Margarita Simonyan and her secret romance in full view of everyone. Margarita Simonyan - biography Chief editor of the TV channel Margarita Simonyan

Once Tigran Keosayan wrote to Margarita Simonyan on Facebook: “Hello, Margarita! This is Tigran Keosayan. I have long been sympathetic to you as a journalist and tribesman. Now I was driving in the car and listened to being bullied on the radio, could not resist, decided to support and write. "

At first, Margarita Simonyan did not believe that it was really Keosayan. She saw him on TV in a cooking show where he cooked scrambled eggs and tomatoes. Margarita answered him, exchanged phone numbers, met, had lunch. We had lunch, apparently, so tasty that I wanted to have lunch again. Yes, and supper. Gradually overgrown with common themes, interests, friends, some kind of projects.

« And suddenly it turned out that it was impossible to live without each other - that you need to see each other every day, correspond every minute, hold hands, even when not around”, Recalls Simonyan.

« In general, all the most beautiful things in my life literally fall from the sky. And what I work on for a long time and hard either does not happen at all, or happens when it is no longer necessary", Adds the journalist. 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, on the contrary. I have always wanted to write books, since 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, TV series - sometimes under her own name, sometimes under a pseudonym. So Simonyan relaxes. " Not to mention the fact that they pay very well for it - definitely more than my salary on Russia Today", Specifies the chosen one Keosayan.

She writes not only for Tigran. Together they made three series with him and just made a movie. Their comedy Sea. The mountains. Keramzit ”was successfully held on the First Channel. This December on NTV - the premiere of the psychological thriller "Actress", another work that they created together with Tigran and Alena Khmelnitskaya.

Margarita wrote the script, Tigran filmed, and Alena played one of the main female roles. The whole group watched their trio warily and admiringly - how people manage to maintain good relations.

Margarita was born in Krasnodar, which was an abandoned province in the eighties. The family lived between the station and the market, they had such a hut without any amenities. " My parents are purebred Armenians, while we have an 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 the first year, and she published a collection of poems, and her TV company "Krasnodar" took on an internship. Leaving for Chechnya on the front line in bloody and crazy December 1999, when Grozny was just being surrounded, Simonyan deceived her parents for the first time in her life.

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

In his third year, when Simonyan was not yet twenty-one, the RTR channel - now it is called "Russia" - entrusted her to head its bureau. " I was twenty-two when Dobrodeyev, the general director of the Rossiya TV channel, called and asked: “Choose, will you go to New York or Moscow?” I chose Moscow, of course. 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 then: she was to launch the first Russian international 24-hour news channel in English from scratch. She celebrated her first New Year in this capacity at work.

In general, from an early age, Simonyan actually lived only by work. She never wanted to get married, she put off thinking about children until after thirty. " When the novels happened, I immediately honestly told the boyfriend that this was not serious and most likely not for long - I just had no time", The journalist recalls.

« It seemed to me that a married woman is an unhappy and downtrodden creature: she was "made happy" with a white veil so that she could clean, wash, cook and endure her husband's betrayal. However, by the time I was thirty, I already had a long and completely family relationship - with a common life, ficus and plans for the future, but even then I was not going to get married", Adds Margarita.

Then a tsunami by the name of 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 parted "forever" for a whole day, the last - for twenty minutes”, Says Margarita.

Simonyan lived in a small cozy house, bought on a mortgage, in a wonderful village, which 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 have no curtains... Margarita recalls. - She replied: “Because for the ones I want, I haven't saved up yet". Keosayan was shocked. In his view, the head of the largest international media could not have such problems. It was in this house without curtains that he moved to live with her.

« 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. Of course, he left the mansion in Barvikha to Alena and their common children. Having already moved to Simonyan's house, he dropped in there every morning before work to have breakfast with his youngest daughter Ksyusha, and only then went to Mosfilm. Margarita strongly 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. In order not to create awkwardness. Ksyusha spends the weekend with them, she is friends with Margarita's children. Tigran took from his home only portraits and books of his father. And after the divorce, Alena remains a faithful friend and dear person, and a loving father to her daughters.

