Margarita Simonyan: Keosayan burst in like a tsunami and turned my life upside down along with all the ficus trees. Margarita Simonyan and her secret romance in plain sight Margarita Simonyan official Twitter

One day Tigran Keosayan wrote to Margarita Simonyan on Facebook: “Hello, Margarita! This is Tigran Keosayan. I have long liked you as a journalist and fellow tribesman. Now I was driving in the car and listening to how you were being bullied on the radio, I couldn’t stand it, I decided to support and write.”

Margarita Simonyan at first did not believe that it was really Keosayan. She saw him on TV in a cooking show where he was cooking scrambled eggs and tomatoes. Margarita answered him, exchanged phone numbers, met, had lunch. Apparently, we had lunch so deliciously that we wanted to have more lunch. Yes, and have dinner. Gradually overgrown general topics, interests, friends, some projects.

« And suddenly it turned out that it’s impossible to live without each other - that you need to see each other every day, correspond every minute, hold hands even when you’re not around"recalls Simonyan.

« In general, all the most beautiful things in my life literally fall from the sky. But what I work on long and hard either doesn’t happen at all, or happens when it’s no longer necessary.", the journalist adds. Her career - the position of editor-in-chief of an international television channel and the country's main news agency - also developed unexpectedly. She never aspired to become a big boss, quite the contrary. I have always wanted to write books, from childhood, as long as I can remember.

Tigran Keosayan taught Margarita to write scripts. Now, in traffic jams and at night, she writes scripts for films and TV series - sometimes under her own name, sometimes under a pseudonym. This is how Simonyan relaxes. " Not to mention the fact that they pay very well for it - definitely more than my salary at Russia Today ", clarifies Keosayan's chosen one.

She writes not only for Tigran. Together they made three TV series and just made a movie. Their comedy “The Sea. Mountains. Expanded clay" was successfully broadcast on Channel One. This December on NTV there will be a premiere of the psychological thriller “Actress”, another work that they created together with Tigran and Alena Khmelnitskaya.

Margarita wrote the script, Tigran directed, and Alena played one of the main female roles. The whole group watched their trio with caution and admiration - how people manage to maintain good relationships.

Margarita was born in Krasnodar, which in the eighties was an abandoned province. The family lived between the station and the market; they had a shack without any amenities. " My parents are purebred Armenians, while we have absolutely Russian family. Father was born and raised in Sverdlovsk, and mother in Sochi"says Simonyan. Most of Her relatives still live in Adler.

Simonyan never dreamed of television. She was going to write beautiful articles for various magazines. In 1998, Margarita graduated from her first year, and she published a collection of poems; the Krasnodar television company also took her on as an internship. Leaving for Chechnya to the front line in the bloody and crazy December 1999, when Grozny was just being surrounded, for the first time in her life Simonyan deceived her parents.

After Chechnya, Margarita was noticed in Moscow. She became a freelance correspondent for several federal television channels. Her father bought her a shabby Oka, which was already ten years old, and he and the operator drove around in this car all over the south of Russia, Crimea, Abkhazia, Kalmykia and Ossetia, getting their reports.

In her third year, when Simonyan was not yet twenty-one years old, the RTR channel - now called “Russia” - entrusted her with heading its news desk. " I was twenty-two when Dobrodeev, the general director of the Rossiya TV channel, called and asked: “Choose, will you go to New York or Moscow?” Of course, I chose Moscow. I immediately got into the presidential pool - it was a real “dream come true”"recalls Simonyan.

At twenty-five, Margarita was appointed editor-in-chief of Russia Today, which did not exist at that time: she had to launch the first Russian international 24-hour news channel in English from scratch. Your first New Year in this capacity she celebrated at work.

Simonyan in general early youth in fact, she lived only for work. She never wanted to get married; she put off thoughts about children until after she was thirty. " When romances happened, I immediately honestly told my boyfriend that it wasn’t serious and most likely not for long - I just didn’t have time", the journalist recalls.

« It seemed to me that married woman- an unhappy and downtrodden creature: she was “blessed” with a white veil so that she would clean, wash, cook and endure her husband’s infidelities. However, by the time I was thirty I had already had long and quite family relationships- with a common life, ficus and plans for the future, but I didn’t plan to get married even then", adds Margarita.

Then a tsunami named Keosayan burst into her “understandable life.” " Tigran and I tried many times to stop everything - no one wanted to hurt loved ones. But it didn't work out. The first time we separated “forever” was for a whole day, the last time was for twenty minutes." says Margarita.

Simonyan lived in a small cozy house, bought with a mortgage, in a wonderful village that had only one drawback - it was located sixty-three kilometers from the Moscow Ring Road. " When Tigran arrived for the first time, he asked why I didn’t have curtains. Margarita remembers. - She answered: “Because I haven’t saved up for the ones I want yet.”" Keosayan was shocked. In his mind, the head of a major international media outlet could not have such problems. He moved to live with her in this house without curtains.

« Why do you say that you live near Moscow? You live near Volokolamsk! - Tigran joked, making his way to Margarita’s house in his luxurious Maserati. He, of course, left the mansion in Barvikha to Alena and their common children. Having already moved to Simonyan, he stopped there every morning before work to have breakfast with his youngest daughter Ksyusha, and only then went to Mosfilm. Margarita categorically supported this. She even insisted if he was tired and wanted to sleep longer.

Tigran stopped going to Barvikha every morning only when Alena had a new common-law husband, Sasha. So as not to create awkwardness. Ksyusha spends weekends with them; she is friends with Margarita’s children. Tigran took only his father's portraits and books from his house. And after the divorce, Alena remains a faithful friend and family member, and a loving father to his daughters.

« When I found out that I was pregnant, I was in shock and cried for three months. Motherhood happened despite precautions, but there was an almost one hundred percent threat of miscarriage. The doctors said: “If you want to carry it out, go to bed for conservation, we will inject hormones.”"says Simonyan.

Margarita decided that she would not fight either for or against her pregnancy: as God willed, so it would happen. As a result, Maryasha settled down. Five months after her first birth, Simonyan became pregnant with Bagrat. This time I wasn’t worried, I was happy. " Pregnancy was very easy for me, both times I felt better than when I was not pregnant: I slept little, worked hard and vigorously, not a day of toxicosis, gave birth the first time in two and a half hours, the second in one and a half hours. However, motherhood is still the hardest thing I've ever done.", admitted Margarita.

