In the dashing 90s, when people were drawn to magicians, fortune-tellers and sorcerers, Yuri Longo was considered the main sorcerer of the country. He would have turned 68 on 23 September.
The whole life of Yuri Longo is one continuous mystery. Death has also become a mystery, the reasons for which are still hotly debated.
Wizard or magician?
In the post-perestroika years, disbelieving in everything, impoverished, deprived of ideals, the inhabitants of our country grabbed at straws for any opportunity to improve their lives at least a little. All sorts of magicians and psychics gained immense popularity then, with whom they quite officially consulted even in the Kremlin.
Yuri Longo gave the impression of a very real sorcerer: a hypnotic, heavy gaze with dark brown eyes, a dark black hoodie, thick chains … In sessions that were often shown on television, Longo showed real miracles: he introduced people into a deep trance, demonstrated his abilities in the field of clairvoyance and telepathy, moved objects by the power of sight …
A SHOT FROM THE DOCUMENTARY FILM "A MAG OF Witchcraft".
And when viewers saw with their own eyes how Yuri Longo revives the dead and even talks to them, he gained incredible popularity. However, persistent journalists after a while forced Longo to confess that the revival of the dead was nothing more than a clever trick that had nothing to do with witchcraft.
Promotional video:
Nevertheless, the mechanism of popularity was launched: at the entrance of the "magician and healer", kilometers-long queues of sufferers lined up, striving to get to Longo for an appointment.
Disputes still do not subside: who was this mysterious man with a gloomy look in fact - a talented artist or a wizard who knows how to do what is beyond the control of a mere mortal?
Lovelace and Casanova
I must say that Yuri Longo's "asset" had both a psychologist's diploma and years of study at an art school (which, however, he never graduated from). Perhaps the psychologist's abilities and artistic inclinations helped him to charm the fair sex. In any case, the newspapers of that time constantly wrote about his novels, attributing to Yuri Longo connections with thousands of women. He did not comment on these rumors in any way.
YURI LONGO USED POPULARITY WITH WOMEN. PHOTO: VALENTIN KUZMIN / ITAR-TASS.
After Yuri Longo died at a fairly young age - he was 55 years old - information began to appear in the press that it was the indiscriminate and numerous connections with the ladies that greatly undermined the health of the sorcerer. However, this was already an outright lie, because in recent years the magician and healer had been the faithful and loving husband of his third wife, Elena.
Relatives believe that Longo deliberately supported the image of the conqueror of women and heartthrob - he needed it to increase his popularity and attract new customers.
Versions of death
At first glance, it may seem strange: a person who controls the fate of other people, who is able to both send damage and remove it, died at the age of 55. Why couldn't he help himself? To understand this phenomenon, you need to remember the last high-profile scandals in his life.
In those same years, another sorcerer, Grigory Grabovoi, was engaged in "magical activity". It so happened that the two magicians became rivals. Yuri Longo called Grabovoi, who promised to resurrect the children killed in Beslan, a swindler speculating on the grief of his parents. Yuri Andreevich so emotionally denounced a competitor, accusing him of cynicism and lies that his heart could not stand it - it was during the period of enmity with Grabovoy that he felt severe chest pains that led to death.
It was said that it was Grabovoy who, using his magical abilities, sent death to Longo.
YURI LONGO ACTIVELY COMPETED WITH THE APMLUA RIVALS. PHOTO: VALENTIN KUZMIN / ITAR-TASS.
Around the same time, the name of Yuri Longo was associated with another high-profile scandal. According to him, then the then president of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, was secretly killed in 2004, and the country was actually ruled by a double who had plastic surgery.
According to him, the version of Yushchenko's poisoning with dioxin was needed only to justify the strange changes in Yushchenko's appearance. Relatives did not exclude that the special services of Ukraine could have dealt with Longo for such words.
The arrogance of the sorcerer and healer
Most likely, the situation is much simpler and more banal. When Yuri Longo felt pain in his heart, he was hospitalized and diagnosed with a heart attack. However, as soon as he got a little better, Longo hastened to leave the hospital. He hoped to "lie down" at home.
After a couple of days, he felt ill again. Of course, it was necessary to call an ambulance, but Longo limited himself to calling his friend, the famous artist Nikas Safronov, asking him to come for “support”.
The support of a friend did not help, the state of the magician continued to deteriorate, and on February 17, 2006, he died. On the death certificate, the cause is aortic aneurysm. The wizard of "All Russia" too relied on his own good health and healing abilities, refusing the services of doctors and missing the time when it was still possible to do something.
But even today, disputes over his death do not subside - they talk about a conspiracy against Longo by the strongest magicians who sent a mortal damage to him …
OLGA MOISEEVA