« When I found out that I was pregnant, I was shocked, sobbed for three months. Motherhood happened in spite of precautions, but there was almost one hundred percent threat of miscarriage. The doctors said: “If you want to endure, go to preservation, we will inject hormones”, Says Simonyan.

Margarita decided that she would not fight for her pregnancy or against: as God pleases, it will happen. As a result, Maryasha took root. Within five months after the first birth, Simonyan became pregnant with Bagrat. This time I did not worry, I was delighted. " Pregnancy was very easy for me, both times I felt better than non-pregnant: I slept little, worked a lot and vigorously, not a day of toxicosis, gave birth for the first time in two and a half hours, the second time in an hour and a half. However, motherhood is still the most difficult thing I've ever done.", Margarita admitted.

With Maryasha Simonyan spent a month on maternity leave, while still sorting out everything by phone and mail. I didn't sit with Bagrat at all. After being discharged from the hospital, the journalist took her son home and went to work - she was just being checked by the Accounts Chamber.

In general, the famous journalist is also an anxious mother, but she tries not to show this to children. Several times a day he calls the grandmothers home. Although he knows the schedule of his children every minute, and they have it Spartan: swimming by the hour, languages, yoga, drawing, Maryasha has dances, Bagrat has Thai boxing. And their food is Spartan, they still have not tried sweets and cakes, so they are absolutely indifferent to sweets and happily gnaw celery. Any cakes can lie 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, seafood.

Tigran is a much more strict parent than Margarita. She brings up children as adults, especially her only son. And he is three years old, he still does not understand when dad says that “I have to apologize for throwing an apple on the floor”, looks at dad with surprised eyes and smiles. However, Tigran is also strict with her daughters, in Margarita's opinion. But he also fools around with them, sings funny songs that he invents himself, tells stories.

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

« I would not like my children to study abroad. For selfish reasons. They will master the languages \u200b\u200balready by the first grade, and 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 why their child grew up as a foreign, incomprehensible, arrogant English aristocrat or an equally arrogant Swiss socialist. And the heir was sent to London to college at the age of twelve - how was he supposed to 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. In the end, she and Alena were already very angry with themselves for sending their daughter to the other end of the world with their own hands. Luckily for them, she didn't stay there. Received a diploma - and returned. Now the clever and beautiful Sasha works with his father, was the second director in his new film, the plot of which unfolds against the background of the construction of the Crimean bridge.

Last summer, at Ksyusha's birthday - she was six - Margarita met Alena. A few days before the holiday, Tigran said: “ Alena invites us to come together. -Of course, take the children and go with them. - You did not understand. She wants to see you too».
Margarita thought that Tigran had misunderstood something in his directorial absent-mindedness. Alenin asked him for the number, wrote to her: “ Alena, hello! Tigran said that you are waiting for us all together. This is true? I don't want to embarrass anyone, especially at a children's party". Alena replied: “ C'mon! Come! There will be no problem. Have a great fun».

There were about forty guests. It was just wonderful. Margarita and Alena both took a glass when the children had already been taken away, so they sat together until 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 made a joint photo and posted it on the Internet with the caption "High Relations." " She is charming, very kind, intelligent, open - not to mention that she is 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 accept friends at home. On Sundays, the tables of fifteen courses are often rolled up, Margarita loves this very much. She, of course, is helped by both mothers and their au pair. Maryasha is already helping to cook. I learned how to cut cucumbers with a small children's knife, 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 could not read a word or recite a poem by heart. And the three-year-old son is not worried at all. They sit down at the table, Maryasha shouts: “I am the first, because I was born first! - Well, I'm the second", - Bagrat smiles.

On the first of January, Keosayan and Simonyan always have an open door hash. All night Margarita with her mother and mother-in-law cooks this famous Armenian anti-hangover dish made from boiled beef hooves. To be honest, khash is generally cooked by itself, but they keep an eye on it. All friends know that they can come to them without a special invitation, starting at one in the afternoon. So it was in the house of Margarita's parents, so it was in the house of Tigran's parents, now so with them.

Tigran, of course, spoils his wife, teaches 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, numerous relatives.

« I will never forget his first gift. I liked the bag of a famous brand, not prohibitively expensive, but still prodigally expensive for me. Passing the boutique, I admired her in the window. Once Tigran caught my eye: - Do you like this bag?", Says the journalist.

