Childhood
Kholmsk, Sakhalin region, is Igor Nikolaev’s favorite city. Here he was born on January 17, 1960. The boy’s parents, Yuri Ivanovich and Svetlana Mitrofanovna, tried to instill in their son a love of poetry and music from childhood.
Childhood photo of Igor Nikolaev
The romantic views of Yuri Ivanovich, a sea captain by profession and a poet by vocation, excited the imagination of the boy, who showed creative inclinations from an early age.
Igor is a little music lover
Ivanovich never ignored his son’s samples of writing; he took them to the editorial offices of “Young Guard” and “Soviet Sakhalin”. He understood that it was very important for the boy that his work be published. For the first time, his father brought 7-year-old Igor onto the stage of the Sailors’ Palace of Culture so that he could recite the poem “Grenada” by Mikhail Svetlov.
With parents and grandmother
The music school became the first step on the path to fame: within the walls of the city music school he learned to read music and learned to play the violin. In 1974, the future composer successfully graduated from it and began studying music theory and other disciplines at a local music school, where he entered the same year. A year later he transferred to the school at the Conservatory. P.I. Tchaikovsky in Moscow.
Young Igor Nikolaev
Family of Igor Nikolaev
His father, Nikolaev Yuri Ivanovich, is a captain and poet-marine painter, a member of the Writers' Union, and his mother, Nikolaeva Svetlana Mitrofanovna, is an accountant by profession.
Igor Nikolaev, whose biography is presented in this article, graduated from music school in 1974 with a degree in violin, and then entered the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk Music School. The following year he leaves from there to Moscow, where he continues his studies at the school at the Conservatory. P.I. Tchaikovsky. Igor and Elena, his wife, had a daughter, Yulia. This important event was noted at that time in the biography of a person like Igor Nikolaev. The girl was born in 1978.
The beginning of a creative journey
1980 is a significant year for Igor Nikolaev. At this time, he became a graduate of the pop department of the capital's Institute of Culture and began collaborating with Alla Pugacheva. In her group “Recital” he worked as an arranger and played keyboards, and the first songs were born there.
1980: Igor Nikolaev joined Recital
Success in the 80s came to those who acted on television. Nikolaev was lucky - his song “What a pity that you are not here” was performed by Lyudmila Gurchenko during the New Year’s Attraction-1983 concert. The shooting might not have happened - shortly before this, the artist broke her leg, but still performed.
Young composer at work
Then Alla Pugacheva showed the public the hits “Iceberg” and “Tell Me, Birds” - legendary songs written by Igor especially for her. And after 2 years, the composition “The Ferryman” brought unprecedented success to the performer and composer. Pugacheva - Iceberg (song by Igor Nikolaev) Another work by Igor Nikolaev became a hit in 1985. This is the perky song “Komarovo”, which was successfully performed by Igor Sklyar. Both works were included in the television program “Song of the Year” and were a great success.
Childhood and youth
Soviet and Russian composer Igor Yuryevich Nikolaev was born in Sakhalin, namely in Kholmsk on January 17, 1960. The father of the future star, Yuri Ivanovich Nikolaev, was a marine poet. Moreover, the man was a member of the Writers' Union of the USSR. At the same time, the celebrity’s father was the captain of a ship and transported cargo over long distances.
Igor Nikolaev in his youth
The mother of the Russian artist, Svetlana Mitrofanovna Nikolaeva , who devoted her life to the financial sector, worked as an accountant. The salary of the performer's parents was meager; there was barely enough money for living and food. However, Igor Nikolaev never suffered from poverty; the boy had everything he needed. In his free time, he played various sports, music and read a lot.
Yuri Ivanovich also enjoyed the success of his only son and always encouraged him. He took the works written by the heir to various editorial offices, for example, to “Soviet Sakhalin” or to “Young Guard”. The father of the Russian star was sure that it was important for a child to have his work assessed by qualified people. Igor Nikolaev first appeared on stage at the age of seven. The boy appeared on the stage of the Palace of Culture of Sailors, where he read the poem “Grenada” written by Mikhail Svetlov.
