Childhood and youth
Margarita Simonyan was born on April 6, 1980 in the Russian city of Krasnodar. The girl and her sister Alice grew up in a poor family. Father Simon, an Armenian by nationality, made a living by repairing refrigerators, and mother Zinaida sold flowers at the market. There are rumors on the Internet that Margarita also has Jewish roots.
As the journalist later wrote from the pages of LiveJournal and Instagram, the girls and their parents lived in an old house on Gogol Street, where rats were constantly running around, there was no gas, running water or sewerage. Difficult living conditions only strengthened the girl’s desire to escape poverty and achieve comfortable living conditions. When Margarita was about 10 years old, the Simonyan family was given an apartment in a new microdistrict of the city.
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Margarita Simonyan in childhood
In kindergarten, the future journalist quickly learned to read, so their teacher often left Rita with a book to entertain other children: the girl read fairy tales out loud. Later, Simonyan went to a Krasnodar school specializing in the study of foreign languages, where she got straight A’s and went to Olympiads. In 9th grade, Simonyan had the chance to go study abroad under an exchange program. The girl came to the USA: she lived with a family, which she still treats with warmth and gratitude, and studied in the 12th grade of school. At one time I wanted to stay and live in a distant country, but love for my homeland forced me to return to Russia.
After graduating from school with a gold medal, Margarita entered the Kuban State University to study journalism. The girl also studied at the new “School of Theater Arts” under the guidance of Russian TV presenter and journalist Vladimir Pozner in Moscow.
Personal life
Little is known about Simonyan’s personal life. In an interview in 2012, she mentioned that she had been in a civil marriage with journalist Andrei Blagodyrenko for 6 years. The woman claimed that she was not at all attracted to official marriage and wedding preparations; she was quite happy with this state of affairs.
Back in an interview in 2012, Simonyan said that together with family members she was opening the restaurant “Zharko!” at a resort in Sochi. At the same time, the girl began to be noticed more and more often in the company of the famous director and actor Tigran Keosayan, who at that time was still officially married to Alena Khmelnitskaya.
According to information that later appeared in an article by Komsomolskaya Pravda, the romance between the journalist and the director began on Tigran’s initiative. He wrote a message to the girl on the social network Facebook, where he expressed support for Margarita: at that time, she was being harassed on the radio. Initially, Simonyan did not pay attention to the letter, because 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 filmmaker, which developed into a civil marriage.
Tigran Keosayan and Margarita Simonyan named their son Bagrat https://style.arka.am/ru/stars/celebrities_life/tigran-keosayan-i-margarita-simonyan-nazvali-syna-bagratom
Published by foodandwine.am Sunday, September 28, 2014
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 was the couple’s second child - in August 2013, Margarita gave birth to her husband’s daughter Maryana. As the journalist said in an interview, she remembers 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 with Maryana she survived the threat of miscarriage.
Simonyan is a supporter of early childhood education. Linguistic teachers work with Maryana and Bagrat in a playful way, so even at such an early age the kids speak five languages - 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”. Margarita participated in the creation of the film, which was successfully broadcast on the NTV channel, as a screenwriter.
Margarita became a mother for the third time on October 19, 2021, and her wife gave Tigran a son, Maro. The woman published the corresponding news on Instagram, after which she began to receive congratulations from family and friends.
Published by Armenian Women's Zone \ Armenian Women's Zone \ Հայուհիների տարածք Sunday, July 7, 2021
Margarita Simonyan and her children
Rumors about Margarita’s third pregnancy have been circulating on the Internet for a long time, but the journalist decided to confirm the information only in April 2019 in Lera Kudryavtseva’s “Secret to a Million” program.
And already in March 2021, Simonyan again shared the news about the expected addition. She became pregnant just 4 months after her third birth, but 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 she posts photos with her family and footage related to her journalistic activities. She does not publish pictures from vacation, in a swimsuit, on the shores of the azure sea or ocean, preferring to leave this part of life out of the sight of subscribers. Margarita does not have a personal website; she publishes all information on her profiles on social networks.
