefields, liberating the Motherland from the fascist invaders.

He repeatedly visited Kiev, meeting with passers-by and convincing them that victory was inevitable.

Postwar years

In the late 1940's, Khrushchev continued his political career and in the team of Stalin took by no means the last place.

At this time, Nina Petrovna is actively in contact with writers, poets, actors of Ukraine. She wants the culture of this region to get a new development, and asks her husband to pay attention to it. Nikita Sergeevich, accustomed to making concessions to his wife, in every way contributes to this. After a while, the Ukrainian republic becomes the leading region on a number of criteria.

First lady of the country

After the death of the "leader of the peoples", power in the country passed into the hands of Nikita Khrushchev. To match the elite status of the wife of the secretary general, Nina Petrovna increases her level of education and begins to study foreign languages. In her youth she was already talking beautifully in Polish. Now she decided to master English, and she succeeded. As it turned out, the knowledge of the foreign one helped Nina Petrovna on business trips abroad.

Foreign visit

Khrushchev was the first of the Soviet leaders who ventured to travel with his family to the capitalist country with the goal of establishing foreign economic relations.

Many historians remember the famous meeting between Nikita Sergeyevich and US President Kennedy. It took place at the Schönbrunn Palace. And, of course, at this event for the first time met the wife of Khrushchev and Kennedy Jacqueline.

Two opposites

The press then discussed and compared the wives of the first persons of the USSR and the USA for a long time. And there was an occasion for this. The fact is that outwardly the wives of the leaders of the two world powers turned out to be complete opposites. Nina Petrovna came to the meeting in a simple outfit, in which millions of Soviet women walked. She should soon turn 60 years old, she did not recognize any cosmetic means, and given her plump figure, the Western press dubbed her "grandmother". And Jacqueline Kennedy, by contrast, was a real fashionista with refined and refined manners. She carefully watched the figure and face.

It seemed to the journalists that the wife of Khrushchev and Jacqueline would hardly find a common theme for the conversation. But what was the amazement of the public when Nina Petrovna showed the guests the knowledge of a foreign language.

And the American president was pleasantly surprised that the first lady of the Soviet state is well versed in matters of economics. One way or another, but the way of life that led the wife of Khrushchev and Jacqueline Kennedy was heaven and earth, so they could not become close friends.

Ideological Assistant and Companion

Historians estimate the Khrushchev era ambiguously. But he was able to strengthen the vertical of state power, to make the country powerful and strong in terms of defense. One trinity "Rockets. Space. Gagarin "turned the USSR into a superpower. And, of course, the merit in this is not only Nikita Sergeyevich, but also his faithful companion Nina Petrovna. If the Secretary General did not listen to her opinion, then it is not known if the country could achieve all of the above.

After Khrushchev left the big politics, it turned out that Nina Petrovna lived for 40 years with Nikita Sergeyevich in a civil marriage. Only in old age, they corrected this mistake.

Khrushchev's wife, whose biography, of course, is of great interest to historians, survived the general secretary for 13 years. She had a hard time accepting the departure from the life of Nikita Sergeyevich. Nina Petrovna shared with him all the sorrows and joys, helping him in everything that only depended on her. She did not need anything, getting a pension that was quite good by Soviet standards - 200 rubles. Last years the spouse of the secretary general lived in the state dacha in Zhukovka. Daughter Rada worked in the editorial office of the publication "Science and Life", son Sergei worked in the research institute.

Nina Petrovna died on August 13, 1984. The funeral ceremony was modest. Spouse Nikita Khrushchev Khrushchev was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery of the capital.