Igor Yuryevich in his youth
During his school years, parents noticed that their son had talent and creative ambitions. After this, Svetlana Mitrofanovna sent her young son to a music school, where he studied violin. After graduating from secondary school, the songwriter entered the Yuzhno-Sakhalin Music College. A few months later, the life of the future artist changed dramatically; he left his hometown for the capital. In Moscow, the guy entered the second year of music school at the Moscow Conservatory named after Pyotr Tchaikovsky.
In the eighties, Igor Nikolaev graduated from the capital’s Institute of Culture, defended his thesis with excellence and became a specialist in the field of pop music.
Solo career and collaboration with Alla Pugacheva
The singer's solo career started in 1986 with the song "Mill", the lyrics for which were written by Pavel Zhagun, and a year later an album with the same name was released. Igor Nikolaev - Mill A huge creative event was the tour of Japan, which he and Alla Pugacheva went on together, taking advantage of the invitation of the star of the Japanese pop scene Tokiko Kato, who covered Nikolaev’s songs “100 Friends” and Pugacheva’s “A Million Scarlet Roses” in Japanese.
In Japan, Igor Nikolaev’s songs were simply adored
After this, the singer and composer became famous outside the country. In 1989, he was invited to Sweden as a co-host with the duet Roxette at the Grammis Awards ceremony (the Swedish equivalent of the American Grammys).
The next year, he became a participant in the Soviet-American project, the result of which was the release of a disc with the composition “Cold Sky” performed by the American Cyndi Lauper. And a year later he sang a duet with Swede Lena Philippson and included the composition in the album “Fantastica”.
Sergei Nikolaev never knew true male happiness
By nature he was a real artist, but by education he was not, although he starred in fifty films and many Yeralash stories.
The deceased actor Sergei Nikolaev - “well-fed and ill-mannered” from the film “Barbara the Beauty, Long Braid” - never knew true male happiness
69-year-old Sergei NIKOLAEV, the same “well-fed and ill-mannered” from Alexander ROW’s fairy tale “Barbara-Beauty, Long Braid”, arrived at the hospital on the May holidays - he began to choke and called an ambulance. Six months earlier, he had undergone a complex operation - a heart bypass was performed, and at the same time part of a lung affected by a malignant tumor was removed. He understood that he would soon pass away and, a day before his death, said goodbye to his close friend Sergei TULCHAK, who miraculously made it to Nikolaev’s intensive care unit.
“We have been friends with Sergei for the last quarter of a century,” Tulchak . — We met at the Gorky Film Studio, where Nikolaev served as head of the acting department, and I worked as director of the film crew. By nature he was a real artist, but by education he was not, although he starred in fifty films and many Yeralash stories. At one time he graduated from the Faculty of Economics of VGIK, and the first to notice him, plump and colorful, was Alexander Rowe , inviting him into his fairy tale “Barbara the Beauty...”.
Sergei had a tender friendship with Tamara SEMINA
Sergei then went every summer to see Tanya Klyueva , who played Varvara, in Crimea, where she lived. It’s a pity that she couldn’t come to the funeral, her husband Dmitry is sick. But he and Seryozha remained true friends until the last.
“Not friends, but relatives,” Klyueva herself corrected when the author of these lines got through to her in Sevastopol. — Seryozha is my son’s godfather, our mothers were very friends. Nina Petrovna, his parent, often repeated with a smile: “Seryoga, if only you married Tanka.” To which he replied: “Mom, what have I done wrong to you in my life?” He had a wonderful character, and what a son he was! Nina Petrovna was bedridden for her last 15 years, and he carefully looked after her. Therefore, he never arranged his personal life - neither his wife nor his children. In addition, he buried two older brothers, only his nephews remained. Although Sergei Tulchak, an incredibly selfless and decent person, cared most about him. He ran to shops and doctors for a friend, cleaned his house, and cooked. Of course, everyone understood that Seryozha was leaving. And he himself included. When he told me about this, I stopped him: “I won’t stand your words.” - “Tanyush, what should we do?” - he sighed. “When you come to us in the summer, you will eat your favorite cherries,” Nikolaeva encouraged as best she could. I dreamed of transporting him to Sevastopol when he left the hospital, hoping for the best, but a miracle did not happen. Six months ago, after the operation, Seryozha went to the grave of Alexander Row, our favorite director, and then reported: “I, Tanka, conveyed greetings from you to Arturych.” He also went to where his mother was buried. He dreamed of resting next to her, but probably did not think that he would be cremated, as his relatives eventually decided. But what can we say about it now, they did what was more convenient for them.
