Masha Gessen: about national myths and life in two countries

“As a matter of principle, I don’t write under a pseudonym,” says About Me Masha Gessen. — Once, when I was literally writing from underground (in Belgrade during the NATO bombing, when all foreign journalists were expelled, and I, on the contrary, moved in, pretending to be in love with a Serbian guy - I wanted, supposedly, to be next to him in difficult times), I wrote a series articles under the signature “Anonymous” and several more under the signature Michael Griffin. All".

About decent people

Photo facebook.com/gessen

“In the late 90s, my neighbor in the stairwell was Garik Sukachev. In total, the house had 4 floors, 2 apartments on each. I lived on the second floor. One day Garik rang the doorbell and offered to renovate the entrance. The proposal was made in the following form: “Decent people come to you, Masha, and to me. Let's do some repairs at the entrance." It was immediately clear why Garik was turning to me: the rest of the residents of the entrance were visited by less “decent” people. Well, the entrance really needed repairs: the house was built in 1905, the staircase was knocked down to death, wrought-iron railings with huge gaps, the door to the entrance was a double-leaf wooden one, only one half opened, and it rested halfway on the asphalt. It’s a good deal and inexpensive: Garik said that if the two of us chip in, he’ll organize everything himself. I immediately gave him the said amount. And Garik actually immediately hired a crew and made repairs - on our floor. On the second. Apparently because this is the only floor that decent people go to.”

About gays and cadets

Hessen, a journalist and activist for the protection of the rights of sexual minorities, identifies one small example of resistance to Putin’s power on the eve of the Russian presidential election in March 2018. She welcomes the support and solidarity that homosexual has received video parody, filmed by fourteen teenage cadets of the flight school, located north of the Arctic Circle. After the broadcast of the video by the state media and its public condemnation, the Russian Internet was flooded with similar amateur clips, parodies of the music video 2002 of the Italian DJ Benny Benassi entitled “Satisfaction"(" Satisfaction ").

The videos taken in support of the cadets, many of which were accompanied by the hashtag # satisfaction, praise homosexuality to such an extent that Hesse did not even assume the hypothetical likelihood of such in such a deeply homophobic society where the state spent a rationally organized six-year anti-gay campaign.

"This is the best and most inspiring of all the stories originating in Russia and described by me over the past few years," says Hesse. - Suddenly, videos began to appear in support of those students. And it was not simple parodies or meaningless shootings - it was a completely organized enterprise, and also a very inspiring demonstration of solidarity. ”

Once, Hessen wrote for New York that in Chechnya, homosexual men and women were imprisoned and isolated from society in the most cruel way. In Russia, the situation today seems to be similar.

“They tracked down and arrested gays. Lesbians, too, but mostly gay - and not because the attitude towards lesbians is more indulgent, but because the family of such a woman, having learned about her inclinations, would simply have killed her. Gays were arrested, tortured, forced to give the names of men with similar inclinations, and then usually given out to families with the order to kill them. And in a number of cases such executions did take place. ”

Facts from biography

Maria Hessen I did not finish the Moscow 57 school for physical education because I left for America with my parents. There have not finished school Brookline High School (in general, due to a misunderstanding, but the sediment remained), then did not graduate from two institutes - Cooper Union in new york and Rhode Island School of Design, both in architecture, then another institute and two postgraduate studies in the history of social movements, American history and jurisprudence.

Already giving up formal studies, she managed to twice be a scholar of Harvard University, and so gradually got herself an education. In 1991, she returned to Moscow. Since 1993, settled in Moscow. Her brother Constantine (Keith) Hesse also a journalist. There is also a younger brother, Daniel (born 2000).

In January, 2004, a mutation in the BRCA1 gene was discovered in Hesse. breast cancer - breast cancer), in which she lacked the 187th allele, and because of this the gene could not perform its function - to stop the uncontrolled reproduction of breast tissue cells, which, in the presence of a mutation, begins sooner or later in 87% of cases, develops quickly and ends in death. Her mother died at 49, her aunt at 52. In August 2005, Gessen had surgery to remove her breasts due to a genetic predisposition to breast cancer, about which (and the social significance of genetics) she wrote a book in 2008.

In 2011, it was reported that Hessen wrote a book in English called “Man without a face: Vladimir Putin’s incredible ascent” (Eng. The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin), the release of which was scheduled for March 1 2012 year in publishing Riverhead Books [en] in the United States. Newspaper The Washington Post wrote:

“In his book, Hessen describes how Putin, initially insignificant from the KGB, who managed to return to the committee and even head it, was chosen by Boris Yeltsin as his successor and then quickly destroyed almost all the beginnings of democracy in Russia, simultaneously strengthening his authoritarianism to the extent brutality.

The book grew out of a portrait article that Hessen wrote about Putin in October 2008 for the magazine Vanity Fair. She describes "a secretive lonely person", "more and more moving away" from his wife and rolling around on a specially made black Audi with license plate 007.

Ten years after Putin came to power, Russia is a changed country. Democratic reforms of the early 90s were given a reversal. They almost got rid of elections. Power in the country is concentrated in the hands of a small group of people, even to a greater extent than during the Soviet era.”

19 May 2013, the Hessen announced its intention to leave Russia and move to New York for security reasons.

Masha Gessen does not hide her homosexuality and advocates for the protection of the rights of sexual minorities. She is raising three children (one adopted and two natural). Vova's son (born in 1997) was adopted in Kaliningrad. Daughter Yolka (born in 2001) is Masha’s own daughter. During her maternity leave, Masha went to give birth in the USA.

In 1990, Maria Hessen was one of the leading LGBT activists in Russia. Together with Evgenia Debryanskaya she participated in the organization of the All-Russian LGBT organization “Triangle”, participated in the abolition of the criminal article, prosecuting gays. Hessen continues to advocate for LGBT rights, in particular, it opposes laws banning the promotion of homosexuality.

11 June 2012, in an interview with an Australian radio station ABC Radio National Masha Gessen stated:

“Fighting for same-sex marriage actually involves lying about what we will do about marriage when we get our way - because we are lying that the institution of marriage will not change, and that is a lie. The institution of marriage will change and must change. Again, I don’t think it should exist... I would like to live under a system of laws that can reflect reality, and I don’t think it’s compatible with the institution of marriage.”

In 2004, the marriage of Masha Gessen with Russian citizen Svetlana Generalova (better known as Svenya Generalova) was registered in the United States, who worked for five years in public organizations for gays and lesbians, after which she worked at home with children, and was a photographer in her last profession, taking photographs for the edited Masha Gessen magazine "Snob and the magazine of the Moscow Jewish community "Lekhaim", as well as for online publications; also has a specialty builder. The second marriage was registered with Daria Oreshkina, cartographer and graphic designer, candidate of geographical sciences (2006).

Masha Hessen with Daria Oreshkina. Photo facebook.com/darya.oreshkina

Maria Gessen is the author of more than a dozen books, including “Perfect Rigor” (about mathematician Grigory Perelman, 2009), “The Man Without a Face: The Incredible Rise of Vladimir Putin” (2012) and “Words Will Destroy Cement: The Passion of Pussy Riot” (2014). ). All her books were written in English, some were translated into a number of foreign languages.