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

Keosayan and Simonyan have not yet registered a relationship, they simply do not get their hands on it. " Recently joked about this at home tells Margarita "Caravan of stories" - decided that, probably, we will get married when the children grow up, so that we can sit at a common table with their parents, drink homemade wine from grapes planted by my grandfather, eat dolma according to Tigran's mother's recipe and say: “What fellows you are, ancestors, what once decided on all this!»

The journalist Margarita Simonyan has long been known to viewers for her reports from hot spots. It all started in Chechnya. Beslan became the main turning point, which became the starting point for the creation of a new television format called Russia Today, in which she is the leader. But not so much is known about Margarita's personal life. She herself does not particularly talk about it.

A journalist was born and raised in the Kuban, in the city of Krasnodar. Margot's family was poor, but this did not prevent her parents from placing her in an "English" school. Due to her natural qualities, she became the best student and was sent to the United States for an exchange. After studying in the States for several years, the girl decided to return home and devote herself to journalism. It was at the State University of Kuban that her professional and life path began.

Childhood

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

Parents at one time received a higher education, but, like most Soviet people, it was not useful after perestroika. The father repaired refrigeration units, and the mother "shuttle" and traded in the bazaar. They tried to give Simonyan's children a good education: the sisters were taken to sports and music, English courses. As a result, Margot managed to successfully pass the exams and enter the special school.

Krasnodar itself is a small town. In the late 80s, and even more so in the 90s, it was a typical province with dirty streets and ruined buildings. The Simonyans lived in the "Armenian" region in a small house for five families. Not only was the shared toilet on the street, but the neighbors were also drug addicts. Despite their Armenian origin, dad and mom have never lived in Armenia.

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

Not wanting to live and work in America, the girl entered the Faculty of Journalism at Krasnodar University. 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 "light up", Margarita went to Chechnya as a war correspondent. There her path to success began.

Labor activity

The bet made on the job as a military commander was justified. The coverage of the hostilities by a young Krasnodar journalist attracted the attention of the country's leading TV channels. Then there were business trips to other hot spots.

The trip to Beslan was the most memorable one. This city and the events that took place there in September 2004 changed the worldview of the war correspondent. Having deployed a stormy activity, Marietta achieved the fact that, a year after the tragedy, a new channel "Russia Today" was created. And who, no matter how she, was destined to head the TV channel.

Career growth began to gain momentum:

Thanks to his activities, the journalist regularly gets into the ratings of "influential people":

• 33rd place went to her as the most influential woman in Russia in 2012.
• The next year was marked by getting into the top five influential women in the media.
• 15th place among hundreds of influential women in Russia was awarded in 2014.
• According to the results of 2017, Forbes ranked Margarita Simonovna 52nd among the 100 most influential women in the world.

The consequence of work in the field of journalism was participation in the public life of the country. 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 City Administration of Internal Affairs of Moscow. Later she was elected to the General Council of the Ministry.

She never hid and was not ashamed of her views, which 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 confidant of the presidential candidate V. Putin.

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

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

Keosayan Tigran and Margarita Simonyan got closer on the basis of joint projects. At first, they were united by the restaurant business, and then the director released several films, where a famous TV journalist acted as a scriptwriter. As a result, feelings for Marietta prevailed and Tigran left his first wife.

Rumors of a couple in love have been circulating for a long time, until they were confirmed by the birth of their second child. Daughter Mariana was born when Keosayan was still officially married to Khmelnitskaya. He himself shared his joy on his page in 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 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 legalize the relationship.

Most public people are always under the gun of cameras and evil tongues. So, for example, there were rumors: "Margarita Simonyan and Tigran Keosayan divorced." There are no facts on 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 three were spotted on the beach in swimsuits. Famous people were just having fun, not paying attention to anyone.

Attention, only TODAY!

Margarita Simonyan is a well-known Russian journalist who is the editor-in-chief of the Russia Today TV channel, the Sputnik news agency. This woman began her career from the very bottom, she was an ordinary correspondent for a provincial television studio. Now she occupies one of the leading places in domestic television journalism. Forbes magazine names Margarita one of the 100 most influential women in the world.

