"First Meeting – Last Meeting" by Eldar Ryazanov, summary

Eldar Ryazanov’s book, published in 2011, grew out of a television documentary series. It describes the real-life destinies of Russian women who became muses to French artists, as well as the biographies of famous émigrés. The author formulates his method as follows: "All these stories are taken from real life, everything in them is true." The fiction in the text comes exclusively from the historical figures themselves, who tend to mystify their pasts.

Historical roots and muses of Parisian geniuses

The story begins in the 11th century. It concerns Anna Yaroslavna, daughter of the Kyivan Prince Yaroslav the Wise. King Henry I of France sent matchmakers to Kyiv, seeking to avoid political intrigue among his neighbors. Anna became Queen of France. After her husband’s death, she ruled the country for eight years with her young son Philip. The Ostromir Gospel she brought with her became a sacred relic. All French monarchs swore allegiance to this book. The illiterate Henry used a cross instead of his signature, while the educated Anna signed in Cyrillic. Later, the young widow was abducted by the Marquis du Cressy. She began living with him out of wedlock, incurring the wrath of the Pope.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a young Anna Akhmatova arrived in Paris. There, she met the penniless, unknown artist Amedeo Modigliani. They strolled through the Luxembourg Gardens and recited the poetry of Paul Verlaine. They couldn’t afford the paid chairs, so the couple sat on public benches. Modigliani drew sixteen nude sketches of Akhmatova. For a long time, the poet claimed that Red Guards twisted these drawings into goat’s legs and smoked them. Almost all of the sketches were considered lost forever. However, in 1993, some of them were discovered in the archives of Dr. Paul Alexander. Their youthful romance ended in quiet sadness. After leaving for Russia, Akhmatova heard nothing of the artist until the 1920s, when she accidentally read his obituary.

Maria Kudasheva, the illegitimate daughter of a Russian colonel and a French governess, became the writer Romain Rolland’s faithful companion. In her youth, she was friends with the Tsvetaeva sisters and translated books. After losing her first husband during the Civil War, she became fascinated with French literature. After reading the novel "Jean Christophe," Maria sent the author an enthusiastic letter. A long correspondence developed between them, which blossomed into a profound love. Despite the resistance of the writer’s sister, they married in 1934. The age difference between them was exactly forty years. During the Nazi occupation, Maria morally supported Rolland, and after his death, she preserved his literary legacy for forty-one years. She published the classic writer’s correspondence and opened two museums dedicated to him.

Lydia Delektorskaya was orphaned in Siberia during the Civil War. She arrived in France via Harbin and became the muse of the brilliant Henri Matisse. Left without a job, she took a job as a nurse for the artist’s ailing wife. Over time, she became indispensable to Matisse. Lydia posed for paintings, conducted correspondence, and assisted the master in creating the famous Rosary Chapel in Vence. A scrupulously honest person, Lydia purchased the artist’s paintings at full price and donated them to the Hermitage and the Pushkin Museum. Leaving home on the day of Matisse’s death, Lydia left her entire inheritance to his legal family.

Belarusian Nadya Khodasevich was passionate about painting. After reading an interview with Fernand Léger, she decided to reach Paris at any cost. After marrying a Polish man, Stanislav, Nadya found herself in the French capital and enrolled at the Académie Léger. After her divorce, she lived in extreme poverty. She worked as a maid in a boarding house run by Madame Valmoran, but continued her studies and published an avant-garde magazine in French and Polish. During the war, Nadya actively participated in the Resistance movement. Returning to Léger in peacetime, she became his main assistant. The widowed seventy-year-old artist married her. As a widow, Nadya built a massive Fernand Léger museum in the town of Biot and donated the building to the French people.

Diaghilev ballet dancer Olga Khokhlova captured the heart of the young Pablo Picasso. For her sake, the Spaniard married in an Orthodox church in Paris. The daughter of a Tsarist colonel, Olga aspired to a beautiful bourgeois life. She furnished an elegant apartment. Picasso, meanwhile, was working in a neighboring studio, littered with canvases. Under her influence, the artist’s artistic style became more classical. The birth of their son, Paul, briefly strengthened their union. Soon, Picasso became infatuated with Marie-Thérèse Voltaire and became enamored with communist ideas. The breakup was extremely painful. Olga never granted her husband a formal divorce. She died alone in the south of France. Her granddaughter, Marina, inherited the artist’s vast fortune. She donated millions to aid orphans in Vietnam.

Love, poetry and cinema

Elya Kagan, Lilya Brik’s younger sister, changed her name to Elsa after moving to Tahiti with her first husband, André Triolet. This union soon broke up, and Elsa moved to Paris. Taking up residence in the modest Istria Hotel in Montparnasse, she moved in bohemian circles. On the advice of Maxim Gorky, she began writing prose. In 1928, Elsa met the surrealist poet Louis Aragon. He was grieving over the separation from his wealthy heiress. Elsa transferred her youthful love for Mayakovsky, whom her sister had taken from her, to Aragon. She disciplined his life and became his main muse. The poet dedicated his famous poem "Elsa’s Eyes" to her. In 1945, the writer received the Prix Goncourt. The couple endured the hardships of war together and participated in the Resistance movement. They later experienced disillusionment with the Soviet regime and maintained tender feelings until their deaths.