I spent a month on maternity leave with Maryasha Simonyan, but still sorted everything out by phone and mail. I didn’t sit with Bagrat at all. After leaving the maternity hospital, the journalist took her son home and went to work - she was just undergoing an audit by the Accounts Chamber.

In general, the famous journalist is also an anxious mother, but she tries not to show this to her children. Several times a day he always calls his grandmothers at home. Although he knows his children’s schedule every minute, and theirs is spartan: swimming, languages, yoga, drawing by the hour, Maryasha has dancing, Bagrat has Thai boxing. And their diet is spartan, they still haven’t tried sweets and cakes, so they are absolutely indifferent to sweets and happily nibble on celery. Any cakes can be on the table - children are not drawn to them because they do not perceive them as food, rather as decoration. They eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, cereals, meat, and seafood.

Tigran is a much stricter parent than Margarita. Raises children immediately as adults, especially only son. And he is three years old, he still doesn’t understand when dad says that “I need to apologize for throwing an apple on the floor,” he looks at dad with surprised eyes and smiles. However, Tigran, in Margarita’s opinion, is also strict with his daughters. But he also fools around with them, sings funny songs that he makes up himself, and tells tall tales.

Simonyan says she is a fan preschool education and got infected with it from Tatyana Yumasheva, Yeltsin’s daughter. Maryasha and Bagrat speak five languages: Russian, Armenian, English, French and Chinese. Teachers who are native speakers come to them every day. For children it's just a game, they don't even know that they are learning. They sculpt, draw, walk, sing, watch cartoons - it’s just that all this happens in different languages.

« I would not want my children to study abroad. For selfish reasons. They will already master languages ​​by first grade, but I am not ready to live with them in different countries so that they grow up as carriers of a culture that is foreign to me. I am not a person of the world, I am very attached to my native places and I want my children to be nearby too. We have seen many families where parents are perplexed as to why their child grew up strange, incomprehensible, some kind of arrogant English aristocrat or an equally arrogant Swiss socialist. And the heir was sent to London to college at the age of twelve - how should he grow up?", says Margarita.

Tigran did not object to his eldest daughter when she wanted to study at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, but he was terribly worried all these years. By the end, he and Alena were already very angry with themselves for having sent their daughter to the other side of the world with their own hands. Luckily for them, she didn’t stay there. I received my diploma and returned. Now the smart and beautiful Sasha works with her father, she was the second director on his new film, the plot of which unfolds against the backdrop of the construction of the Crimean Bridge.

The summer before last, at Ksyusha’s birthday—she was turning six—Margarita met Alena. A few days before the holiday, Tigran said: “ Alena invites us to come all together. -Of course, take the children and go with them. - You did not understand. She wants to see you too».
Margarita thought that Tigran, in his directorial absent-mindedness, had misunderstood something. I asked him for Alenin’s number and wrote to her: “ Alena, hello! Tigran said that you are waiting for us all together. This is true? I don’t want to put anyone in an awkward position, especially on children's party " Alena replied: “ C'mon! Come! There won't be any problems. Let's have great fun».

About forty guests gathered. It was just wonderful. Margarita and Alena both took a glass when the children had already been taken away and sat together until the morning. Tigran could not stand it, fell asleep on the lawn, periodically woke up and whined: “ Girls, maybe that's enough? Oh please! I want to go home!»

At the holiday, Margarita and Alena took a photo together and posted it on the Internet with the caption “High relationship.” " She is charming, very kind, smart, open - not to mention a phenomenal beauty. We have nothing to share: Alena is happy, I am happy, Tigran is happy. And thank God", Margarita admits.

Margarita and Tigran do not hang out and rarely go to premieres or events. And they hardly go to visit - they receive friends at home. On Sundays they often serve tables of fifteen courses, Margarita loves it very much. Of course, both mothers and their au pair help her. Maryasha is already helping to cook too. I learned how to cut cucumbers with a small child’s knife, and I’m terribly proud of it.

« Looking at my children, I am convinced that people are born with a certain set of traits. Maryana is as ambitious as I was. At four years old, she cries for half a day if she fails to read a word or recite a poem by heart. But this doesn’t bother my three-year-old son at all. They sit down at the table, Maryasha shouts: “I am the first, because I was born first!” - Okay, I'm second.", Bagrat smiles.

On the first of January, Keosayan and Simonyan always have “khash” open doors" All night long, Margarita and her mother and mother-in-law cook this famous Armenian anti-hangover dish from boiled beef hooves. To be honest, the khash mostly cooks itself, but they keep an eye on it. All friends know that they can come to them without special invitation, starting at one o'clock in the afternoon. This is how it was in the house of Margarita’s parents, this is how it was in the house of Tigran’s parents, and now this is how it is with them.

Tigran, of course, spoils his wife, accustoms her to expensive things and five star hotels. When they met, Margarita was already over thirty, she had long been a big boss with a good salary, but everything was scattered into mortgages, loans, and numerous relatives.

« I will never forget his first gift. I liked the bag famous brand, not prohibitively expensive, but still wastefully expensive for me. Passing by the boutique, I admired her in the window. One day Tigran caught my eye: “Do you like this bag?”", says the journalist.

Tigran bought it on the sly and gave it to his wife. " So, like a child, I slept with her for several days - I laid her on the pillow, I could not take my eyes off her. I still wear it", recalls Margarita.

Keosayan and Simonyan have not yet registered their relationship; they simply don’t get around to it. " We were recently joking about this topic at home Margarita tells the “Caravan of Stories” - We decided that we would probably get married when the children grew up, so that we could sit down at a common table with our parents, drink homemade wine from the grapes planted by my grandfather, eat dolma according to Tigran’s mother’s recipe and say: “What great fellows you are, ancestors, Once upon a time we decided on all this!»

Margarita Simonovna Simonyan. Born on April 6, 1980 in Krasnodar. Russian journalist, TV presenter, screenwriter. Editor-in-Chief of the Russia Today TV channel (since 2015), Rossiya Segodnya agency (since 2013), Sputnik agency (since 2014).