Childhood and youth

Margarita Simonyan was born in Krasnodar on April 6, 1980. Her parents raised two daughters, Margarita has a younger sister, Alice. This family did not have much wealth, Simon, the girls' father, was engaged in the repair of electrical equipment, in the city he was famous as the best master in the repair of refrigerators. Mom, Zinaida, sold flowers at the local market. Margarita's parents, Armenians by nationality, did not spare anything for their children. Girls always had pretty dresses, nice toys

A family with young children lived in very difficult living conditions. They were waiting for an apartment, but for now they had to live in an old house on Gogol Street. One could only dream of improvement, the house did not have any conditions for a normal life, there was no running water, sewerage system, there was no gas. The water had to be carried in buckets up the rickety stairs.

But the biggest horror for the girls was the huge rats darting around in the corners. It was at this time that Margarita developed a strong desire to achieve success in life, so that she would never experience such problems.

The girl was almost 10 years old when their family received a good apartment in the new residential area of \u200b\u200bKrasnodar.

Rita has been an incredibly capable child since early childhood. Already in kindergarten, she could read fluently. The teacher encouraged the girl, she gave her the opportunity to entertain other children, read fairy tales to them. Margarita studied at a special language school, the father insisted on this, dreaming of a good education for his daughter. Education was easy for her, the girl was an excellent student. She was often sent to the Olympics to defend the honor of the school.

In the 9th grade, a talented girl was very lucky. Under the exchange program, she was sent to study in the United States. Margarita fell into a wonderful family, which she still remembers with great gratitude. She really liked America, there was a period when she wanted to stay in this country forever. But all this turned out to be a temporary hobby for a foreign country, love for the homeland turned out to be much stronger.

Margarita graduated from school with a gold medal, entered to study at the Faculty of Journalism at KSU. This is not the only education Simonyan, she also studied in Moscow, at the "New School of Theater Arts".

Journalism

Margarita has always been a very active, active person. She really deserved her first job. This was the position of a correspondent for the Krasnodar television and radio channel, which the girl had long dreamed of. In addition to studying at the university, Margarita wrote poetry. In 1998, she publishes a collection of her poems, and the TV channel undertook to shoot a story about the young poetess. Television people could not ignore the fact that a real talent had appeared in their city, because they talked about Simonyan's poems at all corners.

When Margarita talked with the film crew, she voiced her old dream - she admitted that she would like to work as a journalist on the TV channel. The girl was offered an internship. So in 1999 she started working on the Krasnodar TV channel.

Margarita is a very brave woman. She was only 19 years old when she went to Chechnya to film a series of reports there. In this hot spot, a short, fragile girl, whose height is only 160 cm, showed all the strength of her character. So that the parents do not worry about her, Margarita did not notify them where she was going. Only after returning from the place where the war was raging, the girl told her family about a business trip to Chechnya.

A series of reports that she filmed there glorified the young journalist and brought her well-deserved awards. She was awarded “For Professional Courage”, presented the first prize of the All-Russian competition of regional TV and radio companies and the Russian Order of Friendship.

Margarita Simonyan was appointed editor-in-chief of the Krasnodar channel

The girl's career took off, a year after she got a job, she became the chief editor of the Krasnodar TV channel. In 2001, the girl was offered another position, she became a correspondent for the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company in the city of Rostov-on-Don. Simonyan continues to travel to hot spots. During this period, Margarita visited Abkhazia, filming a story about a clash between militants and the state army. All these events took place in the Kodori Gorge.

Talented and fearless journalists are needed everywhere. In 2002, she was invited to the capital, offering the position of a correspondent for the Vesti program. There was a moment when Margarita was part of the presidential pool of journalists, accompanied by Vladimir Putin. The tragedy in Beslan demanded her participation at the scene; in September 2004, she covered the hostage-taking at a secondary school. This event had a very strong influence on the outlook of the young journalist. She strongly discourages her young colleagues from starting a career as a war correspondent.

Margarita Simonyan Chief Editor of Russia Today

The creation of the Russia Today TV channel (2005) has become an important project for Russian television. Broadcasting here was supposed to be in English to inform about Russia's position in relation to international events. Simonyan became the chief editor of the new project. And this appointment raised a lot of questions.

