Not every woman can successfully combine career and family, creating a golden mean. She was able to succeed both in work and in her personal life. This artist shone in the famous ensemble “Gems”, her name thundered throughout the Soviet Union and at the same time was happy in family life with her only husband.
The singer raised her son and then her grandson with dignity. Now everyone knows their names. Elena Presnyakova: biography, year of birth, personal life, career, photo without a wig: more on all this below.
Childhood and adolescence
The future singer was born in post-war Sverdlovsk, into the large friendly Kobzev family.
Of four children, she was the youngest - the girl had two brothers and a sister, twenty years older than her. Lena grew up a real “tomboy” - she wore pants and shirts of her older brothers, raced with the boys in the yard and even jumped from the roof of the barn for a bet. Despite being lanky and somewhat stooped, she had excellent athletic abilities - the girl ran fast, jumped high and far, played volleyball and basketball well, and confidently skated and skied. Nimble and agile, Lena always wanted to be at the epicenter of events. She enjoyed attending various clubs and sports clubs, sang in the choir, was a star in summer camps, and studied ballet in elementary school. True, the girl failed to achieve outstanding results in dancing, and the choreographer advised her to try her hand at rhythmic gymnastics.
There things went much better, and by the age of fourteen Lena had passed the standards for a master of sports. The girl even thought about connecting her future life with professional sports, but a meniscus tear canceled out these ambitious plans. Lena spent a long time recovering from the injury and later began to experience fear of complex exercises.
Elena Presnyakova in her youth
Even at the peak of her sports career, our heroine found time to practice singing. She also sang when, having grown up, she had to combine schoolwork with work as a loader (unloading boxes of bread) and a cleaner. And in high school, Lena began performing in the school vocal and instrumental ensemble. Together with the chefs, students of the Ural Polytechnic University, the guys performed at various competitions and cultural events and even toured within the region.
Elena Presnyakova's height is 169 cm
After graduating from school in 1965, Lena wanted to enter the radio engineering faculty of UPI. But before that I auditioned for the Sverdlovsk Philharmonic. The artistic director of the local pop ensemble was her same year and hereditary musician Vladimir Petrovich Presnyakov. Hearing the girl sing, he immediately invited her to the position of soloist. From that moment their joint creative and life journey began, which has lasted for more than fifty years. In 1967, Elena became pregnant and they got married. In March of the following year, their son Vladimir Presnyakov Jr. was born.
Elena's sports career
When Elena turned 11 years old, she was invited to take rhythmic gymnastics classes. She resisted for a long time and even cried. But after trying her hand, the girl realized that here she could achieve success and praise. Thus, in the biography of Elena Presnyakova, a column appeared about the gymnast’s sports career. Already at the age of 14, she was able to fulfill the standard of a master of sports, but she was awarded the title only a few years later. Given the strict rules, minors could not receive such high ranks.
Unfortunately, the girl was unable to practice gymnastics professionally due to injury. One day Elena neglected a good warm-up and tried to perform a difficult element. After that she lost consciousness. When she woke up, a cold bandage was applied to her leg, and the limb was rapidly swelling. Doctors diagnosed a serious injury to the kneecap. After recovery, Elena herself decided not to go to training anymore.
Creative path
At first, the young family had to live in cramped conditions, in a 2-room apartment of Elena’s parents, where 9 people lived with them. The newlyweds and their child occupied the storage room. But they were happy - their own corner, a big friendly family and a favorite profession. When the Presnyakovs went on tour, Maria, Elena’s older sister, looked after little Vova. Later, the son began to travel with his parents.
Elena Presnyakova with her son Vladimir
For several years, Elena and Petrovich (as the musicians called Vladimir Presnyakov) worked at the Sverdlovsk Philharmonic, then performed with the group of the Georgian singer Gyulli Chokheli. In 1971, Elena and Vladimir joined the VIA “What the Guitars Are Singing About,” which was formed after the disbandment of the Moldovan rock ensemble “Norok”. But this group did not last long and was closed in 1973 due to non-compliance with Soviet cultural norms.
Elena Presnyakova and Vladimir Presnyakov in their youth
In 1975, there was a creative discord in the ranks of the then super-popular group “Gems”, due to which many members left the group. The director of the ensemble, Yuri Malikov, had to look for new musicians in record time so as not to disrupt the upcoming tour. He invited Vladimir to become an arranger and saxophonist, and Elena to take the place of a vocalist. Elena Presnyakova became the soloist of the Gems group. Since then, Presnyakova has been a permanent member of the group, which made her famous throughout the country. As a member of “Gems,” she traveled not only throughout the Soviet Union, but also near and far abroad, repeatedly became a laureate of prestigious music awards, and in 2002 she was awarded the title of Honored Artist of the Russian Federation.
