Churchill's Women: Clementine. Sentence

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill is still considered one of the leading politicians of the 20th century. But it is not in vain that the British say that the success of a man is three-quarters of the merit of his wife. And in general, Clementine Churchill is worth remembering about her.

Clementine Hozier was born on April 1, 1885 in the family of a retired colonel G.M. Hozier and Lady B.G. Ogilvie. We can say that the future spouses were brought together by chance. The first time they saw each other at the ball, but did not pay attention to each other. At that time, Clementine was 19 years old, and Winston was already an adult man prone to baldness - of course, not every girl could quickly become interested in him. The second meeting took place four years later. During a meal with mutual friends, W. Churchill and Clementine were seated side by side. But she could not get into this house at all - she was invited at the last moment, because one lady was missing, there were 13 guests, and this violated the decorum that is reverently observed in English secular society.

Churchill at that time already held a serious post in the government and managed to attract the attention of a young lady. In general, quite successful in his career, Winston Churchill was not popular with the ladies. He did not know how to communicate with them at ease, awkwardly courted, did not indulge representatives of the opposite sex with signs of attention, did not master the art of dancing - in general, he was a very mediocre gentleman. And although he tried to arrange his personal life, he did not succeed. But Clementine not only sincerely fell in love with Winston, but also managed to discern his virtues. At the same time, she was not blinded by feelings, but perfectly saw all the flaws of her chosen one.

Their romance developed more through correspondence. At some point, Clementine already thought that W. Churchill would never ask her hand and heart. And when he nevertheless proposed to her, she immediately agreed to the marriage. Their wedding took place on September 12, 1908. There were fifteen thousand guests. The ceremony was magnificent and open, as is customary in an aristocratic environment. A large crowd gathered to admire the newlyweds. But then no one could have predicted that this union would become one of the most durable (it lasted 57 years) and very happy. Love, fidelity, devotion, understanding and care - that's what distinguished him. But many acquaintances considered Churchill completely uncreated for family life. But later, the biographers of the famous politician admitted that he was extremely lucky with his wife.

Such a case is also indicative. In the mid 1950s. in the Churchill house, in a friendly company, they started the game "Who would you like to be if you had not become who you are?". The guests competed in wit and fantasized with might and main. But Winston won the unspoken victory when he said: "If I did not become who I am, I would gladly become ... the second husband of Mrs. Churchill."

The couple corresponded all their lives - they had little personal communication and had to constantly maintain close contact. Here are a few lines from Sir Churchill's messages to his wife: "My dear, in all the years that we have been together, many times I have caught myself thinking that I love you too much, so much that it seems impossible to love more." And further: "I will always be indebted to you. You gave me an unearthly pleasure from life. And if love exists, then know that we have it the most real."

But the couple's relationship was still not cloudless. And Clementine was complete opposite spouse.

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He is an owl, she is a lark. He is not very outwardly attractive, plump, heavy, prone to gluttony, addicted to alcohol and gambling. She is tall, slender, beautiful green-eyed brown-haired, always tastefully and elegantly dressed.

He is capricious, unpredictable, ambitious, ambitious, domineering to the point of despotism, capricious, a spendthrift with lordly manners, uncompromising, stubborn and busy more with politics than with his family. She is restrained, unspoiled, patient, thrifty, independent and active. And at the same time, persistent, purposeful, strong-willed Mrs. Churchill had strong moral principles and her own views. She had a sharp mind and a subtle sense of humor in English and spoke several foreign languages.

They say that with her virtues, Mrs. Churchill softened and leveled the shortcomings of her husband and positively influenced him. She was for Winston true friend, a wise companion and a good adviser. Clementine told her husband the truth to her face, no matter how bitter she was, for example, that he knew nothing about the lives of ordinary people.

There were ups and downs in the political career of W. Churchill. He managed to visit many posts, but became famous as the Prime Minister of Great Britain and gained popularity among the people, showing himself to be a bold and enterprising leader after Great Britain entered the Second World War. world war. When Germany attacked the USSR, W. Churchill declared that Hitler was the common enemy of Great Britain and the USSR and promised support for the Soviet state.