Father - Simon Sarkisovich Simonyan, was born and raised in Sverdlovsk, later his parents moved to Krasnodar. Our ancestors come from Crimea, where they fled from the Turkish genocide at the beginning of the 20th century. He worked as a refrigerator repairman.

Mother, originally from Sochi, sold flowers at the market.

Grandfather - Sarkis Simonyan, participant of the Great Patriotic War. My grandparents' family was repressed in 1944.

Younger sister - Alice.

Most of her relatives live in Adler.

Although Margarita’s parents are purebred Armenians, they, according to her, had an absolutely Russian family. Her parents speak Armenian, but in different dialects. Margarita herself does not speak Armenian at all. I visited Armenia as an adult for work reasons.

She graduated from special school No. 36 in Krasnodar with in-depth study of foreign languages. In tenth grade for improvement in English was sent as an exchange to New Hampshire (USA). After graduating from school, she entered and graduated from the Faculty of Journalism of Kuban State University and the School of Television Excellence.

From February 1999 to January 2000 - correspondent for the Krasnodar television and radio company. She worked as a war correspondent, covering the Chechen conflict. In January 2000, for a series of war reports, she received the Kuban Union of Journalists Award “For Professional Courage.”

In May 2000 she received the II Prize All-Russian competition regional television and radio companies for their report on Chechen children vacationing in Anapa. Appointed leading editor of information programs of the Krasnodar TV and Radio Broadcasting Company.

In September 2000, she received a presidential scholarship.

In February 2001, she was appointed VGTRK’s own correspondent in Rostov-on-Don. Then she became a special correspondent for Vesti. Covered military clashes in the Kodori Gorge of Abkhazia. In the fall of 2002, she became part of the presidential pool of journalists. In September 2004 she covered terrorist attack in Beslan.

Since the founding of the first Russian news channel broadcasting in English around the clock in 2005, Russia Today (now RT) has been its editor-in-chief. She took up this post at the age of 25. Subsequently, she also became the editor-in-chief of the Arabic-language (Rusia al-Yawm) and Spanish-language (RT Español) versions of RT.

In 2010 she published the book “To Moscow!”. She said about her work: “This is a story about the country, about love and about provincial boys and girls born in the 1980s. We all dreamed of going to Moscow for better life, and none of us knew that we had to be careful in our wishes - they could come true."

From April 2011 to February 2012, she hosted the weekly analytical program “What’s Going On?” on the REN TV channel. From October to November 2012 - host of the weekly column “Point of View” on the Kommersant FM radio station. From February 17 to June 23, 2013, together with she was the host of a political talk show on the NTV channel “Iron Ladies”.

In 2012, she played the role of a journalist in the melodrama “Three Comrades.”

Margarita Simonyan in the TV series "Three Comrades"

In 2012, she was included in the list of the hundred most influential women in Russia, taking 33rd place. In 2013, she entered the top five most influential women in Russia in the field of media.

December 31, 2013 CEO information agency "Russia Today" Dmitry Kiselev appointed Margarita Simonyan as editor-in-chief of the international information agency "Russia Today", who also remained at the post of head of RT.

On November 10, 2014, she became the editor-in-chief of the Sputnik news agency, affiliated with the Rossiya Segodnya news agency.

In 2014, she received the national award “Media Manager of Russia” for successfully winning the RT television channel a foreign audience. At the end of 2017, Margarita Simonyan was included by Forbes in the ranking of “100 Most Influential Women in the World” and ranks 52nd.

Since 2013 he has been working as a screenwriter. She was the author of the script for the melodrama “The Sea. Mountains. Expanded clay." In 2017, she acted as a screenwriter for the crime detective film “Actress,” starring.

Social and political position of Margarita Simonyan

Since 2008 - member of the Academy of Russian Television. Since 2010, he has been vice president of the National Association of Television and Radio Broadcasters. Since June 2011 - member of the board of directors of Channel One.

In 2010-2012 she was a member of the Public Chamber Russian Federation third team.

In 2012, she was a member of the “People's Headquarters” (in Moscow) of a presidential candidate.

In August 2014, the Ukrainian National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting published a list of 49 journalists and heads of Russian television channels who may be banned from entering Ukraine, which included Simonyan. In May 2016, she was included in the Ukrainian sanctions list by President Petro Poroshenko and was prohibited from entering Ukraine.

Until 2017 - Member of the Public Council at the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the city of Moscow. Since 2017 - Member of the Public Council under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.

In January 2018, she was registered as a proxy of Vladimir Putin in the presidential elections on March 18, 2018.

Margarita Simonyan's height: 160 centimeters.

Personal life of Margarita Simonyan:

She lived in a civil marriage with journalist and television producer Andrei Blagodyrenko. They have been together since 2005. However, this relationship eventually ended.

Since 2012, she has been in a relationship with the director. At the time their romance began, Keosayan was married to an actress and had two daughters, but divorced in 2014.

In August 2013, the couple had a daughter, Maryana, and in September 2014, a son, Bagrat. At the end of 2018, it became known about Margarita’s third pregnancy. October 19, 2019, which was named Maro.

The couple is in no hurry to formalize the marriage. : “I have always had a very wary attitude towards legal marriage. I have never been officially married, these are some kind of childhood complexes, I saw enough in my childhood of very unhappy women in marriage. And I had a rejection. I once shocked my parents by declaring at the age of 12: “I will never get married.”

The family owns a restaurant in the Krasnaya Polyana area of ​​Sochi. Margarita said that she opened a restaurant there, fulfilling an old family dream. However, the restaurant business was not a success: “This happened a couple of days before the start of the Sochi Olympics, and whoever dined with us during these fabulous two weeks: Dmitry Kozak, Konstantin Ernst, Oleg Deripaska, Mikhail Prokhorov, Andrei Malakhov, Yana Churikova... But the Olympics ended, the guests left, but the restaurant remained. It was built against the main rule of this business - not where there is high traffic, but right in the courtyard of my grandmother’s house, where my mother was born and raised, and now her sisters, nephews and, "Actually, my grandmother. The location is unfortunate - not in the mountains or by the sea, on an old highway that few people drive on anymore. In general, the restaurant has withered away, we are now trying to rent out the building."

Filmography of Margarita Simonyan:

2012 - Three comrades - journalist
2012 - Deadline (documentary)

Scripts by Margarita Simonyan:

2013 - Sea. Mountains. Expanded clay
2017 -

Bibliography of Margarita Simonyan:

2010 - To Moscow!