Simonyan is friends with many Russian stars and presenters. Proof of this is the woman’s photos that periodically appear on the social networks of various media personalities. For example, in the spring of 2018, Tina Kandelaki posted a profile picture of ]Philip Kirkorov[/anchor], Mikhail Galustyan and Simonyan, signing that their company is similar to the Soprano clan.
Work allows Margarita and her husband to provide a comfortable life for their children. Although she does not show a declaration of income, it is already clear that the journalist’s salary amounts to more than one thousand dollars.
Personal life of Margarita Simonyan
For six years, Margarita Simonyan lived in a civil marriage with journalist and producer Andrei Blagodyrenko. They parted on normal terms, now Blagodyrenko is Margarita’s deputy as editor-in-chief of MIA Segodnya.
Since 2012, the journalist has been living in a de facto marriage with film director and screenwriter Tigran Keosayan. According to Margarita Simonyan, Tigran Keosayan himself expressed a desire to meet her by writing a personal message on Facebook. As the journalist recalled in May 2021, Tigran felt offended by how she was being “poached on Echo,” and he decided to support her.
Communication between the journalist and the director, who at that moment was married to actress Alena Khmelnitskaya, developed into a romance. And when Margarita found out that she was pregnant from Tigran, he proposed marriage to her. And in the end he divorced Khmelnitskaya, whom he left with two daughters and an expensive mansion, and he settled at home with his new lover near Volokolamsk. The journalist, recalling that time, said that she was afraid that the director would leave her, but when he learned about the pregnancy, he said that God had already decided everything for them.
Margarita also gave birth to Tigran two girls - Maryana and Maro (the first was born in 2013, and the second in 2019), and between them a son, Bagrat, was born (in September 2014). In total, Margarita Simonyan has three children from her actual husband.
Margarita Simonyan’s actual husband eventually maintained normal relations with his first wife. And Alena Khmelnitskaya herself managed to establish a relationship with Tigran’s new passion. Already in 2021, she invited Tigran and Margarita to visit, after which the women were able to establish contact.
Both times (both with Blagodyrenko and with Keosayan) Margarita did not seek to legitimize the relationship with a stamp in her passport. In Lera Kudryavtseva’s show “Secret for a Million,” she explained that she was always wary of legal marriage.
However, in another interview, the journalist said that at some point she talked with the rector of the Armenian church, who brought her to her senses. She even got together with Tigran down the aisle, but the wedding was postponed due to the almost simultaneous deaths of her two grandmothers. And the second time, Margarita, according to her, postponed the ceremony due to pregnancy.
Photos of Margarita Simonyan can be seen on her Instagram account. 286 thousand users subscribe to the journalist’s Instagram page with photographs and videos of a personal nature. She also has her own channel on Telegram with 110 thousand subscribers. The media manager is also very popular on Twitter, with 533 thousand users following her.
Journalism and career
In 1999, Simonyan began working as a correspondent for the Krasnodar television and radio channel. She managed to get this job thanks to a collection of poems of her own composition, which Margarita published a year earlier. The TV channel decided to film a story about a talented girl. While communicating with the film crew, Simonyan mentioned that she wanted to work as a journalist, and she was offered an internship at the TV channel. The choice of her first job determined Margarita’s future professional biography.
At the age of 19, the girl went to film a story in Chechnya. Her 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 combat zone only upon her return, 10 days later. A series of reports in one of the hot spots in the world brought Margarita Simonyan fame and a number of journalistic awards: “For Professional Courage”, first prize in the All-Russian Competition of Regional Television and Radio Companies and the Russian Order of Friendship.
In 2000, Simonyan became the editor-in-chief of the Krasnodar TV channel, and a year later she became a correspondent for the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company in Rostov-on-Don. She continued her career as a war journalist, visiting Abkhazia, covering the clash between militants and the state army in the Kodori Gorge.
