Great defectors. Who escaped from under the "Soviet curtain"

Unlike emigrants who left the country legally, defectors left the country while still in government service. If the defector was a military man, then there was also a violation of the oath. Due to the fact that emigration from behind the Iron Curtain was possible only in rare cases with the permission of the OVIR, “escape while abroad” became a typical Soviet method of emigration...

Fyodor Chaliapin

90 years ago, in June 1922, the famous bass Fyodor Chaliapin left the USSR on tour to the USA. And he became one of the first “defectors” in the history of the Land of Soviets. "AiF" traced the fate of the most famous fugitive artists who managed to escape from the "iron embrace" of the Motherland...

At the time of escape - thin. hands Mariinsky Theater. The first earned the title of People's Artist of the Republic.

When: in June 1922 he remained in the USA after a tour (his impresario there was the famous Sol Hurok). In the USSR, his non-return was taken very painfully. V. Mayakovsky even composed poetry: “Now such an artist should return back to Russian rubles - I will be the first to shout: - Roll back, People's Artist of the Republic!” In 1927, F. Chaliapin was deprived of USSR citizenship and his title was taken away.

What have you achieved?: He toured a lot, donated money, including to funds to help Russian emigrants. In 1937, he was diagnosed with leukemia. He died in 1938 in Paris. His ashes returned to his homeland only in 1984.

Rudolf Nureyev, ballet dancer, choreographer

One of the brightest stars of the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theater. CM. Kirov (now the Mariinsky Theater).

When: in 1961, during a tour of the Kirov Theater in Paris, he refused to return to the USSR.

What have you achieved?: was immediately accepted into the Royal Ballet of London, where he was a star for 15 years. Later he worked as director of the ballet troupe of the Paris Grand Opera. In recent years he has been a conductor. He collected a luxurious collection of works of art. Died in 1993 from AIDS in Paris. His grave is still a cult place for his fans.

Alexander Godunov, ballet dancer

At the Bolshoi Theater, this dancer was predicted to have a great career.

When: in 1979, during a tour of the Bolshoi Theater in New York, he asked for political asylum. US President J. Carter and Secretary General of the CPSU Central Committee L. Brezhnev were involved in the incident. Based on those events, the film “Flight 222” was made.

What have you achieved?: danced with M. Baryshnikov at the American Ballet Theater. After a scandal with M. Baryshnikov in 1982, he left the troupe. I tried to make a solo career.

Having married the Hollywood actress J. Bisset, he tried his hand at cinema. His body was found a few days after his death in 1995. A. Godunov’s ashes were scattered over the Pacific Ocean.

Andrei Tarkovsky, film director

When: in 1984, during a business trip to Stockholm, where he was supposed to discuss the filming of the film “Sacrifice,” he announced right at a press conference that he would not return to his homeland.

What have you achieved?: spent a year in Berlin and Sweden, began filming the film “Sacrifice”. At the end of 1985, he was diagnosed with cancer. He died in 1986. His third son was born after his death.

Natalia Makarova, ballerina

She was the leading soloist of the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theater. CM. Kirov (now the Mariinsky Theater).

When: in 1970 during a tour of the theater. CM. Kirova asked for political asylum in the UK.

What to achievegla: since December 1970 - prima of the American Ballet Theater, danced in the best ballet companies in Europe. In 1989 she again stepped on the stage of the Leningrad Theater. She currently works as a dramatic actress and lives in the USA.

Mikhail Baryshnikov, ballet dancer

Soloist of the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theater named after. CM. Kirov (now the Mariinsky Theater).

When: in February 1974, during a tour of the ballet of two capitals (Bolshoi and Kirov theaters) in Canada and the USA, at the end of the tour he asked for political asylum in the United States.

What have you achieved?: I immediately received an invitation from George Balanchine to become a soloist with the American Ballet Theater. Soon he became a theater director, and a little later (and to this day) a millionaire. Now he works as a dramatic artist. Lives in the USA. He is a co-owner of the famous Russian Samovar restaurant in New York.

Victoria Mullova, violinist

Winner of international competitions (including the Tchaikovsky competition).