The founders of RIA Novosti approved Margarita for the position based on the following considerations. They needed an editor-in-chief who did not see the Soviet news. At the same time, he was obliged to have his own ideas of how Russian news should look like, which is shown to foreigners. Margarita was ideally suited for the high position of editor-in-chief of the new project. After a while, her duties also began to include overseeing the Arabic-language, Spanish-language version of the TV channel.

Since 2011, on the REN-TV channel, Simonyan has been leading the news project "What's going on?" This is a very interesting program, during which the journalist covers the most significant events of the week. She works with the news about which viewers were not sufficiently informed on federal channels. It is always interesting to learn news firsthand, from the words of eyewitnesses. "What's happening?" was built in this way, the presenter attracted direct participants in the events, spectators to the conversation.

In 2013, Margarita became the co-host of the Iron Ladies program, which was broadcast on NTV. In tandem with her, she posed questions to prominent politicians and businessmen live. These were topical questions that worried the audience, and of course, they were not always convenient for the guests of the program. As a result, the channel's management decided to close the TV show. It did not last even a year on the channel. In the same year, Margarita was appointed editor-in-chief of the international news agency "Russia Today".

Writing activity

Simonyan dreamed of becoming a writer in her early childhood. This woman tries to make all her dreams come true. Margarita was only 18 years old when the first collection of her poems came out. Thanks to this book, Margarita got her first job. The work schedule of this bright, active journalist and editor leaves very little free time. Despite this, Margarita wrote the book "To Moscow" (2010). It took her 10 years to create the novel, this is a story about the generation of the 90s, about people with difficult fates, their unfulfilled dreams. A year after the release of the novel, Simonyan received the award for the best book by a journalist.

In the magazine "Russian Pioneer" for 2012 you can find an excerpt from the new story by Simonyan called "Train". For the same magazine, Margarita writes culinary articles. In addition, Simonyan is constantly polemicizing with foreign media. It was she who exposed the fake pictures associated with the "injury" of the boy Omran. With the help of fake shots, the enemies tried to prove how aggressively Russia is behaving in Syrian territory. Omran Daknish's father told how it really was in an interview with RT.

Margarita was invited many times to the show with Vladimir Solovyov. At the beginning of last year, she was a participant in an interesting interview, reflecting on freedom of speech in Western countries and in the Russian Federation. In collaboration with the journalist, she participated in the creation of the film “Crimean Bridge. Made with love!". The film was released at the end of 2018. Star actors were filmed here - Sergei Nikonenko, Yuri Stoyanov, Artem Tkachenko, Alexei Demidov.

Not so long ago, Margarita interviewed suspects in the Skripals case - Ruslan Boshirov, Alexander Petrov. She commented on her vision of the results of this conversation on the radio "Echo of Moscow". The journalist got the impression that no one can take their word for it in this matter - neither the Western special services, nor even Russian citizens who have fallen under suspicion of poisoning.

Personal life

Margarita is not inclined to advertise her personal life. Sometimes she talks about her, but very briefly. So, in 2012, it was from the words of Simonyan that it became known that she had a common-law spouse, journalist Andrei Blagodyrenko. This union was quite long, it lasted 6 years, and Margarita at that time did not worry about an official marriage, a beautiful wedding. She very reasonably approaches such questions, believing that the main thing is warm feelings, not surroundings.

Her family at that time was engaged in the opening of the restaurant "Hot!" in Sochi. Around the same period, the famous journalist began to appear more and more often in the company with Tigran Keosayan. A bright, charismatic man at that time was not free, his official wife was Alena Khmelnitskaya. The romance of Margarita and Tigran began on his initiative. At first he was virtual, Tigran supported the girl by writing her a warm message on Facebook, who at that time was going through a difficult period in her professional career.

Margarita Simonyan is a Russian journalist, editor-in-chief of the Russia Today TV channel, the international news agency Rossiya Segodnya and the Sputnik news agency.

Having started her career as an ordinary correspondent for a provincial television studio, she managed to take one of the leading places in Russian television journalism. Today Simonyan is among 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, together with her sister Alice, grew up in a poor family. Father Simon, an Armenian by nationality, earned a living by fixing refrigerators, and mother Zinaida sold flowers in the market. There are rumors on the Web that Margarita also has Jewish roots.