Awards for Margarita Simonyan:

Medal "For Strengthening the Military Commonwealth" from the Russian Ministry of Defense (March 9, 2005)
- Order of Friendship (June 27, 2007) - for huge contribution in the development of domestic television and many years of fruitful work
- Order of Friendship (South Ossetia, December 25, 2008) - for objective coverage of events during the period of Georgia’s armed aggression against South Ossetia in August 2008
- Gratitude of the President of the Russian Federation (2010)
- Movses Khorenatsi Medal (Armenia, November 18, 2010) - for significant contribution to the development of the field of journalism and high professionalism
- Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree (2014) - “for objectivity in covering events in Crimea”

Margarita Simonyan - Russian journalist, Chief Editor Russia Today TV channel, the international news agency "Russia Today" and the Sputnik news agency.

Having started her career as an ordinary correspondent for a provincial television studio, she managed to occupy one of the leading positions in Russian television journalism. Today Simonyan is one of the top 100 most influential women in the world according to Forbes.

Childhood and youth

Margarita Simonyan was born on April 6, 1980 in the Russian city of Krasnodar. The girl and her sister Alice grew up in a poor family. Father Simon, an Armenian by nationality, made a living by repairing refrigerators, and mother Zinaida sold flowers at the market. There are rumors on the Internet that Margarita also has Jewish roots.

As the journalist later wrote from the pages of LiveJournal and "Instagram", the girl and her parents lived in an old house on Gogol Street, where rats were constantly running around, there was no gas, running water or sewerage. Difficult living conditions only strengthened the girl’s desire to escape poverty and achieve comfortable conditions life. When Margarita was about 10 years old, the Simonyan family was given an apartment in a new microdistrict of the city.

According to information that later appeared in an article by Komsomolskaya Pravda, the romance between the journalist and the director began on Tigran’s initiative. He wrote a message to the girl on a social network "Facebook", where he expressed support for Margarita: at that time there was persecution against her on the radio. Initially, Simonyan did not pay attention to the letter, because she did not believe that the famous director would be interested in her person. But the correspondence ended with a joint dinner at a restaurant. Soon, a relationship began between the journalist and the filmmaker, which developed into a civil marriage.

Margarita Simonyan and Tigran Keosayan

In September 2014, Margarita had a son, Bagrat. At the same time, on the page of one of the social networks, Keosayan confirmed that he had become a father. Later it turned out that this was the couple’s second child - in August 2013, Margarita gave birth to her husband’s daughter Maryana. As the journalist said in an interview, she remembers with gratitude the time when she was pregnant. Each time Margarita experienced a surge of strength and never suffered from toxicosis, despite the fact that with Maryana she survived the threat of miscarriage.

Simonyan is a supporter of early childhood education. Linguistic teachers work with Maryana and Bagrat in a playful way, so even at such an early age the kids speak five languages ​​- Russian, Armenian, English, French and Chinese.

I wonder what's between ex-wife Tigran Keosayan - Alena Khmelnitskaya and Margarita Simonyan established friendly relations. The women became best friends, and even together with the director they created a project - the psychological thriller “Actress”. Margarita participated in the creation of the film, which was successfully broadcast on the NTV channel, as a screenwriter.

Margarita became a mother for the third time on October 19, 2019, and her wife gave Tigran a son, Maro. The woman published the corresponding news on Instagram, after which she began to receive congratulations from family and friends.

Margarita Simonyan and her children

Rumors about Margarita’s third pregnancy have been circulating on the Internet for a long time, but the journalist decided to confirm the information only in April 2019 in the program.

And already in March 2020, Simonyan again shared the news about the expected addition. She became pregnant just 4 months after her third birth, but took this fact as a blessing and admitted that she was ready to become a mother for her fourth child. Unfortunately, it soon became known that the TV presenter had lost this child.

Simonyan maintains a page on Instagram, where she posts photos with her family and footage related to her journalistic activities. She does not publish pictures from vacation, in a swimsuit, on the shores of the azure sea or ocean, preferring to leave this part of life out of the sight of subscribers. Margarita does not have a personal website; she publishes all information in her profiles on in social networks.

Simonyan is friends with many Russian stars and presenters. Proof of this is the woman’s photos that periodically appear on the social networks of various media personalities. For example, in the spring of 2018, she posted a photo in the profile of the company, and Simonyan, signing that their company is similar to the Soprano clan.

Work allows Margarita and her husband to provide a comfortable life for their children. Although she does not show a declaration of income, it is already clear that the journalist’s salary amounts to more than one thousand dollars.

Journalism and career

In 1999, Simonyan began working as a correspondent for the Krasnodar television and radio channel. She managed to get this job thanks to a collection of poems of her own composition, which Margarita published a year earlier. The TV channel decided to film a story about a talented girl. While communicating with the film crew, Simonyan mentioned that she wanted to work as a journalist, and she was offered an internship at the TV channel. The choice of the first job determined the future professional biography Margaritas.

At the age of 19, the girl went to film a story in Chechnya. Her miniature figure (her height was 160 cm) did not prevent her from showing masculinity and strength of character. Margarita told her parents that she was going to the war zone only upon her return, 10 days later. A series of reports in one of the hot spots in the world brought Margarita Simonyan fame and a number of journalistic awards: “For Professional Courage”, first prize in the All-Russian Competition of Regional Television and Radio Companies and the Russian Order of Friendship.

In 2000, Simonyan became the editor-in-chief of the Krasnodar TV channel, and a year later she became a correspondent for the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company in Rostov-on-Don. She continued her career as a war journalist, visiting Abkhazia, covering the clash between militants and the state army in the Kodori Gorge.

Margarita Simonyan and Vladimir Putin

In 2002, Margarita Simonyan was invited to Moscow as a correspondent for the Vesti television program. The journalist accompanied the President of Russia, being among the presidential pool of journalists. In September 2004, she traveled to Beslan to cover the school hostage crisis. The tragedy influenced Margarita’s worldview and views; in an interview, she does not advise young journalists to start a career as war correspondents.

In 2005, the Russia Today television channel was created, which broadcast in English and was designed to reflect Russia’s position on international events. Margarita Simonyan was appointed editor-in-chief of the Russia Today TV channel.