When: in 1983, during a tour in Finland, together with her common-law husband, conductor Vakhtang Jordania, she fled by taxi from Finland to Sweden, where she sat for two days, locked in a hotel room, waiting for the American embassy to open.

In her room in Finland, V. Mullova left a “hostage” - a precious Stradivarius violin. She hoped that the KGB officers, having discovered the violin, would not look for it themselves.

What have you achieved?la: made a brilliant career in the West, for some time she was married to the famous conductor Claudio Abbado.

Svetlana Alliluyeva, philologist

Daughter of I. Stalin. Philologist, worked at the Institute of World Literature.

When: in December 1966, S. Alliluyeva flew to India with the ashes of her common-law husband Brajesh Singh. A few months later, in March 1967, she turned to the USSR Ambassador to India with a request not to return to the country. Having been refused, she went to the US Embassy in Delhi and asked for political asylum.

What have you achieved?la: published in the USA the book “Twenty Letters to a Friend” - about her father and the Kremlin environment. The book became a bestseller and brought S. Alliluyeva more than $2.5 million. In 1984, she made an attempt to return to the USSR, but was unsuccessful - her daughter, who was born in America, did not speak Russian, and the children from her previous marriage who remained in the USSR greeted her coolly .

In Georgia, S. Alliluyeva received the same cold reception, and she returned to America. Traveled all over the world. Died in 2011

Material from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia

Defectors- the name of citizens of the USSR, as well as subjects of the Russian Empire or other states who refused to return to the country from legal foreign trips or business trips. The official name of the phenomenon in the USSR in the 1930s: “Escape while abroad.”

Non-return is a form of flight, i.e. illegal emigration from a country with a totalitarian or “permissive” migration regime. Most typical for countries such as the USSR, China, North Korea, the Republic of Cuba and other countries of the former socialist camp.

Story

One of the first mentions in Russian literature of the 19th century about the mass non-return of Russian citizens is contained in the memoirs of artillery officer A. M. Baranovich, a participant in the war with Napoleonic France.

After returning from the European campaign, the Russian army was missing forty thousand lower ranks, “for the return of which Sovereign Alexander asked King Louis XVIII,” but the king could not fulfill the emperor’s request “due to the French hiding the fugitives, and therefore not a single one returned.”

The mayor of Moscow, General Count F.V. Rostopchin, indignantly wrote to his wife:

...What a decline has our army reached if an old non-commissioned officer and a simple soldier remain in France, and 60 people deserted from a horse guards regiment in one night with weapons in their hands and horses. They go to farmers who not only pay them well, but also give them their daughters for them.

F.V. Rostopchin himself lived in Paris from 1814 until almost the end of his life. He asked his friend, the former Russian ambassador in London S.R. Vorontsov, to help acquire English citizenship:

...Do me a favor, arrange for me to have some sign of English respect, a sword, a vase with an inscription, the right of citizenship.

Among the Russian intelligentsia of the 19th century, Vladimir Sergeevich Pecherin is often called the “first defector intellectual.”

IN THE USSR

The legislative definition of “non-return” in the USSR was formulated in 1929 in connection with the adoption of the Resolution of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR “On the outlawing of officials - citizens of the USSR abroad, who have defected to the camp of the enemies of the working class and peasantry and who refuse to return to the USSR”.

On November 21, 1929, an article on defectors was introduced into the criminal legislation of the USSR (the Law “On the outlawing of officials - citizens of the USSR abroad, who defected to the camp of enemies of the working class and peasantry and refuse to return to the USSR” or the so-called “Law on defectors"). Those who committed this act or attempted it were charged with treason.

A person who refused to return was declared an outlaw. Recognizing a person as an outlaw according to Art. 4 of this resolution was carried out by the Supreme Court of the USSR and entailed the confiscation of all property of the convicted person and execution after 24 hours.

This law had retroactive force (Article 6) - that is, it applied to all those officials - citizens of the USSR who did not return to the USSR from abroad even before the adoption of the law.

...the number of defectors more than doubled and amounted, according to a certificate sent to the Central Control Commission on June 5, 1930 by the senior commissioner of the INO OGPU H. Ya. Reif, 277 people, of whom 34 were communists. Moreover, if in 1921 only 3 defectors were registered (including 1 communist), in 1922 - 5 (2), in 1923 - 3 (1) and in 1924 - 2 (0) ...

