Regina Zbarskaya was called “Soviet Sophia Loren”. One of the most famous and beautiful women of the Soviet Union, nevertheless, did not recognize happiness in life. Loneliness and a mysterious premature death - that's what awaited her …
Non-standard beauty
Very little is known about the childhood of Regina Kolesnikova (this is her maiden name). According to one version, she was born on September 27, 1935 in Leningrad. Her parents were circus gymnasts and died performing a complex trick under the dome. After that, the girl ended up in an orphanage. According to another version, Regina was born in Vologda. Her father, Nikolai Dementyevich Kolesnikov, was a retired officer, and her mother was a doctor.
In 1953, 17-year-old Regina Kolesnikova came to Moscow to enroll in VGIK. Fate smiled at her, and she entered there the first time. True … to the Faculty of Economics. But this did not prevent the girl from attending bohemian parties, where fashion designer Vera Aralova once drew attention to her. So Kolesnikova's modeling career began. Despite a non-standard figure for the model, in particular, crooked legs, Regina enjoyed wild success on the podium.
In addition, she possessed exquisite manners, spoke French … When the fashion designer Vyacheslav Zaitsev made her cut her hair like a page, creating the image of an "Italian beauty", the foreign press choked with delight. The French magazine Paris Match called Kolesnikova "the Kremlin's most beautiful weapon." Federico Fellini, Pierre Cardin, Yves Montand and even Fidel Castro admired the graceful beauty with a pale face and almond-shaped eyes …
One Hundred Nights with Regina Zbarskaya
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In the early 60s, Regina Kolesnikova married the Moscow artist Lev Zbarsky. Being married to a beautiful and successful woman, Zbarsky nevertheless did not want children from her. When Regina became pregnant in 1967, her husband forced her to have an abortion. Despite this, he soon left her, carried away by the actress Marianna Vertinskaya.
After an unsuccessful abortion, Zbarskaya - she bore the name of her ex-husband until her death - could no longer have children. She began taking antidepressants and ended up in a psychiatric hospital with severe depression. Returning from the hospital, Zbarskaya was able to continue her career on the podium - in this she was helped by the deputy director of the House of Models in Kuznetsky, Elena Vorobei. She had a new lover - a Yugoslav journalist, who, however, used Regina to realize his own career ambitions. He published a book in German called "One Hundred Nights with Regina Zbarskaya", in which he very frankly described his intimate life with a fashion model. In addition, the book spoke about her connections with members of the Central Committee, about how she was an informant for the KGB, about denunciations that she wrote to colleagues …
On the whole, the book was anti-Soviet in nature. After that, Regina was dragged to the Lubyanka for quite a long time, where she was exhausted by interrogations. She tried to commit suicide twice and ended up in the hospital again. Coming out of there, Zbarskaya looked so bad that there could be no question of any return to the modeling business. Vyacheslav Zaitsev got her into the Model House as a simple cleaner.
Death versions
On November 15, 1987 (according to some sources, in October 1987) Regina Zbarskaya died. Interestingly, the Soviet press did not announce her death, but the Voice of America did. Subsequently, there were two whole versions of Zbarskaya's death. One by one, the neighbor noticed the open door to the apartment and, looking into it, saw Regina lying motionless, clutching the telephone receiver in her hand …
Another version says that Zbarskaya was in the Moscow psychiatric hospital No. 1, known as "Kaschenko". One day her body was found in the ward with no signs of life. The expert concluded that food poisoning was the cause of death. But rumor spoke of opening the veins or poisoning with sleeping pills. The official reason could have been hidden. Perhaps her diary, which was allegedly found next to the body, could shed light on the mystery of the death of the famous fashion model. But the last notes were never included in the case. Could Zbarskaya's death be the result of a murder committed, for example, by state security officers? Perhaps she knew too much and was dangerous … None of Zbarskaya's colleagues at the Model House came to the funeral. The body was cremated, but it is still not known where she was buried.