With Tatiana KLYUEVA and Alexey KATYSHEV in “Barbara the Beautiful...”
“It seems to me that my uncle did not suffer much from the absence of children and a wife,” noted the deceased’s nephew Sergei. “The main thing is that he was fulfilled in his profession, he had excellent friends and colleagues. We probably partially replaced his family. Of course, he hoped to the end that he would live, although he was tired of fighting, tired of operations, clinics, doctors... Last summer he went on a trip along the Volga by boat and hardly thought that it would be his last. We mostly communicated with him by phone; he did not ask for help. I won’t say that Sergei Tulchak is his closest friend... Well, he came, cleaned, cooked, I don’t deny that... But it seems to me that since he communicates with journalists about his uncle, he is promoting himself.
The deceased’s nephews Sergei and Ruslan got his apartment
- What nonsense! What kind of PR is this! — Tatyana Klyueva couldn’t restrain herself when I told her my nephew’s words. — Tulchak was the last person who communicated with Seryozha. He is a true friend, the two of them called me from the intensive care unit.
“Probably, at the end of his life, Seryozha regretted that he never found a family,” Tulchak noted sadly. “Although it’s a mystery to me why his personal life didn’t work out.” He often swaggered: “You all have problems, children, grandchildren, wives, but I have no one and no problems!” I have lived with my wife all my life: the children are adults, there are already two grandchildren. They all knew Sergei, loved and valued our friendship. What is it? The fact is that you don’t abandon a person, you help him to the end! He had many friends, famous women including: Svetlana Svetlichnaya , Lyudmila Khityaeva , Natalya Varley , Tamara Semina ... I knew about his previous relationships with ladies, but they were not actresses. And then he stopped falling in love altogether and gave up. At some point, as he grew older, he experienced complete denial of his family. But he loved feasts. I remember some time ago, on Border Guard Day, we were invited to visit the country. We sat and drank, and when we went to the gate to exit the village, it was already closed. I offered to climb over, although I doubted that Seryozha with his build would be able to do it. And what do you think? He climbed! But he was stuck at the top - neither here nor there, hanging on the fence, unable to get down. I had to run after the guards so that they would help me go down.
Sergey TULCHAK
Boris GRACHEVSKY says goodbye to NIKOLAEV in the capital's church of the martyrs Adrian and Natalia
Collaboration with Natasha Koroleva
In 1990, a new star appeared on the Soviet stage - Natasha Koroleva. None other than Igor Nikolaev helped her star light up. He was just looking for a girl to record a joint album, and producer Marta Mogilevskaya advised him to pay attention to the young, vocal Ukrainian.
The collaboration between Nikolaev and Koroleva began in 1990
Although at first the plump and overly loud Natasha did not impress the composer, he later came to respect her efficiency and outstanding vocals. They began work on the album “Yellow Tulips” - the songs were performed by Natasha, and Igor was listed as the author of all the compositions.
Mustache is the calling card of Igor Nikolaev
Many years of joint creativity brought many hits and events:
- album “Miss Separation” (1991);
- program at the Olympic Stadium (1992) and Madison Square Garden (1997) - “Dolphin and the Mermaid”;
- album “Fan” (1994);
- collection “Confetti” (1995);
- concert for the singer’s 25th anniversary in Kyiv;
- concert at the Rossiya State Central Concert Hall (1999).
"Dolphin and the Mermaid" - the best-selling album of the 90s
Read more about the complex relationship between Igor Nikolaev and Natalie Koroleva below, in the “Personal Life” section.
New performers and creative evenings
Despite the success of the young protégé, who easily filled stadiums after the release of “Tulips,” Nikolaev did not give up collaborating with other performers. In 1992, he prepared the program “Don’t Fly Away, Love” by singer Irina Allegrova, with which she performed on the stage of the Olympic Stadium (these songs were later transferred to the album “My Wanderer”). Igor Nikolaev and Irina Allegrova - Mirages (1993) 1994 is the year of the release of Nikolaev’s solo album “Raspberry Wine”, and the next year was marked by the appearance of the collection “Let’s Drink to Love”.