Until 1960, treason to the Motherland was the content of Article 58-1a of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR, put into effect by decree of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR on June 8, 1934:

“Treason to the Motherland, that is, actions committed by citizens of the USSR to the detriment of the military power of the USSR, its state independence or the inviolability of its territory, such as: espionage, betrayal of military or state secrets, defection to the enemy, flight or flight abroad, are punishable the highest measure of criminal punishment - execution with confiscation of all property, and in mitigating circumstances - imprisonment for a term of 10 years with confiscation of all property." The concept of the Motherland here is synonymous with the state, since many were convicted of "treason to the Motherland" (in particular, under Stalin) people born outside the Russian Empire or the USSR within the then borders.

In the Criminal Code of the RSFSR of 1960, “Treason to the Motherland” is highlighted in a separate 64th article:

“Treason to the Motherland, that is, an act intentionally committed by a citizen of the USSR to the detriment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity or state security and defense capability of the USSR: defection to the side of the enemy, espionage, betrayal of state or military secrets to a foreign state, flight abroad or refusal to return from abroad in the USSR, providing assistance to a foreign state in carrying out hostile activities against the USSR, as well as conspiracy to seize power, is punishable by imprisonment for a term of ten to fifteen years with confiscation of property and with reference to a term of two to five years or without reference or death penalty with confiscation of property"

Some famous defectors

In culture

Film "Moscow on the Hudson".
Film "Flight 222". The plot of the film is based on the true story of ballet dancers Alexander Godunov and Lyudmila Vlasova.

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Literature

Vladimir Genis. Unfaithful servants of the regime: The first Soviet defectors (1920-1933). Documentary research experience. (in 2 books). - Book 1. “He escaped and joined the camp of the bourgeoisie” (1920-1929). M., 2009. 704 p. ISBN 978-5-8107-0238-2 // Book. 2. "The third emigration" (1929-1933). M., 2012. 815 p. ISBN 978-5-98585-084-0