But the Prime Minister was in no hurry to open a second front. And when he told his wife that it would take a long time to wait for this event, she wondered how she herself and - most importantly - could immediately help the Soviet Union. After all, she received letters from many English women who asked her to persuade her husband to send troops to support the Red Army and were ready to send their beloved men - husbands, sons, brothers - to help the country desperately fighting the invaders. And then Clementine, independent by nature, created and headed the "Red Cross Fund for Aid to Russia" and herself made the first contribution to it. Then this initiative was picked up by members of her husband's government and also contributed their personal funds.

In September 1941, Mrs. Churchill appealed to her compatriots to support the USSR. She was so convincing that fellow citizens began to actively promote her. Initially, Mrs. Churchill planned to raise 1 million pounds, but 8 million was raised very quickly. And the money kept coming in. They bought everything you needed: equipment for hospitals, medicines, prostheses, clothes, food. We can say that this lady had her own front - she fought for the recovery of wounded Soviet soldiers.

In the spring of 1945, Clementine Churchill paid a visit to the USSR. She wanted to see with her own eyes where the aid she collected went, and to get to know better those who for several years in a row selflessly resisted fascism and whom she admired so much. She visited several cities (Leningrad, Stalingrad, Odessa, Kislovodsk, Pyatigorsk and others), visited many hospitals, where she talked with the wounded, and spent a month and a half in the USSR. In Rostov-on-Don, K. Churchill is still remembered, because thanks to the equipment and supplies she sent, two hospitals were equipped. And the beds, which are called "Churchellikhins", were used until recently - their quality turned out to be so high. A memorial plaque hangs on one of the buildings of the Central City Hospital No. 1, on which the following inscription is carved: "Clementine Churchill, the founder of the Russian Relief Fund, was here in April 1945." beds".

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Those who met Madame Churchill said that it was difficult to recognize a foreigner in her - she behaved so simply and was so modestly dressed. Although at the same time the host side tried in every possible way to ensure the comfort of the guest, and even special chefs and pastry chefs were assigned to her, who accompanied her on a trip around the country. Mrs. Clementina also visited the house-museum of A.P. Chekhov in Yalta, where she left an entry in the book of honored guests. And thanks to this, we can learn that this wonderful lady considered the Russian writer a genius.

On May 9, K. Churchill met the victory in Moscow and on the same day spoke on the radio, reading out an open message from W. Churchill to I. Stalin. And then on May 11 she herself wrote a letter to the leader of the Land of Soviets, in which she wrote that she was happy to be in the days of Victory in the USSR. And Clementine Churchill was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor for her great services to the Soviet state and society and her activities to help our country. Upon her return to her homeland, the wife of the British Prime Minister wrote the book "My Visit to Russia". And, according to experts, she did not sin against the truth in anything.

The Churchills had five children - one son and four daughters. And it is difficult to say what more they brought to parents - joy or grief.

Baby Marigold died at the age of three from meningitis.

The eldest daughter Diana did not get along with her mother. She was fond of art, but did not achieve success in this field. When she got married, she gave birth to three children. But her marriage fell apart. And then depression, psychiatric hospitals and suicide followed.

Wayward Sarah - real beauty- dreamed about theater career, but her "star" plans were not destined to come true. Three marriages also did not live up to bright hopes. The woman was looking for consolation in alcohol. And although she outlived her parents and went into another world at the age of 68, she lived out her days in complete solitude.

Son Randolph also did not become the pride of the family. And, according to historians, from childhood he had a bad temper, was spoiled, arrogant, uncontrollable and did not really try to make an effort to achieve something. He served in the army, was engaged in diplomacy, politics, journalism. But not only to surpass, even to equal his father was beyond his power. It is said that, in the end, the father even broke off relations with him. What Clementine thought about this is hard to say. In a decent society, it was not customary to "wash dirty linen in public" and publicly complain about family troubles. And even after the death of her son, the mother continued to remain silent.

Parents.

But he continued political activity and gave rise to the Cold War, delivering the so-called Fulton speech on March 5, 1946. However, health increasingly failed the stubborn W. Churchill. And finally, in April 1955, he left the post of Prime Minister of Great Britain, and in July 1964, in last time attended a meeting of the House of Commons. He died on January 24, 1965. Left alone, Clementine in every possible way cherished the memory of her husband and unusually missed him. Mrs Churchill survived her husband by 12 years. She passed away on December 12, 1977 at the age of 92.