The appointment of such a young person to such a position was argued by the founders of RIA Novosti with the position that the project should have been led by a person who had not seen Soviet news and had his own ideas about how to show Russian news foreign viewers. Later, Margarita also began to oversee the Arabic and Spanish versions of the TV channel.

In 2011, the girl became a TV presenter of the news project “What’s Going On?” on the REN-TV channel. During the program, she discussed the most significant events of the week, which for some reason were not adequately covered on federal channels. Margarita talked with direct participants in the events and spectators.

Margarita Simonyan and Tina Kandelaki

In 2013, Simonyan became the TV presenter of the political show “Iron Ladies” on the NTV channel. Together with colleague Tina Kandelaki in live the journalist asked questions that were not always convenient, but current issues famous politicians and businessmen. That same year, the channel's management decided to close the show.

At the end of 2013, Margarita Simonyan was appointed to the position of editor-in-chief of the international news agency Rossiya Segodnya.

Margarita with early childhood I dreamed of becoming a writer and doing print journalism. At the age of 18, she published a collection of her own poems. In 2010 she published the book “To Moscow”. Due to her active journalistic and editorial activities, writing the book took about 10 years. This novel tells about the generation of the 90s and difficult destinies, unfulfilled dreams. In 2011, thanks to the novel, Simonyan became a prize winner for best book journalist.

In 2012, Margarita published an excerpt from her new story “Train” on the pages of the Russian Pioneer magazine. The girl also writes culinary articles for this publication. A couple of years later, her story “Rats” was published, which caused a lot of discussion on the Internet.

Margarita Simonyan, Tina Kandelaki, Philip Kirkorov and Mikhail Galustyan

Margarita supports the policies of the existing political system in Russia. In 2018, she became a confidant of Vladimir Putin during the presidential election campaign. At the same time, the journalist published a post on Telegram about her friend’s renunciation of US citizenship. According to the editor-in-chief of RT, the girl supported the opposition and immigrated to the United States in 2013, but after 4 years she decided to regain her Russian citizenship. The TV journalist duplicated the information in "Twitter".

In 2014, together with Tina Kandelaki and Simonyan, she became a guest of a program on Channel One.

Margarita constantly enters into polemics with foreign media. She managed to expose fake footage of the wounded boy Omran Daqneesh, which was used as evidence of Russian aggression in Syria. The boy's father revealed the truth in an interview with RT.

The television journalist repeatedly became a guest in the studio of the popular political commentator. At the beginning of 2018, she gave a detailed interview, where, together with the TV presenter, she reflected on freedom of speech in Russia and the West.

The scandal with the poisoning of an ex-intelligence officer, in which the British authorities now have suspects - Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov, received great publicity. The young people gave an interview to Margarita Simonyan, which she commented on on radio Ekho Moskvy. The television journalist emphasized that she has no reason to trust these people, but she also does not trust Western intelligence agencies. The footage of the meeting, used as a photo, was dismantled by users into memes.

Journalist Margarita Simonyan has long been known to viewers for her reports from hot spots. It all started in Chechnya. The main turning point was Beslan, which became the starting point for the creation of a new television format called “Russia Today”, in which she holds the post of director. But not much is known about Margarita’s personal life. She herself doesn’t talk much about it.

The journalist was born and raised in Kuban, in the city of Krasnodar. Margot's family was poor, but this did not stop her parents from sending her to an “English” school. Thanks to her natural qualities, she became the best student and was sent to the USA as an exchange student. After studying in the States for several years, the girl decided to return home and devote herself to journalism. Exactly at State University Kuban and her professional and life journey began.

Childhood

In 1980, the future star of “Russia Today” Simonyan Margarita was born, whose biography since childhood has been associated with constant self-improvement.

Parents at one time received higher education, but, like most Soviet people, it was not useful after perestroika. My father repaired refrigeration units, and my mother shuttled and traded at the market. The Simonyans tried to give their children a good education: the sisters were taken to sports and music classes, and English language courses. As a result, Margo managed to successfully pass the exams and enter a special school.

Krasnodar itself is a small town. At the end of the 80s, and even more so in the 90s, it was a typical province with dirty streets and destroyed buildings. The Simonyans lived in an “Armenian” district in a small house for five families. Not only was the shared toilet on the street, but the neighbors were drug addicts. Despite their Armenian origin, dad and mom never lived in Armenia.

Margarita grew up as an active child yearning for knowledge. It was easy for her to study. This is evidenced by the fact that little Margot is the first kindergarten learned to read. As a result of her love for learning, she graduated from school with a gold medal.

Not wanting to live and work in America, the girl entered Krasnodar University to study journalism. At the age of 19, she published a collection of her poems, thanks to which she was hired by the local TV channel “Krasnodar”. One could only dream of such a job. But ambitions and energy were in full swing and, in order to “shine up,” Margarita went to Chechnya as a war correspondent. There her path to success began.

Labor activity

The bet made on working as a military correspondent paid off. The coverage of military operations by a young Krasnodar journalist attracted the attention of the country's leading television channels. Then there were business trips to other hot spots.

The most memorable was the trip to Beslan. This city and the events that took place there in September 2004 changed the worldview of the war correspondent. Having launched vigorous activity, Marietta achieved that, a year after the tragedy, it was created new channel"Russia Today". And who, if not her, was destined to head the TV channel.

Career growth began to gain momentum:

Thanks to his activities, the journalist regularly finds himself in ratings of “influential people”:

• She took 33rd place as the most influential woman in Russia in 2012.
• The following year was marked by being included in the top five influential women in the media.
• 15th place among hundreds of influential women in Russia awarded in 2014.
• Forbes gave Margarita Simonovna 52nd place at the end of 2017 among the hundred most influential women in the world.

The consequence of working in the field of journalism was participation in Social life countries. In 2008, Margot became a member of the Television Academy. An active life position made the journalist a member of the Public Chamber of Russia of the third composition. In addition, until 2017, Simanyan was a member of the Public Council of the Moscow City Department of Internal Affairs. She was later elected to general council Ministries.

She never hid or was ashamed of her views, which is what attracted the attention of President Vladimir Putin. At his request, she took part in the “People’s Headquarters” during the presidential campaign in 2012. In the upcoming elections in 2018, she was again registered as a proxy of Russian presidential candidate V. Putin.