Notes

Excerpt characterizing Defectors

That same night, having bowed to the Minister of War, Bolkonsky went to the army, not knowing where he would find it, and fearing on the way to Krems to be intercepted by the French.
In Brünn, the entire court population packed up, and the burdens were already sent to Olmütz. Near Etzelsdorf, Prince Andrei drove out onto the road along which the Russian army was moving with the greatest haste and in the greatest disorder. The road was so crowded with carts that it was impossible to travel in a carriage. Having taken a horse and a Cossack from the Cossack commander, Prince Andrei, hungry and tired, overtaking the carts, rode to find the commander-in-chief and his cart. The most ominous rumors about the position of the army reached him on the way, and the sight of the army randomly running confirmed these rumors.
“Cette armee russe que l"or de l"Angleterre a transportee, des extremites de l"univers, nous allons lui faire eprouver le meme sort (le sort de l"armee d"Ulm)", ["This Russian army, which English gold was brought here from the end of the world, will experience the same fate (the fate of the Ulm army).”] he recalled the words of Bonaparte’s order to his army before the start of the campaign, and these words equally aroused in him surprise at the brilliant hero, a feeling of offended pride and hope of glory. "What if there is nothing left but to die? he thought. Well, if necessary! I will do it no worse than others."
Prince Andrei looked with contempt at these endless, interfering teams, carts, parks, artillery and again carts, carts and carts of all possible types, overtaking one another and jamming the dirt road in three or four rows. From all sides, behind and in front, as long as one could hear one could hear the sounds of wheels, the rumble of bodies, carts and carriages, the clatter of horses, blows of a whip, shouts of urging, curses of soldiers, orderlies and officers. Along the edges of the road one could constantly see either fallen, skinned and unkempt horses, or broken carts, near which lonely soldiers were sitting, waiting for something, or soldiers separated from their teams, who were heading in crowds to neighboring villages or dragging chickens, sheep, hay or hay from the villages. bags filled with something.
On the descents and ascents the crowds became thicker, and there was a continuous groan of shouts. The soldiers, sinking knee-deep in mud, picked up guns and wagons in their hands; whips beat, hooves slid, lines burst and chests burst with screams. The officers in charge of the movement drove forward and backward between the convoys. Their voices were faintly audible amid the general roar, and it was clear from their faces that they despaired of being able to stop this disorder. “Voila le cher [“Here is the dear] Orthodox army,” thought Bolkonsky, remembering the words of Bilibin.
Wanting to ask one of these people where the commander-in-chief was, he drove up to the convoy. Directly opposite him was riding a strange, one-horse carriage, apparently constructed at home by soldiers, representing a middle ground between a cart, a convertible and a carriage. The carriage was driven by a soldier and sat under a leather top behind an apron, a woman, all tied with scarves. Prince Andrei arrived and had already addressed the soldier with a question when his attention was drawn to the desperate cries of a woman sitting in a tent. The officer in charge of the convoy beat the soldier, who was sitting as a coachman in this carriage, because he wanted to go around others, and the whip hit the apron of the carriage. The woman screamed shrilly. Seeing Prince Andrei, she leaned out from under her apron and, waving her thin arms that had jumped out from under the carpet scarf, shouted:
- Adjutant! Mr. Adjutant!... For God's sake... protect... What will this happen?... I am the doctor's wife of the 7th Jaeger... they won't let me in; we fell behind, lost our own...
- I’ll break you into a cake, wrap it up! - the embittered officer shouted at the soldier, - turn back with your whore.
- Mr. Adjutant, protect me. What is this? – the doctor shouted.
- Please let this cart pass. Can't you see that this is a woman? - said Prince Andrei, driving up to the officer.
The officer looked at him and, without answering, turned back to the soldier: “I’ll go around them... Back!...
“Let me through, I’m telling you,” Prince Andrei repeated again, pursing his lips.
- And who are you? - the officer suddenly turned to him with drunken fury. - Who are you? Are you (he especially emphasized you) the boss, or what? I'm the boss here, not you. “You go back,” he repeated, “I’ll smash you into a piece of cake.”
The officer apparently liked this expression.
“He shaved the adjutant seriously,” a voice was heard from behind.
Prince Andrei saw that the officer was in that drunken fit of causeless rage in which people do not remember what they say. He saw that his intercession for the doctor’s wife in the wagon was filled with what he feared most in the world, what is called ridicule [ridiculous], but his instinct said something else. Before the officer had time to finish his last words, Prince Andrei, his face disfigured from rage, rode up to him and raised his whip:
- Please let me in!
The officer waved his hand and hurriedly drove away.
“It’s all from them, from the staff, it’s all a mess,” he grumbled. - Do as you please.
Prince Andrei hastily, without raising his eyes, rode away from the doctor's wife, who called him a savior, and, recalling with disgust the smallest details of this humiliating scene, galloped further to the village where, as he was told, the commander-in-chief was located.
Having entered the village, he got off his horse and went to the first house with the intention of resting at least for a minute, eating something and bringing into clarity all these offensive thoughts that tormented him. “This is a crowd of scoundrels, not an army,” he thought, approaching the window of the first house, when a familiar voice called him by name.
He looked back. Nesvitsky’s handsome face poked out from a small window. Nesvitsky, chewing something with his juicy mouth and waving his arms, called him to him.
- Bolkonsky, Bolkonsky! Don't you hear, or what? “Go quickly,” he shouted.
Entering the house, Prince Andrei saw Nesvitsky and another adjutant eating something. They hastily turned to Bolkonsky asking if he knew anything new. On their faces, so familiar to him, Prince Andrei read an expression of anxiety and concern. This expression was especially noticeable on Nesvitsky’s always laughing face.
-Where is the commander-in-chief? – asked Bolkonsky.
“Here, in that house,” answered the adjutant.
- Well, is it true that there is peace and surrender? – asked Nesvitsky.
- I'm asking you. I don’t know anything except that I got to you by force.
- What about us, brother? Horror! “I’m sorry, brother, they laughed at Mak, but it’s even worse for us,” Nesvitsky said. - Well, sit down and eat something.
“Now, prince, you won’t find any carts or anything, and your Peter, God knows where,” said another adjutant.
-Where is the main apartment?
– We’ll spend the night in Tsnaim.
“And I loaded everything I needed onto two horses,” said Nesvitsky, “and they made me excellent packs.” At least escape through the Bohemian mountains. It's bad, brother. Are you really unwell, why are you shuddering like that? - Nesvitsky asked, noticing how Prince Andrei twitched, as if from touching a Leyden jar.
“Nothing,” answered Prince Andrei.
At that moment he remembered his recent clash with the doctor’s wife and the Furshtat officer.
-What is the commander-in-chief doing here? - he asked.
“I don’t understand anything,” said Nesvitsky.
“All I understand is that everything is disgusting, disgusting and disgusting,” said Prince Andrei and went to the house where the commander-in-chief stood.
Passing by Kutuzov's carriage, the tortured horses of the retinue and the Cossacks speaking loudly among themselves, Prince Andrei entered the entryway. Kutuzov himself, as Prince Andrei was told, was in the hut with Prince Bagration and Weyrother. Weyrother was an Austrian general who replaced the murdered Schmit. In the entryway little Kozlovsky was squatting in front of the clerk. The clerk on an inverted tub, turning up the cuffs of his uniform, hastily wrote. Kozlovsky’s face was exhausted - he, apparently, had not slept at night either. He looked at Prince Andrei and did not even nod his head to him.
– Second line... Wrote it? - he continued, dictating to the clerk, - Kiev Grenadier, Podolsk...
“You won’t have time, your honor,” the clerk answered disrespectfully and angrily, looking back at Kozlovsky.
At that time, Kutuzov’s animatedly dissatisfied voice was heard from behind the door, interrupted by another, unfamiliar voice. By the sound of these voices, by the inattention with which Kozlovsky looked at him, by the irreverence of the exhausted clerk, by the fact that the clerk and Kozlovsky were sitting so close to the commander-in-chief on the floor near the tub, and by the fact that the Cossacks holding the horses laughed loudly under window of the house - from all this, Prince Andrei felt that something important and unfortunate was about to happen.
Prince Andrei urgently turned to Kozlovsky with questions.
“Now, prince,” said Kozlovsky. – Disposition to Bagration.
-What about capitulation?
- There is none; orders for battle have been made.
Prince Andrei headed towards the door from behind which voices were heard. But just as he wanted to open the door, the voices in the room fell silent, the door opened of its own accord, and Kutuzov, with his aquiline nose on his plump face, appeared on the threshold.
Prince Andrei stood directly opposite Kutuzov; but from the expression of the commander-in-chief’s only seeing eye it was clear that thought and concern occupied him so much that it seemed to obscure his vision. He looked directly at the face of his adjutant and did not recognize him.
- Well, have you finished? – he turned to Kozlovsky.
- Right this second, Your Excellency.
Bagration, a short man with an oriental type of firm and motionless face, a dry, not yet old man, followed the commander-in-chief.