"Let's drink to love!"
In 1995 he was recognized as composer of the year, and the following year he received the Poet of the Year award. For the lyrical composition “Five Reasons” Nikolaev was awarded the “Golden Gramophone”. In 1997, Nikolaev and Koroleva performed the concert program “Dolphin and the Mermaid” for the first time (the album itself was released 3 years later and was recognized as album of the year) at New York’s Madison Square Garden. At the same concert, the composer, together with Diana Gurtskaya, performed the composition “Magic Glass”.
Igor Nikolaev and Diana Gurtskaya
In 1998, Igor Nikolaev invited the audience to a creative evening, which became a real event of the year. Unexpected and pleasant news was the award signed by Vladimir Putin - he was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the country. A little later, the album “Igor Nikolaev-98” was released with songs performed at creative evenings by Russian pop stars - Joseph Kobzon, Vladimir Vinokur, Lev Leshchenko, Natasha Koroleva.
New century – new projects
A new century began for the artist with the album “Broken Cup of Love,” the creation of which was inspired by the musician’s breakup with Natasha Koroleva. Over the course of 2 years, the composer recovered from the loss, and therefore released a collection of new songs called “Forgive and Let Go.” Igor Nikolaev – Broken Cup of Love 2004 became the year of mentoring. He became a teacher on the fourth season of “Star Factory” and produced Anton Zatsepin as part of the project. His ward took second place, losing only to Irina Dubtsova. In 2006, a new project “Two Stars” appeared. The author of the song took a direct part in it.
Igor Nikolaev and Timati
The audience will remember for a long time the video released in 2005 for the song “How Beautiful You Are” with tennis star Elena Dementieva.
Filming the video “How Beautiful You Are”
American fans of Igor Nikolaev's work were again able to see and hear him in New York in 2007. And 2008 brought the composer’s dream come true - he wrote the music for the film “Say It in Russian.” At the same time he was awarded the Silver Order of Childhood. In 2009, the artist successfully toured America with a new performer of his songs, Yulia Proskuryakova.
The singer and composer celebrated his 50th birthday in Moscow and Miami. And in 2013, he tried himself as a mentor in the talent show “Factor A”, where his ward Mali (Olesya Sedogina) took the first prize.
Igor Nikolaev and Mali
The song by Igor Nikolaev and Igor Krutoy became the anthem at the closing of the Olympic Games in 2014 - “Olympic Waltz” was performed by the opera diva Khibla Gerzmava, accompanied by the orchestra of Valery Gergiev.
On the eve of the anniversary (55 years), the composer released a new album - “Life Line”.
Personal life of Igor Nikolaev
The personal life of Igor Nikolaev is inextricably linked with his work. His wives are muses who inspired creativity. The best songs have been written for them, the most heartfelt lines are dedicated to them. “While everyone is at home”: Igor Nikolaev and Natasha Koroleva Igor Nikolaev’s first wife is his school love Elena Kudryashova, who sat at the same desk with him. After graduating from school, they stayed together, although due to the fact that Igor studied in Moscow, the lovers had to put up with frequent separation.
Igor Nikolaev with his first wife Elena
In 1978, Elena and Igor had a daughter, Yulia. “The process of her conception took place during the winter holidays,” the composer joked. Despite the young age of the spouses (both were 18 years old), they decided to keep the child. The father paid a lot of attention to the baby and always took her on tour with him. By the way, the girl took after her father: she graduated from a music school, then an art school in Miami.
Yulia Nikolaeva, eldest daughter of Igor Nikolaev
In 1983, Nikolaev moved his family to Moscow, where Igor was already well known in narrow musical circles. The family idyll lasted for about 7 more years, until it was disrupted by 17-year-old Natasha Koroleva, Nikolaev’s new muse. In 1991, he left his wife for her. In 2000, the creative duo (and the brightest pop couple) split into two halves. Probably, two creative people just needed time to move away and take a break from each other. Later, the Queen admitted that the main reason was her husband’s constant infidelities.