As the journalist later wrote from the pages of LJ and Instagram, the girls lived with their parents in an old house on Gogol Street, where rats were constantly running, there was no gas, running water or sewage. The difficult living conditions only strengthened the girl's desire to escape from poverty and achieve comfortable living conditions. When Margarita was about 10 years old, the Simonyan family was allocated an apartment in a new microdistrict of the city.

According to information that later appeared in the article "Komsomolskaya Pravda", the romance between the journalist and the director began on the initiative of Tigran. He wrote a message to the girl on the social network Facebook , where he expressed support to Margarita: at that time, a persecution was conducted against her on the radio. Initially, Simonyan did not pay attention to the letter, since 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 cinematographer, which grew 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 is the second child of the couple - in August 2013, Margarita gave birth to her husband's daughter, Maryana. As the journalist said in an interview, she recalls 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 she survived the threat of miscarriage with Maryana.

Simonyan is committed to early childhood education. In a playful way, teachers-linguists study with Maryana and Bagrat, therefore, already at such an early age, children speak five languages \u200b\u200b- Russian, Armenian, English, French and Chinese.

It is interesting that friendly relations have been established between Tigran Keosayan's ex-wife, Alena Khmelnitskaya and Margarita Simonyan. The women became best friends, and even together with the director they created a project - the psychological thriller "Actress". In the creation of the film, which was successfully broadcast on the NTV channel, Margarita participated as a screenwriter.

For the third time, Margarita became a mother on October 19, 2019, his wife gave Tigran a son, Maro. The woman published the relevant 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 Web 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 the third birth, but she 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 he uploads photos with his family and footage related to her journalistic activities. She does not publish pictures from her vacation, in a swimsuit, on the shores of the azure sea or ocean, preferring to leave this part of her life out of sight of subscribers. Margarita does not have a personal website; she publishes all the information on her profiles on social networks.

Simonyan is friends with many Russian stars and presenters. Proof of this is the photos of a woman who periodically appear on social networks of various media personalities. For example, in the spring of 2018, she posted a picture in her company profile, and Simonyan signed that their company was similar to the Sopranos.

Work allows Margarita, together with her husband, to provide children with a comfortable life. Although she does not show her income statement, it is clear without this 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 TV and Radio Channel. She managed to get this work thanks to a collection of poems of her own composition, which Margarita published a year earlier. The TV channel decided to shoot a story about a talented girl. Talking to the film crew, Simonyan mentioned that she wanted to work as a journalist, and she was offered an internship on the TV channel. The choice of the first job determined Margarita's future professional biography.

At the age of 19, the girl went to shoot a story in Chechnya. A 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, after 10 days. A series of reports in one of the hot spots of the world brought fame to Margarita Simonyan and a number of journalistic awards: "For Professional Courage", the first prize of the All-Russian competition of regional TV and radio companies and the Russian Order of Friendship.

In 2000, Simonyan became the chief editor of the Krasnodar TV channel, and a year later - a correspondent for the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company in Rostov-on-Don. She continued her career as a military journalist, having visited Abkhazia, covering the clash of militants with 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 TV 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 events of the hostage-taking at the school. The tragedy influenced Margarita's worldview and views; in an interview, she advises young journalists not to start a career as war correspondents.

In 2005, the Russia Today TV channel was created, which broadcasted 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 founders of RIA Novosti argued the appointment of such a young person to such a position by the position that the project should be managed by a person who had not seen Soviet news, who had his own ideas about how to show Russian news to foreign viewers. Later, Margarita also began to oversee the Arabic and Spanish versions of the 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 her colleague Tina Kandelaki on the air, the journalist asked not always convenient, but topical questions to famous politicians and businessmen. In the same year, the channel's management decided to close the show.

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

Since early childhood, Margarita dreamed of becoming a writer and engaging in 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 journalism and editorial activity, the writing of the book took about 10 years. This novel tells about the generation of the 90s and hard fates, unfulfilled dreams. In 2011, thanks to her novel, Simonyan won the prize for the best book by a 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 "The Rat" got into the publication, which caused a lot of discussion on the Web.