MOSCOW, January 28 – RIA Novosti. Outstanding dancer, choreographer, actor, photographer, art collector and owner of the famous Russian Samovar restaurant, Mikhail Baryshnikov, celebrates his 70th birthday on January 28. In 1974, during a tour of the Bolshoi Theater troupe in Canada, he decided not to return to the USSR. Like many “defectors,” this decision was not easy for him. But the main argument in favor was freedom of creativity. RIA Novosti remembers Soviet ballet dancers who remained in the West.

Rudolf Nureyev

Rudolf Nureyev made his famous “leap into freedom” during a Paris tour in 1961. Escape meant for him, as for all “defectors,” not only a complete break with relatives, but also a sentence in absentia - Nureyev was convicted under the article “Treason” and sentenced in the USSR to seven years in prison.

In his interviews, he often said that life in the West gave him, above all, creative freedom. It is known that Nureyev was a difficult person, with an absurd character. But what no one could really deny him was his incredible dedication to his profession and some kind of superhuman performance.

Rudolf Nureyev became famous not only as an outstanding dancer, but also as a ballet reformer: it was thanks to him that men’s dance began to develop in the second half of the 20th century. Nureyev's creative legacy is enormous: he created many editions of classical productions, danced with Margot Fonteyn for many years, and later directed the ballet troupe of the Paris Opera. Being seriously ill, he tried himself as a conductor.