Alexander Genis: After triumphing in the Democratic primary in New York state, where Hillary Clinton beat rival Benny Sandres by almost 16 percent, her victory in the fight for the nomination became more than likely. And this is all the more interesting because among the candidates in the current election campaign she is a unique contender. Hillary Clinton fights to return to White House, where she already lived for eight years as First Lady. In today's issue of the Book Review, its presenter Marina Efimova will introduce the audience to the First Lady of another country and another era.

​Marina Efimova: In many books written about Winston Churchill, historians and biographers usually ignored his wife. Clementine Hozier, with whom Churchill lived for 57 years, if she appeared in these books, then in passing - as a devoted life partner. The only biography Clementine was painted by her daughter Mary Soames, but who would believe a portrait created by her daughter? And finally, a complete, documented biography by noted political journalist Sonia Parnell. The book is called Clementine. The Life of Mrs Winston Churchill. Reviewer Miranda Simur writes in The Telegraph:

Speaker: “Prime Minister Asquith called the young Clementine Churchill “deafeningly dull.” His wife, known for her categoricalness, considered Clementine "a callous and impudent young lady with no sense of humor." To Admiral Beaty - Churchill's colleague in the Admiralty - Clementine, on the contrary, seemed "a kind and amiable fool." Inattentive historians represented her as "a quiet mouse, almost servilely devoted to her husband."

Marina Efimova: The new biography paints a portrait of a very different woman. Churchill devoted her to all matters, including the most secret ones; she was her husband's adviser in all decisions - even military ones, and she was one of the few people who knew how to resist Churchill.

The famous sister-in-law of the Churchills Pamela Harriman recalled: "Only Clementine could say no to Winston, and she said it often, often, often." This biography showed us a woman of rare charm, a diplomat who softened Churchill's relations with Stalin, with Roosevelt, with de Gaulle, with the royal house, and sometimes with her own people - in a word, a woman without whom Churchill's career could not have taken place. The book opened our eyes.

Tall, beautiful, regal, Clementine was not of impeccable birth enough to become the wife of the future Prime Minister, a descendant of the ancient aristocracy, the grandson of the Earl of Marlborough:

Speaker: “The titled father of Clementine was not very interested in procreation, and her future mother - sexy, bored and lonely Lady Blanche - was looking for solace on the side. At the wedding with Churchill, Clementine was not led to the crown by her father, but by Lord Redsdale - an uncle who cared for her not so much as a relative, but as a father.

Marina Efimova: This did not stop the young Churchill, shocked by the beauty and intelligence of Clementine. After the first meeting, he wrote to her: "What a pleasure it is to meet a girl of such intelligence and intelligence." And after 50 years (!) of marriage, he wrote:

Speaker: “Marrying a smart, strong, but also complex woman is my most brilliant achievement. What could be more magnificent than union with a being incapable of a vile thought?

Marina Efimova: Reviewer Emma Mason titled her History Extra article "Six Unexpected Qualities of Clementine Churchill." One of the first the author calls the absence of aristocratic arrogance. As a child, Clementine knew both grief of loss (her beloved sister died), and lack of care (her windy mother forgot to feed her children), and poverty. And during the Second World War, the royal Clementine led 9 workers' canteens, and during the days of the bombing, she volunteered to put out incendiary bombs on the roofs.

The second "unexpected" property of Clementine was spiritual courage and independence. She was a convinced liberal and angrily condemned the Conservative Party, the leader of which was her beloved husband. Mason writes:

Speaker: “Their quarrels were epic. In Downing Street, Clementine's fits of rage became legendary. Churchill said: "In moments of rage, she looks like a jaguar jumping at you from a tree." And it was he who often asked for peace. Churchill wanted to please his wife, especially when he felt she was right. He called her jokingly: “The one whose team is the law!”

Marina Efimova: In William Manchester's The Last Lion, the famous American historian describes the whirlwind of ideas that swirled in Churchill's head, often confusing his colleagues and subordinates. And, judging by Parnell's biography, only Clementine dared to resist his impossible demands. No wonder Churchill's chief of staff, General Ismay, wrote in his memoirs: "Without Clementine, the history of Winston Churchill - and the whole world - would have been different."