Published by HAYK Film Company Friday, May 24, 2019
Margarita Simonyan and Vladimir Putin
In 2002, Margarita Simonyan was invited to Moscow as a correspondent for the Vesti television program. The journalist accompanied Russian President Vladimir Putin, being among the presidential pool of journalists. In September 2004, she traveled to Beslan to cover the school hostage crisis. The tragedy influenced Margarita’s worldview and views; in an interview, she does not advise young journalists to start a career as war correspondents.
In 2005, the Russia Today television channel was created, which broadcast 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 for the appointment of such a young person to such a position with the position that the project should have been led by a person who had not seen Soviet news and had his own ideas about how Russian news should be shown to foreign viewers. Later, Margarita also began to oversee the Arabic and Spanish versions of the TV 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.
Sleep well, my ancestors: Kandelaki and Simonyan on the Senate resolution? General Producer of the Match TV channel Tina...
Published Armenians of Russia, unite \ Ռուսաստանի հայեր, միավորվեք Friday, December 13, 2021
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, the journalist asked not always convenient but relevant questions to famous politicians and businessmen live. That same year, the channel's management decided to close the show.
At the end of 2013, Margarita Simonyan was appointed to the position of editor-in-chief of the international news agency Rossiya Segodnya.
From early childhood, Margarita dreamed of becoming a writer and doing 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 journalistic and editorial activities, writing the book took about 10 years. This novel tells about the generation of the 90s and difficult destinies, unfulfilled dreams. In 2011, thanks to the novel, Simonyan won the award 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 “Rats” was published, which caused a lot of discussion on the Internet.
Published by Hibloggers.tv Friday, May 18, 2018
Margarita Simonyan, Tina Kandelaki, Philip Kirkorov and Mikhail Galustyan
Margarita supports the policies of the existing political system in Russia. In 2021, she became a confidant of Vladimir Putin during the presidential election campaign. At the same time, the journalist published a post on Telegram about her friend’s renunciation of US citizenship. According to the editor-in-chief of RT, the girl supported the opposition and immigrated to the United States in 2013, but after 4 years she decided to regain her Russian citizenship. The TV journalist duplicated the information on Twitter.
In 2014, together with Tina Kandelaki and Vladimir Presnyakov, Simonyan became a guest of the “Evening Urgant” program on Channel One.
Margarita constantly enters into polemics with foreign media. She managed to expose fake footage of the wounded boy Omran Daqneesh, which was used as evidence of Russian aggression in Syria. The boy's father revealed the truth in an interview with RT.
The television journalist repeatedly became a guest in the studio of the popular political commentator Vladimir Solovyov. At the beginning of 2021, she gave a detailed interview, where, together with the TV presenter, she reflected on freedom of speech in Russia and the West.
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Margarita Simonyan in her youth
Continuing her creative career in cinema, Margarita Simonyan, in collaboration with Tigran Keosayan, took part in the creation of the lyrical comedy “Crimean Bridge. Made with love!”, the premiere date of which is set for November 2021. The main roles in the melodrama were played by Alexey Demidov, Katerina Shpitsa, Artem Tkachenko, Sergey Nikonenko and Yuri Stoyanov.
The scandal with the poisoning of ex-intelligence officer Sergei Skripal, in which the British authorities now have suspects - Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov, received great publicity. The young people gave an interview to Margarita Simonyan, which she commented on on radio Ekho Moskvy. The television journalist emphasized that she has no reason to trust these people, but she also does not trust Western intelligence agencies. The footage of the meeting, used as a photo, was dismantled by users into memes.
In the summer of 2021, one incident occurred involving Simonyan. On June 7, she visited the editorial office of the Ekho Moskvy radio station, where Lyubov Sobol was waiting for her, demanding to comment on the distribution of apartments by her subordinate Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin.
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Margarita Simonyan and Alena Khmelnitskaya
Margarita refused, but this did not stop Sobol, and the woman continued to insistently demand answers to her questions. During this period, Simonyan was in the last months of pregnancy and, apparently worried about this conflict, felt unwell, after which she was hospitalized.
In November of the same year, a presentation of Simonyan’s collection of stories “Black Eyes” took place. In just a week of sales, she became the most talked about in the Moscow elite, causing sharp rejection among Margarita's enemies and delight among admirers of her talent.