Natalia Makarova

In 1970, the soloist of the Kirov Theater Natalya Makarova asked for political asylum during the troupe's tour in the UK. A month later, her first performance took place in her new status, and Rudolf Nureyev became her stage partner.

Makarova danced at the American Ballet Theatre, which, by the way, is now directed by Alexei Ratmansky, was a guest star of the London Royal Ballet, and performed with troupes of the world's largest theaters. One of the best choreographers of the 20th century, Roland Petit, staged performances for her. In addition to Nureyev, she also appeared on stage with other compatriots who later remained in the West - Mikhail Baryshnikov and Alexander Godunov.
In the late 1980s, thanks to the efforts of former colleagues, Natalya Makarova returned to the stage of the Kirov Ballet, performing several fragments from John Cranko's production of Onegin. Now lives in the USA.

Mikhail Baryshnikov

A native of Riga, Mikhail Baryshnikov was a graduate of the Leningrad Choreographic School (now the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet). Like Nureyev, he graduated from the class of the outstanding teacher Alexander Pushkin.

Remaining in the West in 1974 during a Bolshoi Theater tour in Canada, Baryshnikov immediately received an invitation to one of the best troupes in the world - American Ballet Theater (ABT). Later he was invited to dance by George Balanchine, and in 1988 Baryshnikov returned to ABT as artistic director.

As a dancer, he was famous for his incredible leaps. It is known that his creative searches were never limited to the classical repertoire: Baryshnikov was actively involved in modern ballet, tried himself as a dramatic actor on stage and in films (his track record includes an Oscar nomination and participation in the popular TV series Sex and the City ").

Baryshnikov's classmate at the Riga Choreographic School, Bolshoi Theater artist Alexander Godunov, remained in America during a tour in New York in 1979. His wife, ballerina Lyudmila Vlasova, who was also on this trip, was decided by the Soviet authorities to be sent back to Moscow. Events developed dramatically: American representatives detained the plane, and as a result, Vlasova flew home only three days later. The couple was never able to reunite; in 1982, their divorce was filed.

Tall, handsomely blond and a wonderful dancer, Godunov invariably attracted the attention of the public while dancing at the Bolshoi and was a desirable partner for many soloists. However, his stage career did not work out in America. Having initially received an invitation to the same American Ballet Theater where Baryshnikov danced, he was later unable to renew his contract with the troupe. Evil tongues said that Baryshnikov's former classmate saw Godunov as a serious competitor and, using his influence, interfered with his career.

In 1985, Godunov stopped dancing and began acting in films, playing several supporting roles. He died in 1995 at the age of 45.