"Clementine was secret weapon Churchill,” writes reviewer Miranda Simur. And further:

Speaker: “A political career required patience and diplomacy, and Churchill was not strong in either. Fortunately, his wife turned out to be a genius of diplomacy: she clarified misunderstandings; corrected the situation after his erroneous decisions or secular “fo pa”. She gave him advice on how to behave in difficult political circumstances. After the disaster in the Dardanelles, in which Churchill was blamed as the initiator of the attack on Gallipoli, Clementine advised him to go to the front and thus force society to forgive his tragic mistake. This was a very risky move, but it saved Churchill's reputation.

Marina Efimova: Clementine put up with the difference between her and her husband's political views, but considered herself his political conscience. She urged him to social reforms when he was minister, and women's empowerment.

Biographer Parnell, describing Clementine with obvious sympathy, does not hide the shortcomings that are attributed to her. For example, many considered her a cold mother and this partly explained the fact that four of the five Churchill children had an unfortunate fate. Only youngest daughter Mary was lucky - it was she who wrote the biography of her mother. But even she admitted: “For the mother, the needs and interests of the father were always in the first place. And on the second. And on the third. Pamela's daughter-in-law, the wife of the Churchills' son Randolph, alluded to Clementine's questionable actions during the war. Reviewer Simur writes:

Speaker: “Clementine (together with Churchill) allegedly participated in the pimping of the seductive and cheerful Pamela with influential Americans in London: the journalist Morrow and the diplomat Harriman - in order to receive necessary information. True, Pamela herself was a skilled manipulator, and her apparently self-justifying memories are the least convincing source of information in Parnell's book.

Marina Efimova: The Churchills' marriage was stormy. The happiest for Clementine were early years when the young Churchill - then a liberal - often went against his class and even his family. Clementine of those years is remembered as athletic, cheerful and laughable. And her laugh was "ringing - in contrast to the quiet chuckles of Churchill."

Birth of five children; the death of a three-year-old daughter; the demanding selfishness of the ever-busy Churchill; his frequent absences and constant lack of money diminished the happiness in Clementine's life. (By the way, few people know that for years Churchill's main source of income was his literary earnings).

The period between the wars was emotionally the most difficult for Clementine. She was twice going to leave her husband and even started a short romance. Churchill, apparently, never cheated on his wife.

The second war brought them together again and united them unusually. Churchill once told Roosevelt that he never hides anything from his wife. Roosevelt was so impressed that he even wrote this confession in his diary.

Churchill died in 1965. At the funeral, Clementine placed flowers on the coffin and her granddaughter heard her say softly, "I'll be with you soon." But she lived another 13 years and during that time she buried three of her five children.

There was, perhaps, no politician in the foreign history of the twentieth century more popular and more weighty than Winston Spencer Churchill. From the family of the Dukes of Marlborough, a participant in the Anglo-Boer and World War II, he did a lot and did a lot, and not only for Great Britain. Volumes have been written about him, and he himself told a lot about himself. But today it is not about him, or rather not only about him. I was interested in the woman who had been with him for fifty-seven years. This is his wife Clementine Churchill, née Heuser, from the noble Scottish family of Airlie.

She was born on April 1, 1885 and was 11 years younger than Winston. Clementine was fluent in German and French, had a sharp mind and a subtle sense of humor, was interested in politics. The family was not rich, and Clementine gave French lessons. But at 23, the girl was also picky, she ruined three engagements.

And Churchill at this time, already a little settled down, apparently decided that it was time to get married. But Winston was one of those people whose shortcomings were immediately visible, and whose virtues were discovered a little later. And although life experience he was already rich, with women Winston was a bear a bear: no beautiful courtship for you, no compliments for you. He was above all a warrior, and too straightforward to be considered a gentleman. And for two recent years he has already received three rejections. In addition, the brides understood that main woman for the applicant will be Her Majesty Politics.

Let's not stir up the past of those unfortunates who could not discern such a wonderful party in the wayward and conceited gentleman.

