Lion King Berber story. The tragedy of the Berberovs: how it was

What would it be like for you to wake up every morning in the same house with a lion? And if a puma walks nearby? The size and potential for aggression of these animals do not allow us to even think about keeping them at home instead of a kitten or dog.

Some still decide to start at home large predators like a lion or a panther, but, unfortunately, this does not always end well for them. A striking example of this is the Berberovs. The tragedy happened to the son of this family precisely because of their unreasonable desire for home exotic. It happened way back in 1980. Then the news about the incident in the Azerbaijani family quickly spread around the world.

First lion in the family

The Berberov family consisted of Lev Lvovich, an architect by profession, his wife Nina Petrovna and children - Roman and Eva. According to Nina Berberova, her husband was very fond of animals. They had a lot. Among them were cats, dogs, parrots, raccoons and snakes. When the opportunity arose, they did not refuse to get someone bigger. This is where the sad story of the Berberovs begins.

Once at the zoo, they saw a sickly lion cub that they wanted to euthanize. The Berberovs decided to save the poor animal by taking it home. After a while, the strengthened lion King became a full-fledged member of their family.

Not born free

As Nina Petrovna admits, they had an idea to return an adult lion to the zoo, but the animal staged a real rebellion against this. Resisting with all his strength, King almost overturned the car in which he was brought, although he was not at all aggressive.

In the 1986 film Born Free, based on story of the same name the family that raised the lioness named Elsa eventually sets her free in wild environment. However, the Berberovs were told that King would no longer be able to live in freedom. Unlike Elsa ("Born Free"), this lion, according to experts, was completely unprepared for such a life. So King stayed with the Berberovs until his death.

King's stellar career

A tamed lion is a godsend for many filmmakers. King began to be filmed. The most famous film with his participation is " Incredible adventure Italians in Russia. Of course, the ubiquitous press could not bypass the family with an unusual pet. At that time, the headlines of many popular publications were full of their family, and several documentaries were made about them.

But it was clear from everything that the Berberov family kept a lion in their apartment not for the sake of fame or money - they all loved him very much. For example, Lev Lvovich and Nina Petrovna put up with the fact that King repeatedly climbed into their family bed to spend the night. The head of the family more than once ended up on the floor as a result of this. AT Everyday life King behaved like an ordinary house cat: he licked the guests and huddled in the corner when he was shouted at.

Bewilderment of the neighbors

Lev Berberov, of course, more than once made their neighbors worried. First of all, they were annoyed by the terrible stench coming from their apartment. The opportunity to have an apartment in a prestigious district of Baku seemed to them now not so wonderful. In addition, this rather big kitten needed a daily walk. Surely the neighbors tried not to leave their apartments during that morning period when King went for a walk.

And it happened that King woke up at night and made a typical roar. It is unlikely that the neighbors who heard this dreamed after that pleasant dreams. And what a roar, probably, was heard when the lion rolled over from his hind legs to his front ones, playing with the dog Chapik ...

King's death

That day turned out to be one of the most difficult that the Berberovs had ever experienced. The tragedy occurred during the filming of a film about Italians in Russia. The lion was standing at the window when a young man appeared behind the glass, teasing the animal in every possible way. King was very playful by nature, this behavior of the young man prompted him, standing on his hind legs, squeeze out the glass, run up to the young man and knock him to the floor.

I am sure that the behavior of the lion prompted this in the first place young man. And secondly, on film set he was just being taught a scene where he had to catch up with a man and knock him to the ground. Whatever it was, but for this action King paid with his life.

At that moment, a police officer was just passing by, who had a weapon with him. It is difficult now to say how this fight between King and the young man would have ended without the intervention of the police, because it is not completely known whether the lion had such harmless intentions. In the end, for the man, everything ended with only a few scratches, and the lion lost his life. The next day after the death of the Berberovs, she died, and the family members themselves fell into deep despondency.

King II

Soon after the death of the lion, the Berberovs, whose tragedy had severely wounded their psyche, decided to get King II. As Nina Petrovna admits, she was against this idea, but Lev Lvovich insisted. At that time, Vladimir Vysotsky and Marina Vladi, writer Yuri Yankovsky and screenwriter Sergei Obraztsov rendered great assistance in acquiring a new lion cub at that time to the Berberovs.