The romance of Igor Nikolaev and Natasha Koroleva was followed by millions
After a short affair with his director Angela Kulakovskaya, Igor Nikolaev finally met true love. In 2006, he flew to Yekaterinburg on tour. Yulia Proskuryakova, an aspiring singer and longtime fan of his work, managed to communicate with her idol, despite the security and hordes of competitors. Nikolaev and Proskuryakova in the program “Alone with Everyone” Six months later, she did not pass the casting of the “People’s Artist” competition, held in Moscow, and turned to her favorite singer for help - not so that he would “push” her onto the show, but to help with at least some some work. Touched by Yulia's childlike spontaneity, the musician invited her to the production center. So a friendship began between them, which gradually grew into something bigger.
At first, Nikolaev was embarrassed by the 22-year age difference - his daughter is 5 years older than Yulia. But gradually the corners of the conventions were smoothed out, and both opened themselves to overwhelming feelings.
Igor Nikolaev and Yulia Proskuryakova are happily married
The wedding with the participation of many celebrity friends of Nikolaev took place in Jurmala in 2010. Of course, the young wife had to read a lot of vile slander about herself - many listeners accused her, an unknown girl from the provinces before meeting Nikolaev, of selfishness and hypocrisy.
The daughter of Igor Nikolaev and Yulia Proskuryakova is growing up like her dad
Of course, Yulia was hurt by these attacks, but time passed, in 2015 the long-awaited daughter Veronica was born into the family, and even negative skeptics believed in the sincerity of Yulia and Igor’s feelings. “One hope is for love,” the musician repeated these words many times in a song that he sang in a duet with his wife.
The life and work of the charismatic composer Igor Nikolaev
Igor Nikolaev is a popular Russian singer, composer, musician, director, guitarist, songwriter, actor, people's artist and just a handsome, smart man.
In the middle of winter 1960, a long-awaited baby was born in the Sakhalin region, whom his parents decided to name Igor. The boy's father was a sea captain and wrote wonderful poetry. Mom worked as an accountant. Since childhood, his parents noticed that Igor was a very creative boy, so they sent the child to a music school to study violin early.
After graduating from school, the guy decided to enter the Sakhalin Music College. Igor already received his next education in Moscow. He managed to enter the music school at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory. In addition, the young man graduated from the Moscow University of Culture, which helped him get into the famous ensemble of Alla Pugacheva. For several years he wrote songs for the legendary singer.
After some time, Nikolaev began performing solo. This happened in 1986. However, he did not stop collaborating with Alla Borisovna and they often gave concerts and went on tour together. Among other things, Igor became a frequent guest at All-Russian song festivals and competitions, where he continued to gain popularity. Nikolaev did not miss the opportunity to work with Western vocalists, recording joint tracks with them.
In the 90s he recorded and released many albums. He often received awards and became “Composer of the Year”.
In the early 2000s, Nikolaev became an honored singer of Russia. Igor traveled a lot with concerts around his native country, and also flew on tours abroad.
What about the personal life of the famous performer? Igor's first love is his classmate Elena. They loved each other madly. And as soon as the young people turned 18, they got married. After a short period of time, Lena gave birth to Igor’s first child - daughter Yulia. Now the girl has moved to the USA, where she works as a doctor. Despite the fact that the marriage lasted 13 years, people lost interest in each other and decided to get a divorce. Igor’s second wife was Natasha Koroleva, but the couple broke up in 2001. Nikolaev’s third wife is singer Yulia Proskuryakova. The couple still lives in a happy marriage, and in 2020 the girl gave the happy dad a daughter, Veronica.
Today Nikolaev is the People's Artist of the Russian Federation. His new songs and albums continue to delight fans. We wish the artist creative victories and achievements.
Igor Nikolaev now
The composer is full of creative energy, he is not going to stop there. Igor Nikolaev writes music, plans new projects, and monitors cultural life in the country. The composer tries to be closer to young people and he succeeds! For example, in August 2020, he took part in the show of blogger Sergei Druzhko.