Yes, and once again Churchill almost blundered, almost replaced Clementine for a bath. The fact is that he was invited to an appointment with a lady who ten years ago helped the young lieutenant join the Sudanese expedition. Thanks to the fact that the secretary shamed his boss, Winston got an appointment with Lady St. Helier, who turned out to be Clementine's aunt.

The niece, they write, also did not want to attend the reception, since she did not have fashionable dress. But the sky ordered - and they met! This happened in March 1908. It turns out that fate had already brought them together four years ago at the same ball, but since Churchill did not yet know how to dance, the agile gentleman took the beauty away from him.

Already in August of the same year, he proposed to Clementine. The groom for that time was very extravagant and peculiar, and therefore Clementine again almost refused! But still, on August 15, 1908, Deputy Minister Churchill announced his wedding.

High society issued a summary: this marriage will last six months, no more, and the marriage will fall apart because Churchill was not created for family life.

But it turned out differently: they lived 57 years in love and fidelity!

Roy Jenkins wrote: "It is simply phenomenal that Winston and Clementine - these offspring of windy ladies - created one of the most famous marriage unions in world history, known both for their happiness and their fidelity."

Churchill's biographers write that he was often lucky, but most of all he was lucky with his wife!

And began family life. What he just didn’t get up to: wrote books, learned to fly a plane, spent nights away in a casino, losing and winning back fortunes, led political life country, drank an exorbitant amount of whiskey, smoked Havana cigars endlessly, devoured kilogram dishes!

But Clementine did not try to curb her husband, correct his shortcomings and remake his character, as a less intelligent woman would try to do. She accepted him for who he was.

An uncompromising and stubborn politician near his wife became a meek youth. And she became his colleague, the first adviser and true friend. She was not easy with him, but she was never bored.

Churchill talked a lot, never listening or even hearing anyone. She found a wonderful way to communicate with him. The wife wrote letters to her husband. A total of 1,700 letters and postcards were written. And then their youngest daughter Marie published these lines of love.

I must also say that the wife was a lark, and her husband was an owl. This is partly why they never had breakfast together. Churchill once said that having breakfast together is a test that no one can withstand. family union. They rested most often apart: she loved the tropics, and he preferred extreme sports.

One gets the impression that a wise wife did not flicker before her husband's eyes, did not reshape him in her own way, but was always there when he wanted it.

And in the house, in fairness, it must be said, very often his call was heard: “Clemmy!” By the way, they also slept in different bedrooms.

Once, speaking to Oxford students, Clementine said: “Never force husbands to agree with you. You will achieve more by continuing to calmly adhere to your beliefs, and after a while you will see how your spouse will quietly come to the conclusion that you are right.

They plunged into crises, became poor and became rich again, but their union was never questioned, and their spiritual closeness only grew stronger over the years.

In September 1941, Clementine appealed to the British to support the USSR:
“We are amazed at the power of Russian resistance!” From 1941 to 1946, she, as president of the Red Cross Fund for Aid to Russia, made the first contribution, and then members of her husband's government did so.

At first, the Russian Relief Fund planned to raise 1 million, but managed to raise many times more: about 8 million pounds. No “non-liquid” or second-hand, everything is only of high quality and the most necessary: ​​equipment for hospitals, food, clothes, prostheses for the disabled.

Before the very victory of Clementine, for a whole month and a half, from April 2 to mid-May, she was in the Soviet Union. She visited many cities - in particular, Leningrad, Stalingrad, Odessa, Rostov-on-Don. She was also in the house-museum of A.P. Chekhov in Yalta.

Having met Victory Day in Moscow, Clementine spoke on Moscow radio with an open message from Winston Churchill. For her work in helping our country, Clementine was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor. She also met with Stalin, who gave her a gold ring with a diamond.

Until now, historians are perplexed why Clementine was in the Soviet Union for so long. After the war, Winston Churchill published a six-volume work on World War II, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1953.

I admit that Churchill, in order not to sin against the truth, instructed his wife to look at the consequences of the war with her own eyes, for Winston trusted no one in his life more than her. She, of course, did not collect facts: others did, but her opinion for the prime minister was always decisive.

