Starman_ The Truth Behind the Legend of Yuri Gagarin - Jamie Doran [85]
Gagarin’s spaceplane work was considered top-secret – in fact, all of the diploma work conducted at Zhukovsky was highly classified. Just as for Korolev, Belotserkovsky’s identity was a secret and he was never acknowledged in public. He was not even allowed to take snapshots of his favourite pupils, in case Western spies should identify them. Even so, he used a hidden camera to obtain his keepsakes. ‘We hid all the films in a safe, and developed them a long time later. I don’t think we did anything wrong. Thanks to our unofficial action, we have an important and historical collection of photographs today.’
Gagarin became so absorbed in his work that he spent long periods staying at the Academy’s hostel, instead of with Valya and the children. But the pursuit of academic excellence was not the only thing keeping him away from home.
Gagarin also spent a good deal of time at the Yunost Hotel, just outside the western perimeter of Moscow’s Garden Ring road. The Yunost was associated with the official communist youth movement, ‘Komsomol’. Gagarin was always welcome there, and room 709 on the seventh floor was kept in reserve for him, funded on a semi-permanent retainer by the Komsomol. On frequent occasions, banquets and receptions would be held at the Yunost for Komsomol delegations visiting Moscow from other republics in the Union, and Gagarin would be expected to attend and give rousing speeches. Often the parties would drag on until the early hours of the morning, at which point it seemed best for Gagarin to sleep at the Yunost, instead of struggling home through the freezing Moscow nights. In the relative informality and privacy of the hotel, he could relax and entertain his friends. An excellent billiards player, he seldom lost, except on one notorious occasion when he surrendered a game to ‘Nona’, a young chess champion noted for her attractive appearance. Gagarin’s male companions could not understand how he could bear the humiliation of losing to a girl, but he had another game in mind.
Gagarin was a fit and handsome young man, who also happened to be the most famous and desired star in the world, with the possible exception of the ‘fab four’ young lads of the Beatles pop group; but it would be a mistake to think of him as a heartless womanizer. He was neither more nor less a sexual adventurer than any other superstar might have been in his circumstances. By all accounts, he loved Valya and was utterly devoted to his two little children. But Valya was not content for her husband to take his wedding vows casually. A single act of adultery was sufficient to upset her, let alone the ‘several’ that must certainly have occurred throughout the couple’s married life.
On one occasion Valya decided to visit her errant partner at the Yunost Hotel. Gagarin’s favourite barber at the Yunost, Igor Khoklov, blames lax security at the front desk for what happened next. ‘It was a different era in those days. Any woman would have jumped on Gagarin, walked with him, slept with him, even. He had a few opportunities at the Yunost. After a party when he was tipsy, a leading sportswoman, a ski champion, took an interest in him. He didn’t seduce her, she seduced him, but around six o’clock his wife arrived. Perhaps she’d had some kind of premonition? I would say the military police [at the front desk] were at fault, because they could easily have telephoned up to Yura’s room to warn him, but they didn’t. And she created an uproar, she really tore Gagarin apart. The other girl just picked up her clothes and ran. I’d say that sportswoman really cost Gagarin dear.’
For Valya, this must have