Igor Nikolaev in “Druzhko Show”
On the issue of August 4, Druzhko said that a simple hard worker Ivan Zhdanov wrote to him (in fact, Zhdanov is the make-up artist in the Druzhko show), who passionately dreams of meeting Nikolaev and will be waiting for him with a glass of beer at a certain place and time to drink to love . Two weeks later they actually met, however, Igor drank mineral water, saying “It doesn’t matter what you drink, the main thing is why.”
Igor Nikolaev – a dying breed of romantics
In Igor Nikolaev, a romantic will never die. On his wife Julia's birthday, he presented her with a luxurious bouquet of white roses. Alexander Serov sang about such a bouquet – “this is a cloud of roses” – in a joint song between Nikolaev and Igor Krutoy. “I love you to tears,” the artist keeps repeating.
Family secrets of Igor Nikolaev
Igor Nikolaev is kind to his mother, Svetlana Mitrofanovna. He invites her to all celebrations and concerts. True, he never talks about her. Even in the musician’s biography, published on his official website, his father and mother are mentioned sparingly - in one line. Journalists managed to find out about the atmosphere in which the author and performer of pop hits grew up.
Igor Nikolaev was born in 1960 in the city of Kholmsk, Sakhalin region. His school years were spent in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Father - Nikolaev Yuri Ivanovich, poet, member of the Union of Writers of the USSR, mother - Nikolaeva Svetlana Mitrofanovna, accountant. That's all that the famous musician considered necessary to mention about his family on his website. We decided to fill this gap by talking to people who knew his family well.
Igor was lucky enough to be born into the family of the famous Sakhalin poet and journalist Yuri Nikolaev. On an island where the creative elite considered themselves cut off from civilization and therefore somewhat deprived, bohemian people stuck together, forming a kind of “spiritual brotherhood.” Yuri Nikolaev, the father of the future composer, also belonged to him. Friends of the Nikolaev family, witnesses to the events of forty years ago, shared their memories with our correspondent.
“The Far Eastern poets had their own close circle,” says Vladimir, a former colleague of Yuri Nikolaev. “They stayed together not only because of spiritual kinship, but also for business reasons. Their “working group,” as far as I remember, included Valera Shulzhik, the author of the fairy tale about the famous pig Funtik, Igor Arbuzov, who later became the host of the “Good Evening, Moscow” program, Igor Guberman, and other wonderful and very talented people... The whole team of guys, people ten, in a “rafik” or “goat” allocated to them by the local Radio House, drove around the cities and towns of the island and read their poems in clubs and boarding houses. It was the 70s, a reckless and carefree time. Ordinary Sakhalin residents looked at these poets as the chosen ones. Yes, they probably were like that - among the general mass of hard workers and sailors who inhabited Sakhalin at that time.
After the performance, the “creative group” was traditionally seated at the table. The receiving party took care of this in advance. And this happened in every settlement that the “shock poetic brigade” managed to visit during the day. They returned to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk at night and, understandably, very drunk.
“As a rule, such trips were started before the weekend, in order to then continue the banquet at someone’s home,” our interlocutor continues.
Often the whole company would drop in to see the Nikolaevs. And then little Igor opened the door for them in the middle of the night.
“One day, the whole crowd of us came to them, we called and called, Igorek opened the door. He was probably twelve years old. He was already asleep, we woke him up. He stands so thin, in shorts and a T-shirt. I was very glad that dad came with the guests. We were all very hospitable then, we lived nearby - it was a small city, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk...
And Igor was such an obedient, calm boy. He respected his father very much and generally treated his elders with respect. I don’t know whether Igor liked his father’s “spree” or not, but dad was definitely an indisputable authority for the boy. How else? Yura is a former sea captain. By the way, that’s why he wrote poems mainly about the sea. And Yura, like most of his fellow poets, worked as a journalist. Then he went into party activities.
– What does “spree” mean? Do you mean that Yuri abused alcohol?
- No, no, he wasn’t a drunk. Yura was just part of our company, a good, sincere guy. Creative and very vulnerable. He was respected.
Well, our company was creative, we were loyal to cognac and led a free lifestyle. For example, they loved to rent an entire restaurant – there was this one called “Scarlet Sails” – and dance there until the morning. But everyone returned to work after the weekend and submitted reports on time.
– Was Igor’s mother a part of this company?