The new Berberovs became a pet of the Kazan Zoo. The story of the new lion cub in this family began in a completely different way. He didn't need care. But from the very beginning, he began to demand respect for himself. He fell in love with Roma Berberov very much and obeyed him implicitly in everything. The boy could even climb a lion on horseback. No other animal would allow this.

King II on the set of the film

Like King I, King II also became a movie star. In 1975, based on the real life facts of the Berberov family, Yuri Yakovlev created the script for a new film called “I Have a Lion”. The children of the Berberovs took part in it. During filming, the lion showed the nature of a predator more than once.

For example, when Konstantin Bromberg, the director of the film, demanded that the lion jump into cold water, he stuck a sharp fang into his leg, leaving a hole 8 cm deep. And the operator's assistant, due to one sharp movement, was completely left without a piece of his finger. Nevertheless, the film was shot to the end, the audience liked it. After such a successful ending, King was invited to star in another film, but it didn’t work out with her anymore ...

Death of Lev Lvovich Berberov

In 1978, the Berberovs experienced another grief. The tragedy this time happened to the head of the family. Lev Lvovich died of a heart attack, leaving his wife fully responsible for the children and a house full of animals. By the way, from the large animals in the house of the Berberovs then there was still a black cougar.

Chapter communist party provided invaluable assistance to the Berberov family at that time. Meat was allocated for animals, they were even given a minibus. However, the content of the lion at that time for the Berberovs became an unbearable burden, they planned to hand it over to the zoo in the near future.

King II also struggled with the death of the "leader". At first he looked everywhere for him. Then he began to take out Lev Lvovich's things, lay down on them with his whole massive body and hugged him with his huge paws. According to Nina Petrovna, then he did not become more aggressive towards her and the children.

Murder of Roma Berberov and King II

The day of November 24, 1980 began in the most usual way for both Nina Petrovna and her son Roma and pet King. The most terrible in the life of a woman and the last in the life of Roma and King, this day was already later. Nina Petrovna went to the publishing house in the morning about the book. Berberova came up with the idea of ​​publishing their common creation with her husband about all their pets.

When she returned, she found King in a not very friendly mood. After she fed her son, who had just returned from school, she carried the meat into the room where the lion was. The animal suddenly pounced on her with all its massive carcass, knocked her to the floor and severely tore her head. This was not quite normal behavior for him.

There are several versions about how 14-year-old Roma Berberov was killed by a lion. One of them says that the beast was intoxicated by the blood that appeared on the head of Nina Petrovna after he scratched it. According to another alleged scenario, a black cougar, who then lives in the Berberovs' house, was involved in the case. In any case, one thing is known - Roma tried to stop the angry animal, for which he paid with his life. Arriving at the scene, the police shot the lion, and with it the cougar.

Later life of Nina Berberova

Nina Petrovna found out about the death of her son only after she was discharged from the hospital. The shocking news knocked the woman down again, she spent three months in the hospital. She did not want to live, thought about suicide. Her daughter helped her get out of this extremely depressed situation, as well as her friend, the actor Kyazim Abdullayev, who later became her husband.

Two children appeared in the family of Kazym Abdullaev and Nina Berberova. The woman has no desire to keep wild animals at home anymore. Now they live only parrots, cats and dogs. In a prominent place in her house are photographs of both lions that were in her life, and a photograph of her son in the arms of King I. The woman does not hold evil against the second King, as she understands that it was a predator. But she has not removed the guilt from herself for the death of her son so far.

In Russia, it is not forbidden to keep predatory animals at home. But for this you need to purchase a license for a private zoo. This involves a lot of fuss and a lot of work. But, probably, this is for the best, because lions and panthers freely roaming the street pose a great danger to ordinary residents. This kind of exotic can cost dearly not only to others, but also to those who tamed the animal. The tragedy of the Berberov family, which has flown around the world, clearly proves that there is no place for a wild animal in a civilized society.

Here is an envelope received by the editors of the Pionerskaya Pravda newspaper in January 1976.
And handed over to Vera Chaplina.
RGALI fund No. 3460

In the 1970s, the names of Baku residents Lev and Nina Berberov were known to almost everyone, especially after their pupil, Lev King I, starred in the popular comedy The Incredible Adventures of Italians in Russia.