Elena Presnyakova and Vladimir Presnyakov in VIA "Gems"
In 1992, the ensemble temporarily ceased to exist - many youth groups appeared, against the background of which “Gems” already seemed archaic. Petrovich went to the team of his son, Vladimir Presnyakov Jr., Elena also went on tour with her son, and in her free time she nursed her little grandson Nikita.
But in 1995, Malikov decided to revive the group, seeing how people of his generation missed the music they had loved since their Soviet youth. Elena happily returned to the ensemble, and since then has been the permanent soloist and decoration of “Gems”.
Elena Presnyakova and VIA “Gems”
Links
- [https://www.elenapresnyakova.com/ Official website of Elena Presnyakova]
- [https://samotsvetu.ru/ Official website of the Gems group]
- [https://www.samotsvety.ru/solists.html Biography 2]
- [https://samotsvetu.ru/content/view/28/39/ Biography 1]
- [https://mp3ex.net/news/read.php?lid=890 Elena Presnyakova: You won’t get bored in a family of extreme sports enthusiasts]
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Personal life of Elena Presnyakova
Elena and Vladimir got married in the fall of 1967 in Sverdlovsk, and six months later little Vovka was born, the namesake of the head of the family. He, like his parents, began to show creative abilities early, and already at the age of eighteen he became famous throughout the Soviet Union.
Elena Presnyakova and her husband Vladimir Presnyakov
Elena and Vladimir were incredibly proud of the successes of their son, who later became related to Alla Pugacheva’s family by marrying Kristina Orbakaite, who in 1991 gave the Presnyakov couple a grandson, Nikita. When the guy continued the family dynasty and became a musician, their happiness simply knew no bounds.
Elena Presnyakova with her grandson Nikita
And the youngest grandson Tema (born 2015), the son of Vladimir Presnyakov Jr. and Natalya Podolskaya, is already demonstrating his artistry and musical abilities with might and main. The boy sings and dances well, and at the age of three he was not afraid to take part in his father’s anniversary concert.
Elena Presnyakova and her family
Elena, the mistress of this creative clan, feels incomparable pride in the successes of her children and grandchildren, and is very happy for her grandson Nikita - not so long ago he married his chosen one Alena Krasnova.
Biography
Elena Kozhukhova (Kravchenko) spent her childhood and school years in the small city of Berdyansk in southeastern Ukraine. The family of the future actress was far from a creative environment: her mother worked as a doctor, and her father as an engineer. However, a professional actress, who organized a theater studio at the school where the girl studied, helped instill a love for theater and decide on her vocation.
Unlike most Soviet theater clubs, aimed at strengthening the school curriculum in literature, in the Berdyansk studio they studied stage speech, acting and staged real performances with serious scenery, costumes and makeup. The knowledge gained in the theater studio helped Elena not only get rid of the typical southern Ukrainian dialect, but also pass a huge competition and enter the Moscow Art Theater School on the course of Alexander Kalyagin.
In 1990, after graduating from college, Elena was invited to the troupe of the Moscow Theater. Mossovet, on whose stage Sergei Yursky, Valentina Talyzina and Olga Ostroumova played at that time. But the film career of Elena Kozhukhova (Kravchenko) began only a decade later. The reason was the cinematic crisis that played out in the country in the 1990s against the backdrop of general economic instability. Almost no films or TV series were made, and getting a noticeable film role for an aspiring actress was something out of the realm of fantasy.
Therefore, Elena decided to get on television by taking part in the then unknown and just preparing to film the reality show “The Last Hero.” Perhaps if this was not the first season of the show and Elena understood what awaited her on the desert islands, she would have refused to participate. In Moscow, Elena could not even imagine what difficult conditions she would find herself in on tropical islands - not only physical, but also psychological. Therefore, after the first episode, the actress left the project. However, “The Last Hero” gave a significant boost to her professional career and significantly influenced her personal life.
Elena Presnyakova now
In 2020, the singer celebrated her seventieth birthday, but it seems that the years have no power over this amazing woman. It’s not for nothing that her family had long-lived people - the singer’s mother died before one year before her centenary, and her paternal uncle died at 103 years old.
Elena Presnyakova and “Gems” now
Elena looks great and is full of strength and energy, which is enough for both professional activities and caring for loved ones. She spends a lot of time on tour, because “Gems” are still a popular group that they want to see in various parts of the world. The group performs both solo and in group concerts like “Disco-80” and in 2021 is preparing to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary in a big way.
Mikhail Kozhukhov's wife - Elena Kravchenko
At the beginning of the new millennium, the TV presenter met a woman named Elena. They began to communicate a lot. Since 2005, the couple began to live together.
Mikhail Kozhukhov’s wife, Elena Kravchenko, plays in theater and cinema. The woman’s creativity attracts numerous lovers of Russian cinema. She received several awards from the Russian Film Academy.
Mikhail often makes surprises for the woman he loves. He invites her to concerts at the conservatory, a performance at the theater or for a walk outside the city. Elena believes their marriage was made in heaven.