Married life never particularly attracted Marietta, because pictures from childhood came to mind, where married couples were never happy. Therefore, the first life together with Andrei Blagodyrenko was not formalized in any way. Margarita, with her reluctance to officially register the relationship, always upset her parents, who were accustomed to the traditional way of life. Margo lived in a civil marriage with Andrei for six years, until fate brought her together with Tigran Keosayan.

Until the moment Margarita Simonyan appeared in his life, Tigran’s personal life was connected with Alena Khmelnitskaya. The director lived together with Alena for 20 years until he was spotted in the company of another woman.

Keosayan Tigran and Margarita Simonyan became closer through joint projects. At first they were brought together by the restaurant business, and then the director released several films, where the famous television journalist acted as a screenwriter. As a result, feelings for Marietta prevailed and Tigran left his first wife.

Rumors about the couple in love circulated for a long time, until they were confirmed by the birth of their second child. Daughter Mariana was born when Keosayan was still in official marriage with Khmelnitskaya. He himself shared his joy on his page on social networks. He maintains friendly relations with his ex-wife Alena. Moreover, the film “Actress” was created with the direct participation of all three.

Today Tigran Keosayan and his new wife They are already raising two children: daughter Marianna and son Bagrat. But despite all the well-being and love of her husband, Simonyan’s marriage is civil. She never changed her principle and did not legitimize the relationship.

Most public people are always under the gun of cameras and evil tongues. So, for example, rumors appeared: “Margarita Simonyan and Tigran Keosayan divorced.” There are no facts about this yet. It is also unknown what relation Paulina Dmitrienko has to Tigran Keosayan. But the truth is actually this:

The last episode that caused surprise was a joint trip to Nice. There, the trio was spotted on the beach in swimsuits. Famous people We were just having fun, not paying attention to anyone.

Attention, TODAY only!

Margarita Simonyan is such an interesting person that even her enemies bow their heads respectfully before this strong, intelligent and very beautiful woman. And she, listening to spiteful critics and envious people, says: “Personally, I have no enemies, my Motherland has them.” And she means not only Armenia, but the whole former USSR, because for her the main thing is not nationality, but human qualities. Margarita Simonyan is one of the most prominent women in the international media; media source Forbes included her in the list of the most influential women in the world. How did a simple Armenian girl “grow up” to several high positions in Russian journalism at once? What interesting things do we know about the “iron lady of television”, who calls herself that and laughs infectiously at the same time?

Brief biography

• Full names: Simonyan, Margarita Simonovna (in the patronymic, the emphasis is on the second syllable);
• Place and date of birth: Krasnodar, USSR; 1980, April 6;
• Nationality: Armenian;
• Height, weight: 160 cm, about 60 kg;
• Marital status: officially single; is in a civil marriage with Keosayan Tigran;
• Children: son Keosayan Bagrat Tigranovich (born 2014), daughter Keosayan Maryana Tigranovna (born 2013);
• Occupation: journalist, writer, TV commentator, TV presenter, screenwriter, director, actress.

About Margarita Simonyan's childhood and youth

The biography of the Simonyan family, if viewed over several generations, covers the territory from the former Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg) to Crimean peninsula. Margarita’s great-grandparents fled to Crimea in pre-revolutionary times to escape the Turkish genocide. Sadly, the new homeland prepared a painful blow for the family: the next generation of Simonyanov was repressed in 1944 and exiled to Sverdlovsk, despite the fact that the head of the family went through the entire Great Patriotic War. Our heroine’s father, Simon Sarkisovich, was born in Sverdlovsk; his parents decided to move from Sverdlovsk to Krasnodar after the war. In Krasnodar, Simon met his future wife, they got married, and had two daughters – Margarita and Alisa.

Oh, these streets from the times of the USSR, which bore the names of great writers! Well, why, if Pushkin Street is always central, with respectable “high-rise buildings”, and when Gogol or Chekhov is located - slums for the poor? It was on this Gogol street in Krasnodar that Rita spent her childhood: “Italian” courtyards with a large balcony-veranda for many apartments, in a common kitchen - each housewife had a small stove with her own gas cylinder. From the water supply there is only a drain hatch next to the kitchen, the toilet is a “cesspool” with vacuum cleaners coming once a month. And Rita’s mother carried water up the rickety stairs in buckets from the pump... Dad was involved in repairing electronic equipment, he was especially famous in the city as a refrigerator repairman, and mother sold flowers at the market.

Despite the fact that there was frankly no money in the family (what thousands could a refrigerator technician or a flower seller earn in the USSR!), parents tried to pamper Rita and their younger sister Alisa: the girls always had elegant dresses and good toys. But the living conditions, no matter how hard you tried, left much to be desired, and Margarita already made an oath to herself: she would study, then work so that she would have a good apartment with gas, hot water, and good furniture. When the eldest girl in the Simonyan family turned ten years old, her parents finally received separate housing in a new microdistrict of the city.

Already in kindergarten, Rita learned to read fluently, and often she organized “fairy tale readings” in her group: the teacher seated the rest of the children in a circle, and Margarita read with the expression of a fairy tale. The girl did not go to school (her father insisted on this) with an in-depth study of English, because studying in an ordinary school would have been boring for her: at the age of seven she not only read fluently, but also knew the basics of mathematics. Rita's dad and mom proudly boasted to their neighbors that their daughter brought only "A's" in her diary; her Russian language teacher especially praised her (the school not only offered additional English classes, but was also Russian-speaking).

The year 1995 in the Land of the Soviets was the time when the “Iron Curtain” rose, which closed several generations born in the USSR from the rest of the world. The “Gorbachev Spring” also affected Soviet schools: exchanges of children’s delegations began between Soviet Union and the USA. Rita Simonyan was included in one of these delegations - she went to the States to study and live in American family. Until now, Margarita maintains warm relations with that family from New Hampshire, and in total she stayed in the USA for almost two years and returned to Krasnodar for the final exams of her native school. All exams were passed with excellent marks, Margarita became the only “medalist” in the class.