The Berberov family with the lion King I. 1972

After filming was completed, on July 25, 1973, King I died under unclear circumstances from the shots of a policeman who believed that the lion had attacked a passerby (the Berberovs claimed that King was just playing).
But soon the Berberovs brought in a new lion cub in their apartment, which received the nickname King II.
In 1975, the film "I Have a Lion" was filmed, in which, along with King II, all members of the family played themselves. Before his TV show - in the January holidays of the new year 1976 - "Pionerskaya Pravda" publishes an article by Vera Chaplina " main role King is playing...
It is not known whether the Berberovs met with Chaplin personally, however, in the archive of the writer there is a photograph of Nina Berberova with her dedication dated September 20, 1972.
In the picture, Nina Petrovna is still with the first King:

RGALI fund No. 3460

And in the phone book of the late 1960s and early 1970s, we found a note with the address of the Berberovs:

But back to the article. Unfortunately, the newspaper itself (No. 2 for 1976) is not in the archive, but a draft has been preserved,
with the latest edits by Vera Chaplina:

RGALI fund No. 3460

In response to this article, the Berberovs wrote a letter, which we publish today for the first time:

RGALI fund No. 3460

It must be said that with the general benevolent attitude of Chaplina to the experiment on keeping an adult lion in a city apartment, which was undertaken not by professional zoologists, but by the architect Lev Berberov and his wife Nina, Vera Vasilyevna quite definitely and negatively assessed the "commercial component" of this enterprise, about which many people knew.
However, that wasn't what worried her. Once Chaplin herself had to take an abandoned lion cub for feeding and nursing - in a room in a communal apartment, in own family With six year old son. And she, like no one else, understood that such experiments always have acceptable limits of risk and meaning.

Nursing of Kinuli was forced to drag on for a whole year: the 6-month-old lioness fell ill with nervous plague, and all winter Chaplin and her family members (with the support of Zoo veterinarians) struggled with a serious illness. But in May, when Kinuli recovered and got strong enough, Chaplin transported her to the zoo - no matter how hard this separation from the human family was for a completely tame lioness. The experiment ended because “just like that” a lion cannot live in a city apartment: it is inconvenient neither for him nor for the residents of the house. And besides, at some point living together can become dangerous even with a tame animal.

Kinuli was a lioness - and the behavior of females, as a rule, is more predictable than that of males. How much more risky it was to keep an adult male lion in a human family!

The unclear circumstances of the death of the first King (who had a rather calm and balanced disposition) could obscure the real meaning of what happened only for non-professionals: after all, the owners of the beast are always to blame in such circumstances. They are fully responsible for the safe maintenance of their pet, and they must foresee all the possible risks of his walks, meetings with "passers-by", etc.

But the Berberovs continued their risky experiment, this time with a new lion. Again with a male, moreover, King II's character turned out to be less balanced than that of his predecessor. However, Lev Lvovich managed to keep King II in subjection to his "seniority" and the prospects for an adult lion to live in a human family seemed cloudless ...
However, the owners of King II went beyond reasonable caution when they took a cougar into their apartment. And in 1978, suddenly, from a heart attack, the head of the family, architect Lev Berberov, dies.

Vera Chaplina, as soon as she found out about this, sent a letter to Nina Petrovna, in which she directly wrote to her that King needed to be returned urgently, that in the current situation, the stay of a lion in the family was extremely risky. Sooner or later, his behavior will become completely unpredictable, and most importantly, he will no longer perceive anyone as a "senior". Understanding how difficult it would be for Berberova to part with King, Vera Vasilievna wrote: for starters, give at least a cougar - this will partly defuse the situation.

But Nina Berberova did neither. Apparently, then she did not take serious warnings from the outside. Even from such a "deeply revered discoverer" as Vera Chaplin.

P.S.
We will supplement this post with two materials:
- an article by Sergei Obraztsov “The Death of a King”, published two weeks after the death of the lion King I (Ogonyok magazine, August 11, 1973, p. 29):

Article by Z. Ibragimova “A lion among people. Conversations with scientists ”(“ Literaturnaya gazeta ”of April 08, 1981, p. 13: a conversation with the director of the Institute of Cytology and Genetics, academician D.K. Belyaev about the tragedy in the Berberov family that occurred on November 24, 1980):

A TRAGEDY IN THE BERBER FAMILY

At one time, a lot was written about this drama. There was even a discussion about whether a person has the right to keep wild animals in the house. The Berberov family from Baku became a victim of their passion. In 1980, their domesticated lion suddenly remembered his natural instincts and killed a child...

A tragedy happened at the Baku Zoo. The lioness died during childbirth. A tiny helpless creature that was born without maternal care was doomed to death. By some miracle, the news of the dying lion cub reached Berberov from Baku. And he persuaded the director of the zoo to give the lion cub to him.