Margarita Simonyan, Tina Kandelaki, Philip Kirkorov and Mikhail Galustyan

Margarita supports the policy of the existing political system in Russia. In 2018, she became a confidant of Vladimir Putin during the presidential campaign. At the same time, the journalist published a post in Telegram dedicated to her friend's renunciation of US citizenship. According to the editor-in-chief of RT, the girl supported the opposition and in 2013 immigrated to the United States, 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 the program on Channel One.

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

The TV journalist has repeatedly become a guest of the studio of a popular political observer. At the beginning of 2018, she made 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 the ex-intelligence officer, in which the British authorities appeared suspects - Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov, received great publicity. Young people gave an interview to Margarita Simonyan, which she commented on the air of the radio "Echo of Moscow". The TV journalist stressed that she has no reason to trust these people, but she also does not trust the Western special services. The frames of the meeting, used as photos, were disassembled by users into memes.

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Classmates

Russian journalist Simonyan Margarita Simonovna since 2013 became the editor-in-chief of the TV channel "Russia Today" ("Russia Today"). When she took office, she was only 25 years old. This appointment became the most discussed topic at that time, many wondered why this 25-year-old Armenian girl was entrusted with such a responsible position. What distinguished Simonyan Margarita Simonovna? Compromising evidence on her person, in spite of everything, was not found. And the passions subsided. Further in the material, we will tell you about the life of this interesting woman who managed to make such a successful career.

The future journalist was born in early April 1980, in the southern city of Krasnodar. Margarita has a sister named Alice. After she took the position of the general director of the RT TV channel in 2013, many began to wonder who Simonyan's parents were. Margarita Simonovna and her sister from childhood lived in rather modest conditions. Their father worked as a refrigerator repairman, and their mother worked as a flower girl and traded flowers at the market from morning till night. The money earned by the parents was enough only for food. Their house was very old and was located on one of the outskirts of Krasnodar streets, named after the legendary Russian writer Nikolai Gogol. The house was full of rats, there were no the most basic living conditions: gas, sewerage and running water. Today it is hard to believe that the Soviet Union could have had such terrible living conditions. The girls had to live in this nightmare for about 10 years, after which the family was given an apartment. It was life at the “bottom” that pushed Margarita to an irresistible desire to break out of poverty and take place in life.

Despite the fact that Margarita's parents did not pay much attention to the development of the intellectual and creative abilities of their children, the girls grew up smart and very diligent. Little Ritochka was one of the first in the kindergarten group to start reading. The teacher asked her to read fairy tales to her classmates before going to bed. Later Simonyan Margarita Simonovna was taken to the 1st grade of the specialized school number 36 of the city of Krasnodar. Here they were engaged in in-depth study of foreign languages. It turned out that the girl has a great ability to English. She studied perfectly and was sent to the Olympiads. When the girl turned 16 years old, and she studied in the 9th grade, an excellent opportunity opened up for her to improve her knowledge of English to the proper one. She was sent to study in the United States, in the state of New Hampshire, as part of the student exchange program. She lived in a very friendly and warm family, went to an American school, communicated with peers and comprehended the peculiarities of life in mysterious America. With this family she still has excellent, one might say “family” relationship. Margarita even thought about staying overseas, but soon realized that she was most comfortable living in her native country.

After leaving school, it is worth noting, with a medal of distinction, Simonyan Margarita Simonovna, whose biography is the topic of this article, entered the journalism faculty of the Kuban State University, in parallel with this she studied at the V. Pozner School of Television Skills, and also wrote poetry. It turned out that a collection of poems by an 18-year-old Armenian woman aroused interest in the press, and a film crew came to her house to make a report about her. It was during this interview that she let slip that she wants to be a journalist. And then she received an offer to work on Krasnodar television.

In December 1999, she went to Chechnya to cover the hostilities. At the same time, Margarita decided to feel sorry for her parents and only informed them that she was going on another business trip. In parallel, Margarita began filming stories for federal channels. Her fearlessness and professionalism were highly praised by the government, and Margarita Simonovna Simonyan was awarded many federal awards. A year later, she became the leading editor of the information portal of the Krasnodar TRK, and in 2000 she was appointed editor-in-chief at the same TV channel. Later, the girl moved to the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Channel in the city of Rostov-on-Don. Then Margarita decides to continue her "military" career and goes to Abkhazia, writes reports about the clashes in the Kodori Gorge.