And a month before that, Ksenia Sobchak interviewed Simonyan, which she published on her YouTube channel. The conversation did not go well right away, since the women had discussed the topics that would be discussed before the recording, but Sobchak decided to “deviate from the course” and began asking Margarita “uncomfortable questions,” which made the woman nervous (she was then in the last stage of pregnancy). The journalist interrupted the interview, but, having carefully thought everything over and calmed down, she returned and finished the conversation with Ksenia.
And in December, Simonyan visited Boris Korchevnikov’s studio, becoming the heroine of the program “The Fate of a Man.” There she told details from her private life, including about her unusual acquaintance with Tigran.
Biography of Margarita Simonyan
In 2000, she was appointed leading editor of information programs at the Krasnodar TV and Radio Broadcasting Company.
Since 2001, he has been VGTRK’s own correspondent in Rostov-on-Don. Covered military clashes in the Kodori Gorge of Abkhazia. Since 2002, she worked at VGTRK as part of the presidential pool of journalists. In September 2004, she covered the events in Beslan.
In April 2005, Margarita Simonyan was appointed editor-in-chief of the RT television channel (Russia Today).
The RT television network includes eight news and documentary channels, online information portals in six languages, as well as the global multimedia agency RUPTLY. From Moscow, RT news channels broadcast around the clock in English, Arabic, Spanish and the documentary channel RTD in Russian and English. TV channels RT America and RT UK broadcast from their own studios in Washington and London, RT France broadcasts from Paris.
Since 2011 - member of the board of directors of Channel One.
From 2011 to 2012, she hosted the weekly analytical program “What’s Going On?” on the REN TV channel, from October to November 2012 - a weekly column on the Kommersant FM radio station.
In 2013, she hosted the “Iron Ladies” program on the NTV channel.
On December 31, 2013, it became known that Margarita Simonyan was appointed editor-in-chief of the international news agency Rossiya Segodnya, retaining the post of head of the Russia Today (RT) television channel.
Margarita Simonyan was a member of the third composition (2010-2012) of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation. He is vice-president of the National Association of Television and Radio Broadcasters (NAT), a member of the Academy of Russian Television.
In January 2000, for a series of war reports, Simonyan received the Kuban Union of Journalists Award “For Professional Courage.”
In May 2000, she received the prize of the II All-Russian competition of regional television and radio companies for her report on Chechen children vacationing in Anapa.
In 2010, Margarita Simonyan published the book “To Moscow!”
She was awarded the Order of Friendship (2005), the medal “For Strengthening the Military Commonwealth” (2005), and the “Movses Khorentsi” medal (2010, Armenia).
In 2013, she entered the top five most influential women in Russia in the field of media based on the results of 2012.
In 2014, she received the national award “Media Manager of Russia” in the “Electronic Media” nomination in the “Television” category for the successful conquest of the RT television channel to a foreign audience.
The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources
Margarita Simonyan now
Margarita is still active in her journalistic activities, regularly appears on television and expresses her opinion on various situations occurring in the country. In mid-February 2021, Simonyan became a guest of the “Right to Know” program on TVC. The studio discussed pressing issues on the topic of international relations. Experts and political scientists have highlighted the important economic, political and social news of the past week.
And a month later, when the coronavirus pandemic began, Margarita expressed her opinion on this topic. The woman believes that the panic around this disease is much worse than the virus itself. People, without knowing it, come into daily contact with animals infected with rabies, which causes death in 100% of cases (if an injection is not given before the first symptoms appear). But for some reason, the residents of Russia focused specifically on the new virus, which, compared to rabies or tetanus, is real nonsense, the journalist believes.
Margarita Simonyan today
Margarita is a supporter of the policies of the current Russian President Vladimir Putin. She is not afraid to speak out about the interests of her state in front of the public. She sincerely believes that the key to a happy existence of a state is democracy and truthfulness of information at all levels and in all spheres.
Margarita shortly before her third birth
A woman is often invited to take part in various political and analytical programs. Her opinion is so authoritative that even ardent oppositionists always take it into account.