The Berberov family - a wife and two children - with great enthusiasm undertook to nurse the unfortunate baby. Twenty-four hours a day, the lion cub was under their vigilant attention. At first he was fed milk from the nipple. Then, when the lion cub grew up, they switched to meat.

The lion cub was given a sonorous name - King, which means - King. Indeed, from a small scumbag, King turned into a real king of animals before our eyes. A year later, he was already a mighty handsome man with a proud posture and a luxurious mane. And the noble character fully corresponded to his royal origin.

The Berber souls doted on their pupil. Although it was cramped in a city apartment, they did not complain. By a special order of the Baku authorities, King was given the necessary maintenance. They offered to relocate to the zoo, but the Berberovs did not want to part with their pet. After all, King during this time became a full member of the family ...

There was a lot of controversy surrounding the King story. Professionals, biologists and trainers were indignant and considered it unacceptable to keep such an animal in a city apartment. People far from communicating with animals admired that you can get along with a lion ...

The fame of the Berberovs, who lived and raised a real lion, grew day by day. As expected, filmmakers soon appeared in their apartment.

In 1974, King-1 starred in the film The Incredible Adventures of Italians in Russia. The lion and his owners were settled in the school, which at that time was empty, surrounded by a park and a high fence. The guy climbed over the fence for his dog. As a result, King knocked the guy to the ground, and a policeman passing by, seeing such a picture, shot the animal.

The owners, of course, loved their lion. Of course they felt sorry for him. But he was also a breadwinner! And the head of the family takes another lion cub. It is also called King, King-2. We all have different tempers the same for animals. King-1 was a meek, obedient, good-natured creature. King-2 by nature turned out to be the complete opposite of him. This did not prevent Lev Lvovich from taking home also a cougar.

In 1978, Berberov dies of a heart attack. His wife keeps the animals at home. And here comes the tragic and natural denouement - King-2 kills his son and cripples his mother. Under what circumstances this happened is also a matter of controversy. The first option - the mother was washing in the bathroom, the lion roared, she slapped him with a wet towel, after which the beast attacked her, and with a paw blow he took off his scalp and broke the neck of the boy who came to the rescue. Another is that a drunken neighbor from above threw pieces of a burning comb at the lion, which provoked the animal to attack people. Another version is that the lion fell from the mezzanine, on which he liked to lie, and, annoyed, rushed at the owners. And biologists believe that the cougar could have been in heat ... Personally, I think this is the most logical.

Nina Berberova:“The Second King still considered Lev Lvovich to be the “leader of the pack” and obeyed, but in the 78th year my husband died of a heart attack, and I was left alone with two children, a lion and a full house of animals. First, the Second King was looking for his master, called him when he found Leva's things, lay down on them and hugged them with his paws. He also obeyed me and never showed aggressiveness, so no one even thought about the danger.

On November 24, 1980, in a fit of aggression, the lion inflicted serious injuries on Nina Berberova and killed her 14-year-old son Roman. The arrived militiamen killed a lion and a cougar.

"That day became for me nightmare, - recalls Nina Berberova.- In the morning I went to the publishing house: a book was being prepared for publication, which we wrote together with my husband about all our pets. Then she hurried home to feed the children and animals. When I entered the apartment, I felt a pungent smell of smoke. The second King behaved very strangely, growled and rushed to the balcony net. Puma Lyalya jumped onto the sofa and hid in a corner. I went to the balcony and saw that our neighbor, a complete alcoholic, sets fire to and throws pieces of a plastic comb at the lion. I exploded: "What are you doing?! I'll call the police now!" At this time, the son of Roma returned from school. First I sat him down to eat, then I got busy with the Second King. She cut the meat and carried the bowl to him. At that time, the lion climbed onto the mezzanine, hung from them, fell off and fell with all his might on his back, jumped up and rushed at me. He tore my head with his paw, threw me on my back.

14-year-old Roman ran to his mother’s cry, grabbed King by the collar, but drunk with blood, an angry lion killed his son in front of his mother’s eyes - the lion’s paw tore off the guy’s scalp and broke the cervical vertebrae ...