In 2002, Simonyan Margarita Simonovna finally receives an invitation from the directorate of the Vesti TV program to work as a correspondent, of course, having moved to the capital. Of course, she gladly accepted the offer, and soon she was already part of the presidential pool. In September 2004, a terrible tragedy happened in Beslan, North Ossetia. At that time Margarita was in Minvody. She received an order from the editorial board of the channel and went to the scene. All the time, while the hostages were in the hands of the militants, she stood at the school and went on the air every half hour. Sometimes her voice was cut off by sobs choking her. After that, she could not calm down for a long time.

In 2005, the Russia Today TV channel appeared in Moscow. He delivered information in English and was called upon to express the official Russian position on various political situations in the world. In the professional sphere, many were perplexed that it was Margarita Simonyan who had been appointed editor-in-chief of the channel. Despite this, RIA Novosti presented arguments regarding this appointment. According to them, the head of the service had to be so young not to remember what news was going on on Soviet television. She must have new thinking, a modern outlook on what is happening. In addition, she knew English perfectly and could objectively assess the flow of information. Subsequently, Margarita also directed the Arabic and Spanish versions of the TV channel.

In 2011, Margarita decided to create a personal news project “What's going on” on the REN TV channel and be its host. The program came out every week, where M.S.Simonyan discussed the most important events of the last days, about which federal channels avoided talking. Direct participants in these events were invited to the program. Two years later, a new political show came out on NTV, hosted by Margarita Simonyan and Tina Kandelaki, an Armenian and a Georgian. The program was called The Iron Ladies. But for some reason, the show was closed.

Since childhood, Margarita dreamed of being a writer. She wrote poetry, and at the age of 18 released a collection of poems written by her. Her next book was published in 2010 and was titled "To Moscow". This is a novel about the generation of the nineties, about the problems, difficult fates of people whose lives coincided with the split of the Soviet Union, about the unfulfilled dreams of young people who in an instant lost their present and future. A year after the release of the novel, Margarita received the award for the best book written by a journalist. Her next work was the story "Train". She published excerpts from it in the magazine "Russian Pioneer", for this magazine she also writes articles on culinary topics.

The journalist does not like to talk about herself. In 2012, in an interview, she said that for 6 years now she and journalist Andrei Blagodyrenko have been living in a civil marriage, regarding the consolidation of official relations and a wedding, she is absolutely not ready for this. In the same year, Margarita went to Sochi, where the construction of the Simonyanov family restaurant “Hot!” Was underway. It was there that she became close to her compatriot, the famous director. Tigran Keosayan and Margarita Simonyan spent more and more time together. And everyone already perceived them as a couple, despite the fact that Tigran continued to be married to actress Alena Khmelnitskaya. A year later, in the summer of 2013, Margarita had a daughter, who was named Maryana. The next year, she and Tigran had a son, who was named by the Armenian name Bagrat. Today Simonyan Margarita Simonovna and Keosayan Tigran are a family, although they have not legalized their relationship. They have two wonderful children growing up.

In 2000, Margarita was in the arena of hostilities in Chechnya and reported in a bulletproof vest. For her devotion to the profession, for courage and professionalism, she was given a state prize. In the same year, Margarita became the winner of the II All-Russian Competition for Regional TV and Radio Companies. Her television coverage of Chechen children was recognized as the best. All in the same 2000, she was also awarded a presidential scholarship.

In 2010, in Moscow, the Armenian president presented the famous journalist with the Movses Khorenatsi medal, the highest government award of the Republic of Armenia. She has several more state awards of the Russian Federation: “For Merit to the Fatherland, 4th degree” (2014), two “Order of Friendship” (2007 and 2008), etc. In 2012, the name of Margarita Simonyan was included in the list of 100 most influential women Russia, where she took 33rd place. She is a member of the public council at the main department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, and since 2013, on the appointment of D. Kiselev, she has assumed the post of editor-in-chief of MIA "Russia"

After what happened in Ukraine, Margarita Simonyan was included in the list of 49 journalists and media directors who were banned from entering the republic.