After her husband's death, Clementine became a member of the House of Lords and a life peer as Baroness Spencer-Churchill-Chartwell. This amazing woman died on December 12, 1977, having lived for 92 years.

There was, perhaps, no politician in the foreign history of the twentieth century more popular and more weighty than Winston Spencer Churchill. From the family of the Dukes of Marlborough, a participant in the Anglo-Boer and World War II, he did a lot and did a lot, and not only for Great Britain. Volumes have been written about him, and he himself told a lot about himself. But today it is not about him, or rather not only about him. I was interested in the woman who had been with him for fifty-seven years. This is his wife Clementine Churchill, née Heuser, from the noble Scottish family of Airlie.

She was born on April 1, 1885 and was 11 years younger than Winston. Clementine was fluent in German and French, had a sharp mind and a subtle sense of humor, and was interested in politics. The family was not rich, and Clementine gave French lessons. But at 23, the girl was also picky, she ruined three engagements.

And Churchill at this time, already a little settled down, apparently decided that it was time to get married. But Winston was one of those people whose shortcomings were immediately visible, and whose virtues were discovered a little later. And although he already had rich life experience, Winston was a bear with women: neither you beautiful courtship, nor you compliments. He was above all a warrior, and too straightforward to be considered a gentleman. And over the past two years, he has already received three rejections. In addition, the brides understood that the main woman for the applicant would be Her Majesty Politics.
Let's not stir up the past of those unfortunates who could not discern such a wonderful party in the wayward and conceited gentleman.
Yes, and once again Churchill almost blundered, almost replaced Clementine for a bath. The fact is that he was invited to an appointment with a lady who ten years ago helped the young lieutenant join the Sudanese expedition. Thanks to the fact that the secretary shamed his boss, Winston got an appointment with Lady St. Helier, who turned out to be Clementine's aunt.
The niece, they write, also did not want to attend the reception, since she did not have a fashionable dress. But the sky ordered - and they met! This happened in March 1908. It turns out that fate had already brought them together four years ago at the same ball, but since Churchill did not yet know how to dance, the agile gentleman took the beauty away from him.
Already in August of the same year, he proposed to Clementine. The groom for that time was very extravagant and peculiar, and therefore Clementine again almost refused! But still, on August 15, 1908, Deputy Minister Churchill announced his wedding.

High society issued a summary: this marriage will last six months, no more, and the marriage will fall apart because Churchill was not created for family life.
But it turned out differently: they lived 57 years in love and fidelity!
Roy Jenkins wrote: "It is simply phenomenal that Winston and Clementine - these offspring of windy ladies - created one of the most famous marriage unions in world history, known both for their happiness and their fidelity."
Churchill's biographers write that he was often lucky, but most of all he was lucky with his wife!
And family life began. What he just didn’t get up to: wrote books, learned to fly an airplane, spent nights in a casino, losing and winning back fortunes, led the political life of the country, drank an exorbitant amount of whiskey, smoked Havana cigars endlessly, ate kilogram dishes!
But Clementine did not try to curb her husband, correct his shortcomings and remake his character, as a less intelligent woman would try to do. She accepted him for who he was.
An uncompromising and stubborn politician near his wife became a meek youth. And she became his colleague, the first adviser and true friend. She was not easy with him, but she was never bored.