Student life and first journalistic experience

Rita’s parents are purebred Armenians, so in their daughters’ passports they wrote “Armenian” in the “nationality” column. By the way, the journalist’s father and mother spoke different dialects of their native language, but for the eldest daughter Russian became her native language - she went to a Russian school, and in such schools other languages ​​were taught “to the extent” Soviet time. But the girl, fluent in Russian and English, easily entered the Faculty of Journalism at Krasnodar University after school.

In her first year at university, Margarita tried her hand at poetry and published a collection of her own poems in a small local publishing house. The collection was instantly sold out, people started talking about the talented girl, and these conversations reached the management of the Krasnodar TV channel. The channel was looking for new, fresh ideas, and decided to interview the student poet. The story about Margarita Simonyan – the first appearance of the future media “star” on television – became the start of the young journalist’s entire future career. “Journalists” - because Rita took the opportunity and asked to take her for an internship, and now she is already a presenter and journalist for the Krasnodar television company.

The Krasnodar company was at that time the largest in the south of Russia, but whatever one may say, the channels were not wide, local broadcasting. And Margarita’s ambitions and energy are already “off scale”, and she is applying for a job at “ hot spot", specifically to Chechnya. A fragile nineteen-year-old girl is going to Chechnya for ten days - she didn’t even tell her parents about it, fearing their fright. Only after seeing their daughter on TV on the news did dad and mom learn that Rita was literally under bullets talking about the events in Chechnya. For a series of these reports, correspondent Simonyan received the award “For Professional Courage” and the Order of Friendship. Upon returning from Chechnya, the girl, without interruption from the university, enters the School of Television Excellence, where she studies under the guidance of Vladimir Pozner.

The path to the “top” of Russian and international journalism

The year 2000 for Margarita Simonyan was the post of editor-in-chief of the Krasnodar TV channel. But she still wanted more, and a year later the young woman moved to Rostov-on-Don to work there at the All-Union State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (as a simple correspondent, mind you). And again she rushes to the “hot spots”: this time it was Abkhazia, the audience especially remembered the reports from the Kodori Gorge, where the girl participated in filming clashes between militants and Russian army. The activity of the Rostov journalist was noticed “at the top”, and she was invited to work in Moscow, for the Vesti program.

Someone will say: “It’s just luck!”, but it’s probably not by chance that Vladimir Putin invited Margarita to join the group of journalists accompanying him during his presidential tour of the country in 2002. Two years later, in September 2004, she goes to Beslan: every half hour in emergency news, the girl appears on TV and tells the whole country how the process of freeing hostages in the town is progressing. She flatly refused the offer to cut out some moments from her reports (several times her voice broke and she began to cry): people should know the truth, it cannot be “smoothed over”! Later, answering the question whether young journalists should start a career in a “problem” area, Margarita categorically said: “Under no circumstances!” It’s so hard, so disgusting... The psyche can break!”

2005: RIA Novosti decided to create new project, called "Russia Today". The founders of the project were categorically against appointing someone from the “old guard” of journalists as head. They wanted a person to come to this post with an “uncluttered” view, who had not seen old news, and was not accustomed to Soviet standards of conducting news broadcasts. Margarita Simonyan was appointed head of the television channel of the Russia Today project - with her uncompromising and at the same time “fresh” style of work, she was the best fit for the position.

The Russia Today project was initially made in English and was supposed to cover “the official Russian position in the light of various political and social situations in the world” - this is a fragment of the company’s statutory text. Of course, many venerable media workers applied for the position of editor-in-chief, and everyone was incredibly surprised when a twenty-five-year-old journalist was “placed” in the management chair. Yes, it was precisely a “powerful” appointment, but wasn’t Margarita, with her extensive work experience, her ability to “digest” a huge amount of information, her excellent knowledge of English, really worthy? “Russia Today” as a project began to quickly expand, Arabic and Spanish versions appeared, and again the editor-in-chief is Margarita Simonyan.

photo https://www.instagram.com/_m_simonyan_/

They didn’t write anything unflattering, they just didn’t “rinse” her name when she “ with an iron hand“began to establish new order in the company! Allegedly, she fired everyone she disliked for ridiculous reasons. Lies clean water: when Margarita came to the company, no one was fired, then many left, yes, but after the expiration of the first contract (each contract was signed by her personally for refusal, that is that). Not a single employee who left Russia Today upon expiration of the contract or being fired (there were some of these later) was disadvantaged in terms of character references or care payments. And the fact that she established iron discipline in the company (even to the point that employees were ordered not to visit social networks while working) - is that really a minus? “Russia Today” immediately became the “official mouthpiece” of the government, and in such an organization there is no place for freedom of morals and poor discipline.

Despite being busy almost 24/7 at Rossiya Segodnya, Margarita tried herself in other projects. On the REN-TV channel, under her leadership, in the spring of 2011, the analytical program “What’s happening?” was launched. The program lasted a little more than six months: too dangerous topics were raised in it, and both the presenter and the participants, witnesses of the “acute” events in the country, spoke too harshly in it. Together with the Georgian Tina Kandelaki, Simonyan opened another project on NTV in 2013 - the political “women’s” talk show “Iron Ladies”, and that’s where her nickname came from! And at the same time as closing “What’s going on?” (paradox: the program is closed, but they show trust!) She is invited to the Board of Directors of Channel One.

Margarita’s enemies call her “the third, “female” hand” of the Russian President. She is a member of the People's Headquarters of presidential candidate Vladimir Putin in 2012. From the Public Council for the Affairs of the Moscow City Internal Affairs Directorate, she quickly moves to the Public Council, but under the Russian Foreign Ministry - an incredibly high rise in a woman’s career! From 2005 to 2018, Simonyan was Putin’s most frequently invited correspondent, accompanying him on trips and during interviews. And when her name was made public as registered as a confidant of Vladimir Putin in the last elections, the discontent of her ill-wishers began to openly go off scale. Well, she really does look like the “third hand” of our president, but this hand is firm and correct.

Dissatisfaction with her uncompromisingness and rigidity resulted in the fact that in 2014, Margarita Simonyan was officially banned from entering the territory of Ukraine. Also, not everyone is happy with her activities as head of the Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency, especially after the opening of the French branch in 2018. The international media regulator Ofcom, for example, never tires of blaming Russia Today and Margarita personally for “not objectively reflecting NATO’s position on conflict situations in the world” (quote from Ofcom’s publication). And she publicly objects with humor: “One would think that, for example, the BBC at least once objectively reflected the Kremlin’s position on these issues...”