1 of 54 Fyodor Chaliapin. At the time of his escape, Chaliapin was the artistic director of the Mariinsky Theater and was the first in the USSR to earn the title of People's Artist of the Republic.
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3 of 54 “Now if such an artist comes back to Russian rubles, I will be the first to shout: “Go back, People’s Artist of the Republic!”
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5 of 54 At the end of the summer of 1932, Chaliapin starred in films, playing the main role in Georg Pabst's film "The Adventures of Don Quixote" based on the novel of the same name by Cervantes. The film was shot in two languages - English and French, with two casts.
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8 of 54 Rudolf Nureyev- ballet dancer, choreographer, one of the brightest stars of the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theater. CM. Kirov, which is now called the Mariinsky.
9 of 54 In 1961, during a tour of the Kirov Theater in Paris, he refused to return to the USSR, becoming one of the most famous “defectors” in the USSR.
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14 of 54 Alexander Godunov- a ballet dancer who was predicted to have a great career at the Bolshoi Theater.
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16 of 54 After news of his absence, the Soviet authorities sent Godunov's wife - Lyudmila Vlasova, the only one from the troupe, on a plane to Moscow. However, the plane was detained by American authorities just before takeoff, and the US State Department demanded evidence that Vlasova was returning to the USSR voluntarily.
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18 of 54 For a year, Godunov tried unsuccessfully to get his wife back. The couple became known as the "Romeo and Juliet" of the Cold War. In 1982, their divorce was finalized.
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21 of 54 Having married the Hollywood actress J. Bisset, he tried his hand at cinema. Among his roles in films: an Amish farmer in the film "Witness" (1985), an expressive orchestra conductor in the film "The Debt Pit" (1986).
22 of 54 He played Carl, the terrorist in the film Die Hard (1988). The actor's last role - the extravagant terrorist chemist Lothar Krasna, who dreams of enslaving the world - was played by him in the 1995 action film "The Zone".
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25 of 54 Andrei Tarkovsky- cult film director.
26 of 54 In 1984, during a business trip to Stockholm, where Andrei was supposed to discuss the filming of the film “Sacrifice,” he announced right at a press conference that he would not return to his homeland.
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29 of 54 The film "Sacrifice" (1985), shot in Sweden, was the director's last work. On December 13, 1985, doctors diagnosed him with lung cancer.
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31 of 54 Tarkovsky died in Paris at the age of 54 on December 29, 1986. The funeral took place on January 3 at the Russian cemetery of Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois near Paris. “The man who saw an angel” is the inscription on the monument.
32 of 54 Natalia Makarova, ballerina who was the leading soloist of the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theater. CM. Kirov (now the Mariinsky Theater).
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35 of 54 And in December 1982, Makarova made her debut as a dramatic actress on Broadway - the Richard Rodgers musical “On Pointe” with choreography by George Balanchine was revived especially for her. For the main role of dancer Vera Baronova in this performance, Makarova received several prestigious international awards.
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38 of 54 Mikhail Baryshnikov- ballet dancer, soloist of the Leningrad Opera and Ballet Theater. CM. Kirov.
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41 of 54 In 1990, together with dancer and choreographer Mark Morris, he organized the White Oak Project (Florida), which was engaged in productions and research in the field of modern dance.
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The term “defector” appeared in the Soviet Union with the light hand of one of the State Security officers and came into use as a sarcastic stigma for people who forever left the country of the heyday of socialism for life in decaying capitalism. In those days, this word was akin to anathema, and the relatives of “defectors” who remained in a happy socialist society were also persecuted. The reasons that pushed people to break through the Iron Curtain were different, and their destinies also turned out differently.

VICTOR BELENKO

This name is hardly known to many today. He was a Soviet pilot, an officer who conscientiously treated his military duties. Colleagues remember him with kind words, as a person who did not tolerate injustice. Once, when in his regiment he spoke at a meeting criticizing the conditions in which the families of officers lived, he began to be persecuted by his superiors. The political officer threatened with expulsion from the party.

Fighting the system is like banging your head against a wall. And when the confrontation reached its boiling point, Victor’s nerves could not stand it. During the next flights, his board disappeared from the tracking screens. Having overcome the air defenses of the two countries, Belenko landed at a Japanese airport on September 6, 1976, stepped out of the MIG-25 with his hands raised and was soon transported to the United States, receiving the status of a political refugee.

The West glorified the Soviet pilot - an ace who risked his life to overcome the Iron Curtain. And for his compatriots he forever remained a defector and a traitor.

VICTOR SUVOROV

Vladimir Rezun (literary pseudonym Viktor Suvorov) in Soviet times graduated from the Military Diplomatic Academy in Moscow and served as a GRU officer. In the summer of 1978, he and his family disappeared from their apartment in Geneva. Breaking his oath, he surrendered to British intelligence. As the reader later learned from his books, this happened because they wanted to blame the failure of the Swiss residency on him. The former Soviet intelligence officer was sentenced to death in absentia by a military tribunal.

Currently, Viktor Suvorov is a British citizen, an Honorary Member of the International Union of Writers. His books “Aquarium”, “Icebreaker”, “Choice” and many others have been translated into twenty languages of the world and are extremely popular.

These days, Suvorov teaches at the British Military Academy.

BELOUSOV and PROTOPOPOV

This legendary pair of skaters came to “high sport” at a fairly mature age. They immediately captivated the audience with their artistry and synchronicity. Not only on the ice, but also in life, Lyudmila and Oleg showed themselves as a single whole, going through moments of glory and persecution.

They walked to their peak slowly but surely. They were their own choreographers and coaches. First they won the Union Championship, then the European Championship. And soon they made a real splash at the Innsbruck Olympics in 1964, and then, in 1968, at the World Championships, where, to the jubilant approval of the audience, the referees unanimously gave them a 6.0.