Actress Marina Vlady, née Polyakova, was proud of her Russian roots. Her father, a descendant of White émigrés and a former pilot, emigrated to France. There, he met his future wife, the daughter of a White general. The family lived in extreme poverty. Marina began acting at eleven, earning a living and supporting her aging parents. The French star met Vladimir Vysotsky at the Taganka Theater. She saw him as Khlopusha in the play "Pugachev." That same evening, Vysotsky declared, "You will be my wife." Twelve years of their marriage were spent in endless telephone conversations and grueling flights between Moscow and Paris. Marina supported the poet emotionally. After his death, she donated all his manuscripts to the Russian archive of the Central State Archive of Literature and Art (TsGALI). The book she wrote, "Vladimir, or the Interrupted Flight," achieved enormous success with readers and opened the way for her to great literature.

Lilya Yuryevna Brik has been described as one of the most enigmatic women of the twentieth century. Born into an intelligent Moscow family, she attracted male attention from childhood. After marrying Osip Brik, a clever but icy lawyer, she soon met Vladimir Mayakovsky. On their very first evening, the poet recited his poem "A Cloud in Trousers" to her. The poet and Lilya Yuryevna had a turbulent, exhausting relationship — a mixture of wild passion and mutual infidelity. Brik was friends with Pablo Picasso, Sergei Parajanov, and many other creative figures of the era. She even helped secure Parajanov’s release from prison by persuading Louis Aragon to intercede for the director with the Soviet leadership. In her old age, having broken her hip, Lilya Yuryevna took a fatal dose of sleeping pills. She left clear instructions on how to scatter her ashes near Zvenigorod to avoid possible desecration of the grave.

Roger Vadim, born Vadim Plemyannikov, left a lasting mark on French cinema. The son of a Russian émigré and diplomat, he was proud of his heritage. According to family legend, his lineage traces back to one of Genghis Khan’s nephews. In his youth, Roger worked as an assistant director and theater journalist. After seeing the cover of a fashion magazine, he decided to meet the young Brigitte Bardot. After marrying her, Roger created the film "And God Created Woman." This film transformed Bardot into a global cinematic icon. During his life, the director married several outstanding actresses, including Annette Streuberg, Catherine Deneuve, Jane Fonda, and Marie-Christine Barrault. All of his ex-wives remained friends with him. Once, four wives took him to the hospital with a broken shoulder. Roger Vadim distinguished himself both as a director and a talented screenwriter. He was a master at revealing the potential of his chosen ones.

The wanderings of artists and the double life of a writer

Alexander Vertinsky, orphaned in early childhood, rose from a poverty-stricken Kyiv teenager to an idol of millions. After unsuccessful attempts to enter the Moscow Art Theater, he developed a cocaine addiction but miraculously survived. He worked as a train orderly during World War I and performed 30,000 bandages. He returned to Moscow and began performing as the sad Pierrot, singing his own romances. During the Revolution, he emigrated, wandered Europe for many years, sang in Parisian cabarets, acted in films in the United States, and lived in China. In Shanghai, he met the young Lydia Tsirglava, who became his legal wife. In 1943, the family returned to the USSR. Despite national adoration and sold-out houses, the authorities hushed him up. Officials banned his records and barred him from radio broadcasts, which caused the aging artist immense emotional torment.

Roman Gary, born Roman Katsev, was born in Vilnius. His mother, Nina Borisovskaya, a failed provincial actress, raised her son with the absolute certainty that he would become a great French diplomat, a military hero, and an outstanding writer. To fulfill this dream, his mother sold hats, counterfeiting labels from famous Parisian hat makers. After leaving for France, Roman held numerous minor jobs until he published his first short stories in a weekly magazine. During World War II, he served as a pilot and navigator in the Lorraine bomber squadron, flying deadly combat missions over Germany. He once landed a damaged plane while guiding a blinded pilot, for which he was awarded the Cross of Liberation.

After the war, Roman had an impressive diplomatic career, serving in Bulgaria, Switzerland, and the United States, and also became renowned as the author of thirty books. Having become a popular writer, he married Hollywood actress Jean Seberg.

When Parisian literary critics turned their backs on Gary, he orchestrated a grand hoax: he published a new book under the pseudonym Émile Ajar. The novel, "The Life Ahead," earned him a second Prix Goncourt. Ultimately, Roman Gary became the only writer in history to win this prestigious prize twice, despite its strict statute.

To maintain the legend, he persuaded his nephew, Paul Pavlovich, to impersonate Ajar. However, Ajar soon spiraled out of control and began to revel in someone else’s fame. Following the tragic death of Jean Seberg and the accumulated fatigue, Gary voluntarily took his own life. He left behind a suicide essay detailing the mystery of his literary double.