Nina Berberova:“I lost consciousness. I woke up only when the shots started. The policemen, who were called by the neighbors, climbed onto the roof from all sides and began to shoot. They finished off the Second King when they had already broken the door. in her heart. Although she did not intend to attack anyone, she was also frightened of everything that was happening. "

It happened thirty years ago... From Nina Petrovna for a long time covered up the death of their son. She found out about this only when she was discharged from the hospital, after which she again fell ill for three months. She did not want to live, but a friend saved her and a friend came out, he made her believe in herself and in the future. They got married with Kazym. Children were born.

“Doctors miraculously saved my life, but I lost my son, whom I loved madly,” Nina Petrovna indulges in painful memories. “After what happened, I didn’t want to live at all, I thought about suicide. My daughter and friend Kyazym (Kyazym Abdullaev - actor of Azdrama, honored artist). I married him, gave birth to two more children, Farhad and Rachel. We no longer keep wild animals at home, now we only have dogs, cats and a parrot. I don’t hold a grudge against the Second King, he but a beast, not a man, and did not understand what he was doing. The only thing I can’t forgive myself is that I didn’t save my first-born son Roma.

Many birds and animals still live in the Baku apartment of Nina Petrovna Berberova, but lions are no longer among them. Only in the most prominent place are photographs of King Sr. and King Jr. One of them shows Roma tightly hugging King Jr. Double tragedy - the boy died and the lion died. But man and animal loved each other so much ...

There was a lot of noise, disputes ... It seems that they finally came to the conclusion that such animals have no place in a city apartment. The scary thing is that this doesn't stop a lot of people. Now we don’t have the USSR, now you can buy everything from us ... And all the time in the press and on TV there are reports of tied leopards, bears in a barn, crocodiles in a bathroom ...

And here again...

A huge "home" lion has become a full-fledged member of the family of actress Tilly Hedren. Very risky lady! Let's take a look at the photo family archive... Oh... Oh... Ooooooooooo!!!

The tragedy in the Berberov family, who popularized their love for animals by their example, happened in 1980. Not only relatives and friends were deeply shocked by what had happened. Lion King II, a pupil of the Berberov family, killed the 14-year-old son of his mistress and inflicted serious injuries on her. Many professionals from the dynasties of trainers of predatory animals then said: “This was to be expected! Keeping predators, in particular a lion, is inappropriate at home.”

This tragic story The Berberov family began long before 1980.

Back in 1970, the family of the Baku architect Lev Berberov adopted a little lion cub that was dying in the zoo. The mother lioness did not recognize him. Predatory beast went out, tamed, and he became a grateful and loving member of the family. Lev Berberov, his wife Nina and two small children Eva and Roman completely disappeared in this unusual neighborhood with a predatory pet.

King acted in films, in particular in the famous film by E. Ryazanov "The Extraordinary Adventures of Italians in Russia", was a favorite of the Soviet public and, unfortunately, died in 1974 under tragic circumstances.

After the death of the lion King, the Berberov family, on the advice of many friends, “adopted” a new pet, calling it King II. But the former harmony in the family no longer happened, the new predatory guest was only outwardly similar to his predecessor, his character was not complaisant. This was especially aggravated after the death of the head of the family, Lev Berberov, in 1978.

Left without a husband, Nina Berberova, with two children, a huge aggressive lion King II, a cougar and a mass of more pets in her arms, wondered if it was worth continuing this “experiment”. So they called then this long-term union of a lion and people living in the same apartment.

During the time of the lion Berber King II, two more films were shot with his participation, a book was written about how it is to bring up a real master of the wild at home.

Nina felt the approach of tragedy. The aggression of King II increased, he never recognized anyone as the head of the pride after the death of Lev Berberov.
Berberova agreed with Berlin Zoo, and was ready to give up King II soon. But didn't have time. Provoked by the stupid cruelty of neighbors who threw burning pieces of a plastic comb at him, King II attacked the hostess. Nina's son Roman Berberov died while trying to help his mother. The lion was shot, and the cougar, which tried to escape by flight, also died. A terrible picture.

The unfortunate woman found out about the death of her son only after 3 months, which she spent in the hospital, healing terrible wounds.
Subsequently, she married and gave birth to two more children, but she said with tears: “I will never forgive myself for the death of my son.”

The Berberov family and Leo King II have become an instructive example to all those who take the liberty of keeping predatory animals at home.

Man is not the king of nature, there are situations when he becomes a victim, rightfully weak in front of a predator, when everything seems to be under control.
The fact that the Berber lion King II lived for several years in a loving family did not stop his aggressive predatory instincts, and he mercilessly attacked, killed and maimed those who may have been dear to him.

Victoria Maltseva