Young people came to replace the star couple, and Belousova and Protopopov began to openly force them out of the ice arena, deliberately lowering the scores. But the couple was full of strength and creative plans that were no longer destined to come true in their homeland.

During the next European tour, the stars decided not to return to the Union. They remained in Switzerland, where they continued to do what they loved, although they did not receive citizenship for a long time. But they say that your place is where you can breathe freely, and not where the stamp in your passport indicates.

ANDREY TARKOVSKY

He is called one of the most talented screenwriters and directors of all time. Many of Tarkovsky's colleagues openly admire his talent, considering him their teacher. Even the great Bergman said that Andrei Tarkovsky created a special film language in which life is a mirror. This is the name of one of his most popular films. “Mirror”, “Stalker”, “Solaris” and many other cinema masterpieces created by the brilliant Soviet director are still on screens in all corners of the world.

In 1980, Tarkovsky went to Italy, where he began work on his next film. From there, he sent a request to the Union so that his family would be allowed to travel to him for the duration of filming for a period of three years, after which he undertakes to return to his homeland. The CPSU Central Committee refused the director's request. And in the summer of 1984, Andrei announced his non-return to the USSR.

Tarkovsky was not deprived of Soviet citizenship, but a ban was imposed on showing his films in the country and mentioning the name of the exile in the press.

The master of cinema made his last film in Sweden, and soon died of lung cancer. At the same time, the Union lifted the ban on showing his films. Andrei Tarkovsky was awarded the Lenin Prize posthumously.

RUDOLF NURIEV

One of the most famous soloists of world ballet, Nureyev in 1961, during a tour in Paris, asked for political asylum, but the French authorities refused him this. Rudolf went to Copenhagen, where he successfully danced at the Royal Theater. In addition, his homosexual inclinations were not condemned in this country.

Then the artist moved to London and for fifteen long years became the star of the English ballet and the idol of British fans of Terpsichore. He soon received Austrian citizenship, and his popularity reached its peak: Nureyev gave up to three hundred performances annually.

In the 80s, Rudolph headed the ballet troupe of the theater in Paris, where he actively promoted young and attractive artists.

In the USSR, the dancer was allowed entry only for three days to attend his mother’s funeral, while limiting his circle of contacts and movements. For the last ten years, Nureyev lived with the HIV virus in his blood, died from complications of an incurable disease, and was buried in a Russian cemetery in France.

ALICE ROSENBAUM

Ayn Rand, born Alisa Rosenbaum, is little known in Russia. The talented writer lived most of her life in the USA, although she spent her childhood and youth in St. Petersburg.

The revolution of 1917 took almost everything from the Rosenbaum family. And later, Alice herself lost her loved one in Stalin’s dungeons and her parents during the siege of Leningrad.

At the beginning of 1926, Alice went to study in the States, where she remained to live permanently. At first she worked as an extra at the Dream Factory, and then, after marrying an actor, she received American citizenship and became seriously involved in creativity. Already under the pseudonym Ayn Rand, she created scripts, stories and novels.

Although they tried to attribute her work to a certain political movement, Ain said that she was not interested in politics, because it was a cheap way to become popular. Perhaps that is why the sales volume of her books was tens of times higher than the sales of works by famous creators of history, such as Karl Marx.

ALEXANDER ALEKHIN

The famous chess player, world champion, Alekhine left for France for permanent residence back in 1921. He was the first to win the world champion title from the invincible Capablanca in 1927.

Throughout his entire chess career, Alekhine lost only once to his opponent, but soon took revenge over Max Euwe, and remained the world champion until the end of his life.

During the war, he took part in tournaments in Nazi Germany in order to somehow feed his family. Later, the chess players were going to boycott Alexander, accusing him of publishing anti-Semitic articles. Once “beaten” by him, Euwe even proposed to deprive Alekhine of his well-deserved titles. But Max’s selfish plans were not destined to come true.

In March 1946, on the eve of the match with Botvinnik, Alekhine was found dead. He was sitting in a chair in front of a chessboard with pieces arranged. It has not yet been established which country’s intelligence services organized his asphyxia.

Fyodor Chaliapin also left his homeland at one time, about whose novel Iola Tornaghi was told - love with an Italian accent.