Churchill talked a lot, never listening or even hearing anyone. She found a wonderful way to communicate with him. The wife wrote letters to her husband. A total of 1,700 letters and postcards were written. And then their youngest daughter Marie published these lines of love.
I must also say that the wife was a lark, and her husband was an owl. This is partly why they never had breakfast together. Churchill once said that joint breakfasts are a test that no family union can withstand. They rested most often apart: she loved the tropics, and he preferred extreme sports.
One gets the impression that a wise wife did not flicker before her husband's eyes, did not reshape him in her own way, but was always there when he wanted it.
And in the house, in fairness, it must be said, very often his call was heard: “Clemmy!” By the way, they also slept in different bedrooms.
Once, speaking to Oxford students, Clementine said: “Never force husbands to agree with you. You will achieve more by continuing to calmly adhere to your beliefs, and after a while you will see how your spouse will quietly come to the conclusion that you are right.
They plunged into crises, became poor and became rich again, but their union was never questioned, and their spiritual closeness only grew stronger over the years.
In September 1941, Clementine appealed to the British to support the USSR:
“We are amazed at the power of Russian resistance!” From 1941 to 1946, she, as president of the Red Cross Fund for Aid to Russia, made the first contribution, and then members of her husband's government did so.
At first, the Russian Relief Fund planned to raise 1 million, but managed to raise many times more: about 8 million pounds. No “non-liquid” or second-hand, everything is only of high quality and the most necessary: ​​equipment for hospitals, food, clothes, prostheses for the disabled.
Before the very victory of Clementine, for a whole month and a half, from April 2 to mid-May, she was in the Soviet Union. She visited many cities - in particular, Leningrad, Stalingrad, Odessa, Rostov-on-Don. She was also in the house-museum of A.P. Chekhov in Yalta.
Having met Victory Day in Moscow, Clementine spoke on Moscow radio with an open message from Winston Churchill. For her work in helping our country, Clementine was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor. She also met with Stalin, who gave her a gold ring with a diamond.
Until now, historians are perplexed why Clementine was in the Soviet Union for so long. After the war, Winston Churchill published a six-volume work on World War II, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1953.
I admit that Churchill, in order not to sin against the truth, instructed his wife to look at the consequences of the war with her own eyes, for Winston trusted no one in his life more than her. She, of course, did not collect facts: others did, but her opinion for the prime minister was always decisive.
After her husband's death, Clementine became a member of the House of Lords and a life peer as Baroness Spencer-Churchill-Chartwell. This amazing woman died on December 12, 1977, having lived for 92 years.

@Svetlana Smirnova

“My own wife was completely Sovietised. He only talks about the Soviet Red Cross, about the Red Army, about the wife of the Soviet ambassador ... Can you choose her in any of your councils? Really, she deserves it." So in the midst of the hot battles of World War II, Winston Churchill complained to the Soviet ambassador Ivan Maisky.

In just a few years, the front of the Cold War will pass through the continents, countries and ... the family of the British Prime Minister.

An American, a Briton and a Russian met

At a time when the hot war was already ending, and the cold war had not yet begun, the fate of the world at the Yalta Conference flocked to decide the chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union, United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The son of a Georgian shoemaker, the heir to a wealthy American and a hereditary English aristocrat. Absolutely different people, but each went through his natural selection on the way to power. In the memory of posterity, they will remain the "big three" of politicians.

In 1945, this triumvirate fought in a diplomatic war - for the division of the world into spheres of influence.

At the initiative of Prime Minister Churchill, the Yalta meeting was given the code name Argonaut. It was the Argonauts who sailed to the Black Sea for the Golden Fleece that they and Roosevelt saw in the members of the Anglo-American delegation.

However, Winston Churchill was not the only member of his family to visit the peninsula. His wife Clementine also visited here. In the Crimea - and also in Leningrad, Rostov-on-Don, Odessa, Kislovodsk and Pyatigorsk. The founder of the Soviet Russia Relief Fund, she even celebrated Victory Day on May 9 in Moscow.

Of course, there is a “conspiracy theory” that Clementine was in Russia not at the call of her soul, but with a secret assignment from Winston Churchill - to look closely, listen and distract the thoughts of Comrade Stalin from the preparation by the British of a future sharp change in course (after all, already in 1947, Churchill, in the tradition English decency, began to insist that the United States nuclear bombing USSR, and in that very May, it was hatching the insane Operation Unthinkable, which planned for July 1, 1945, the start of offensive hostilities by the Western Allies against the USSR with the participation of 10-12 German divisions).

However, their daughter Sarah later wrote in her memoirs: « Post-war father's course on cold war my mother did not support the Soviet Union and was glad of his resignation ... She treated Russia after her trips differently than her father. Mom did not believe that a country that had endured so much and lost so much could wish to continue. Mom kept saying that Russia wants peace, peace and only peace.

Women's history

Clementine Hozier from the noble Scottish family of Airlie, the future Mrs. Churchill, was 11 years younger than Winston. She was fluent in German and French, had a sharp mind and a subtle sense of humor, and was interested in politics. The family was not rich, and Clementine gave private lessons.

By the age of 23 - the moment they met Churchill - the girl had already broken off three engagements.