According to the latest financial data Forbes magazine Margarita Simonyan is in fifty-second place in the hundred “Most Influential Women in the World.” In Russia, in the same ranking, it is in fifteenth place. In addition to the Order of Friendship, her list of awards includes personal gratitude from the President of the Russian Federation, the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, and the Medal of Armenia Movses Khorenatsi. Now Margarita Simonyan, in addition to Rossiya Segodnya, is the editor-in-chief and the “subsidiary” project of this MIA - this information Agency"Sputnik".

Personal life

At the age of twelve, a determined girl who dreamed of a separate apartment and a good job told her mother that she would never get married! “Mom even choked on her favorite mint tea,” Margarita later recalled this scene. She probably thought so categorically because she “didn’t see absolutely happy families“, - again the words of the journalist. And here is another quote from her interview: “I was sure that a white veil forever turns a woman into a downtrodden creature, chained to the kitchen and patiently “digesting” her husband’s infidelities.” Until almost thirty, Margarita had no idea of ​​getting married, much less having children.

In 2012, the “iron lady” of Russian television unexpectedly lifted the curtain that covered her personal life. It turned out that she had a personal life: “Common life, ficus and plans for the future,” and this “ficus” was her colleague, Andrei Blagodyrenko. General work, similar views (Andrey was also famous in the media for his uncompromising and toughness) should have pushed the couple towards marriage, but both were in no hurry to formalize the relationship.

And in the same 2012, when it became known about the relationship between Margarita and Andrey, a man burst into her life, “who turned everything upside down with the ficus trees.” This is how the woman later described the appearance of Tigran Keosayan in her life (words taken from an interview with the newspaper " TVNZ"). The acquaintance took place on Facebook: someone, introducing himself as director Keosayan, wrote to Margarita that he admired her work on TV, and was especially struck by the reports from Beslan. “What if it’s a fake, you never know how many Pedrovs are in Brazil (paraphrasing words from a famous comedy)?” – Rita thought, but answered the fan.

The mysterious admirer turned out to be not fake, but real: correspondence on Facebook was followed by phone conversations, and a first date was set. “We had lunch, and it was so delicious that we wanted to have dinner. And then everything quickly turned into breakfast,” another quote from the interview. “Ficus” named Andrey Blagodyrenko was still relevant, Keosayan had a beautiful wife Alena Khmelnitskaya... “Tigran and I tried to end the relationship - we didn’t want to hurt our loved ones. They quarreled on purpose and broke up. The first time the separation lasted a day, the last – twenty minutes,” again Margarita’s words.

Rita and Tigran did not plan to immediately “overgrow” offspring, although both were far from young. But “despite all sorts of precautions” (according to the woman), she soon learned that she would be a mother. This is how she told about her feelings at that time: “I sobbed, as soon as I found out, for three months... I “sobbed” at the threat of miscarriage, the doctors insisted on hospitalization and hormonal treatment.” Having trusted God, having gone through a terrible period of toxicosis and several hospitalizations, Margarita gave birth to a daughter, Maryasha. A month of maternity leave, and the woman goes back to work, and after another five months - a new pregnancy! When Bagrat was born, the journalist did not sit at home for a day: “I took my son from the maternity hospital to his grandmother and went straight to work: I was just undergoing an audit by the Accounts Chamber.”

Now, judging by the pictures on social networks and the behavior of Rita and her common-law husband Keosayan, they are absolutely happy. They have not formalized their relationship, and this causes considerable surprise among friends. The couple explains that this is a normal phenomenon among Armenians: more than half of their parents’ peers, for example, live happily together without stamps in their passports. Children of Margarita and Tigran with early years They receive an excellent education; their parents invited teachers in art and foreign languages, music and yoga. Maryana is fond of dancing, Tigran is fond of Thai boxing.

Such a tough, “iron” person on TV, Margarita in life is a very well-mannered and “plastic” woman. She managed to make friends with Tigran’s ex-wife, Alena Khmelnitskaya. Women meet and organize holidays for children together. There is a photo of them together on the Internet, signed “High Relationships,” where Margarita and Alena stand hugging each other, like good friends. Tigran’s current wife says this about Alena: “She is phenomenal - kind, smart, and what a beauty! She's happy (she is) new husband, Sasha), I’m happy, thank God we have nothing to share.”

Interesting facts about Margarita Simonyan

1. She calls her daughter Maryasha “shrimp.” The nickname came during pregnancy, when there was a threat of miscarriage, but the child “miraculously stuck like a shrimp and survived,” as the doctors said.
2. Margarita is categorically against her children studying abroad. “You can learn foreign languages ​​here, but you can’t learn culture abroad,” are her words.
3. An ethnic purebred Armenian, Rita Simonyan visited her historical homeland for the first time during the president’s trip to the countries of the former CIS in 2014.
4. Margarita learned to write scripts from Tigran, and she’s great at it. They called their first joint painting “Sea, mountains, expanded clay.” Another of her works, where the journalist starred in one of the main roles, was the thriller “Actress”.
5. This thriller also starred ex-wife Keosayan Alena Khmelnitskaya. “The entire film crew watched us warily as we managed to maintain friendly relations,” Simonyan later said.
6. And again about the thriller “Actress” - the plot of the film was dreamed by a woman in a nightmare: “I woke up in a cold sweat at midnight and realized that I had to write down the dream, otherwise I wouldn’t fall asleep.”
7. Rita and Tigran also shot the film “Crimean Bridge, Made with Love” together, and again Margarita is the scriptwriter, and her husband is the director.
8. Being the director of a large agency, earning very good money, Margarita almost did not spend money on herself, except for buying costumes for the broadcast. “Everything was scattered for mortgages, to help relatives,” she explained.
9. The first expensive handbag was bought for her by... Tigran. She liked a bag from a famous brand, but it was prohibitively expensive in her opinion. Keosayan noticed just one glance at the window display while they were walking, and secretly bought it. “I was like a child, I laid her on the pillow next to me for several days,” Rita recalls with tenderness.
10. The first of January in the Keosayan-Simonyan family is called “Open Door Hash”. All the couple's friends know: they are in New Year's Eve they cook this famous “anti-hangover” dish, and you can come to them for khash without an invitation.