– Svetlana is a brilliant woman! In modern times, she would be called secular, glamorous. She always dressed only in the best and most expensive. She had a perfect manicure and a personal hairdresser - which was rare in those days. And her hairstyle was a tall structure, according to the fashion of those years, and did not look pompous, but quite harmonious... I don’t even know why she lived with Yura, because they were so different, our interlocutor thought. “And we almost never saw them together; she was always away on business.” Sveta had great connections, since she worked somewhere in the supply sector and could get hold of any shortage; the doors of all bases were open to her.
– How did she treat her husband?
“She allowed him to love her.” In general, he looked down on us, his entire company, as losers. Sveta almost never took part in our parties. As a rule, we got together with our wives, and Yura was alone almost all the time...
Svetlana is from Kholmsk, where she and Yura met. Igor was born there. They moved to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk later, but Svetlana constantly traveled to Kholmsk and spent a lot of time with her parents and friends. Her whole life was in Kholmsk.
– Did Yuri love her?
- He adored her! He idolized her and was very worried that she clearly preferred work to family. Once, when Yura was visiting me, he even cried because of this. I remember my wife and I consoled him, she even wiped his tears with a towel. Yura was very bored without Svetlana, but she, in fact, was the support of the family, the breadwinner. Always sensible, thorough, standing firmly on her feet. She was far from Yura’s creative “whims”.
– Do you think he sought solace in company because of this?
- Someone else's family - darkness. I don’t know whether he, tired of loneliness, was looking for an outlet among friends, or maybe, on the contrary, it was Svetlana who did not accept his lifestyle and, figuratively speaking, abstracted herself... Be that as it may, they were together to the end.
In 1981, Yuri Ivanovich died suddenly, he was only 46 years old. Now the Central District Library of the city of Kholmsk bears his name.
– How did Yuri Ivanovich die?
– I found out about this a long time later, when we were already living in Moscow. This news killed me. Yurka! Such a man! I don’t know exactly what the reason was. They said it was sudden. It seems like my heart failed me or I had a stroke. He was still young. It’s good that at least I managed to get Igor up.
People who know the Nikolaev family agree that Igor is very similar in character to his mother. From an early age he was able to show common sense and consistency, studied well at school and did not create any problems for either his parents or teachers. And he showed a passion for music almost from the cradle.
Igor’s neighbor Marina Khabarova talks about this:
– We grew up together, in the same yard. We were friends. Igor loved music. From the age of twelve he never parted with his guitar. He sang all sorts of songs to us, adults. About the stork and cabbage, for example. (Laughs.) But no, don’t think about it, there was nothing obscene or indecent about them. He sang about the sincere love of a man and a woman, and it penetrated to the very core. The girls were drawn to him, he was still so handsome. Then we left for the mainland, and when years later I saw him on TV, I didn’t even recognize him right away. But he touched the strings, sang some of his songs, and I realized that it was he, our Igoreshka, who remained faithful to his guitar.
Reference
Yuri Ivanovich Nikolaev, author of six poetry collections, was born on July 28, 1935 in Saratov. Together with his parents he came to Sakhalin in 1951. Since then, his whole life has been connected with the island region. Yuri Nikolaev's career began on the ships of the Sakhalin Shipping Company. Since 1954, he worked as a technician’s apprentice, and then as a meteorological observer on SakhMP vessels. Since 1962, he began working as the executive secretary of the newspaper “Sakhalin Sailor”, and since 1965 - in the newspaper “Kommunist” (currently “Kholmskaya Panorama”). In 1969, he went to work at the Sakhalin branch of Dalizdat. Then he worked as assistant secretary of the regional committee of the CPSU. In 1970, Yuri Ivanovich graduated from the Faculty of Journalism of the Correspondence Higher Party School under the CPSU Central Committee. In January 1979, the bureau of the regional committee of the CPSU recommended Yu.I. Nikolaev to work on ships of the transport fleet, where he worked as the first mate on the ships “Sibirtsevo” and “Kholmsk”. Since March 1973, Yuri Nikolaev has been a member of the Union of Writers of the USSR.
Svetlana Mitrofanovna Nikolaeva was born in 1938 in Kholmsk, an accountant by profession.
Elena Serebryakova.