With Winston, too, could not work out. At the first meeting at the ball, he was too shy to invite her to dance. Both of them did not want to go to the second one for “very good reasons”: he was too lazy to leave the hot bath, and Clementine did not know what to wear - she simply did not have a fashionable dress.

Six months after they met, Winston Churchill decided to marry Miss Hozier, but ... he could not gather his strength. To explain, he invited her to Blenheim Palace, the family estate of the Dukes of Marlborough. Everyone, and even Clementine herself, understood that she should return from a walk in the garden in the status of a bride.

But they sat on the bench for more than half an hour, and there was no offer. Clementine later described how she watched the beetle move as slowly as Churchill himself: "I thought that if the beetle crawled to that junction and Winston did not make an offer, then he would never make it."

A brilliant orator and determined politician clumsily, but nevertheless, revealed his feelings to Clementine. It was perhaps his most unfortunate and most successful speech at the same time. As he would write in his memoirs decades later, "I married in September 1908 and have lived happily ever since."

Clementine bore him five children - four girls and a boy. One of the daughters died in childhood.

The Churchills lived together for 57 years. Of course they had disagreements. Once, speaking to Oxford students, Clementine said: “Never force husbands to agree with you. You will achieve more by continuing to calmly adhere to your beliefs, and after a while you will see how your spouse will quietly come to the conclusion that you are right.

In the early 1940s, as Churchill began his "dizziness with success," Clementine wrote her husband a sobering letter that began, "You're simply impossible." In it, she pointed out how it became difficult to communicate with Winston, that he does not pay attention to others and urged to be more attentive to people.

Of course, Clementine Churchill supported her husband, but had personal opinion, character and tried to realize them for the good.

Clementine and the Russians

Russian Relief Fund of the British Red Cross and the Order of St. John of Jerusalem was created by Clementine Churchill in September 1941.

« I was terribly worried about the great drama that broke out in your country immediately after Hitler's attack, - Mrs. Churchill quotes Ivan Maisky, Soviet Ambassador to Great Britain, in her memoirs. I kept thinking how we could help you. At that time the question of a second front was being widely discussed in England. One day I received a letter from a group of women whose husbands and sons were serving in English army. They insisted on opening a second front. I then thought: “If these women demand a second front, that is, they are ready to risk the lives of their loved ones, then we must immediately help Russia.”

I showed the letter I received to my husband. He replied that the second front was still very far away. This alarmed me greatly, and I began to think that such a thing could be done now, immediately, to help your country? Then the idea of ​​the Red Cross fund came to my mind..

In September 1941, Clementine Churchill made the first installment, setting an example for members of her husband's government. And appealed to the nation to support Soviet Union: “There is not a single person in our country who would not be deeply moved by the terrible drama that is happening now in Russia. We are amazed at the strength of the Russian resistance.”

As she herself wrote later, the response to her call “was instantaneous and unprecedented in strength. At first, we set ourselves the goal of raising a million (with current money - close to a hundred million, - Red.) pounds, although at the time it seemed a bit unrealistic. In less than a few months, the original goal was achieved.

In total, over the years of its work, the Russian Relief Fund has delivered supplies to the USSR in the amount of approximately 8 million pounds sterling. He helped with medicines, hospital equipment, surgical instruments, x-ray machines, food, clothes, blankets, prostheses for the disabled, and more. No "illiquid assets", everything is only high-quality and the most necessary.

Toward the end of the war, Clementine Churchill conceived a project that symbolized the solidarity of the two countries during the Second World War. As a result, two military hospitals appeared in Rostov-on-Don, which were fully staffed by the fund headed by her. Reminds me of this today .

Before the victory itself, Clementine spent a month and a half, from April 2 to mid-May, in the Soviet Union, calling her visit to the country "one of the most inspiring and exciting moments in her life."

On Victory Day, she spoke on Moscow radio with an open message from her husband, Winston Churchill.

During her stay in the Soviet Union, the wife of the British Prime Minister met Joseph Stalin several times. During one of these meetings, he gave her a gold ring with a diamond. So part of the Soviet subsoil still went to British imperialism. However, not for long: information about it is lost, as, apparently, the gift itself.