Tigran Keosayan and Margarita Simonyan were introduced by social networks. Margarita Simonyan - biography Chief editor of rt Margarita Simonyan

Margarita Simonyan is a Russian journalist, editor-in-chief of the Russia Today TV channel, the international news agency Rossiya Segodnya and the Sputnik news agency.

Having started her career as an ordinary correspondent for a provincial television studio, she managed to occupy one of the leading positions in Russian television journalism. Today Simonyan is one of the top 100 most influential women in the world according to Forbes.

Childhood and youth

Margarita Simonyan was born on April 6, 1980 in Russian city 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 girl and her 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.

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 a social network "Facebook", where he expressed support for Margarita: at that time there was persecution against her 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.

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.

I wonder what's between ex-wife Tigran Keosayan - Alena Khmelnitskaya and Margarita Simonyan established friendly relations. 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, 2019, 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.

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 the program.

And already in March 2020, 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, she posted a photo in the profile of the company, 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.

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 the first job determined the future professional biography Margaritas.

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 war zone only upon her return, 10 days later. A series of reports in one of the hot spots of the world brought Margarita Simonyan fame and a number of journalistic awards: “For professional courage”, first prize All-Russian competition 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.

Margarita Simonyan and Vladimir Putin

In 2002, Margarita Simonyan was invited to Moscow as a correspondent for the Vesti television program. The journalist accompanied the President of Russia, 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 TV channel was created, which broadcast on English language and was intended to reflect Russia’s position regarding 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.

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 became a prize winner for best book 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.

Margarita Simonyan, Tina Kandelaki, Philip Kirkorov and Mikhail Galustyan

Margarita supports the existing policy political system in Russia. In 2018, 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 in "Twitter".

In 2014, together with Tina Kandelaki and Simonyan, she became a guest of a 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. At the beginning of 2018, she gave a detailed interview, where, together with the TV presenter, she reflected on freedom of speech in Russia and the West.

The scandal with the poisoning of an ex-intelligence officer, 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.

Margarita Simonyan is one of the most famous Russian journalists and writers. She went from a news correspondent to the head of one of the federal television channels. While working on television, the girl simultaneously studied youth policy, and subsequently received an offer to head the RT channel. The biography of Margarita Simonyan is the story of how a girl with Armenian roots came to conquer the capital and became one of the most influential women in Russia.

Childhood and adolescence

Margarita Simonyan was born in Krasnodar in 1980. The family lived in a small house, father Simon repaired equipment and worked part-time at a sawmill, and mother Zinaida worked as an entrepreneur, selling things at the market. Margarita comes from a purebred Armenian family, which, during the collapse of the USSR, decided to leave her homeland, where she Civil War and settled in calm Krasnodar. Like many in those days, Margarita’s parents could not find use for their knowledge, so they lived extremely poorly, surviving on temporary jobs.

Margarita, together with her younger sister Alisa, was raised in the traditions of the Armenian and Russian people. According to the memoirs of the future journalist, she was drawn to knowledge from childhood, could write and read perfectly at the age of five, so her parents sent the girl to a school with in-depth study of the English language. As the best student in the ninth grade, Margarita was sent to a school internship in the United States, which radically changed her life, influencing her subsequent choice of profession and plans for her future career.

As a child, Margarita was interested in:

• athletics;
• dancing;
• literature;
• English language.

The internship in New Hampshire took several years, Margarita was able not only to master a foreign language perfectly, but also became better acquainted with everyday life America. When her studies ended, the girl was offered to stay in the States and continue her studies at an American university. However, the future famous Russian journalist nevertheless decides to return to her homeland. According to her, she felt that she could benefit her country, so she should still live in Russia and not in America.

With excellent knowledge acquired in the USA, Margarita Simonyan easily enters the Kuban University to study journalism. Initially, the girl planned to enroll in her favorite literature, but she was convinced by her parents and friends, who argued that, having become a journalist, she could subsequently continue her education in Moscow. Having successfully graduated from Kuban University, Simonyan moves to the capital, where he studies at the Moscow School of Television Excellence.

Work on Kuban television

In the early nineties, Margarita graduated from the Moscow School of Television Arts and decided to return to the Krasnodar Territory, where she got a job in the news department of the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company. Initially, the girl worked as an intern, but then received the position of war correspondent. At this time, there was a war in Chechnya and Simonyan was sent to the troubled republic to cover events in hot spots. It was at this time that she received an award for professional courage from the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company of Rostov-on-Don.

The young journalist was quickly noticed by the capital’s management of the TV channel and was transferred from Krasnodar to Moscow, immediately becoming a correspondent for the Vesti program. At that time, the VGTRK television channel set a course for updating the composition of journalists and news presenters, so a young girl, with virtually no work experience, began to constantly host news programs at prestigious evening times.

Simonyan also constantly went on business trips to Chechnya and hot spots, and in 2004 she reported live from Beslan, talking about terrorists taking hostages at a school. The journalist herself later said that she could hardly survive such a drama and the death of children.

Transition to Russia Today

In 2005, the Russian authorities decided to create a new international television channel, the main purpose of which was to cover news from Russia and its position in relation to other states. The management of the newly created TV channel assured that Russia Today would truthfully and openly state Russia’s views on problems that are often simply hushed up in the international media.

The creation of the new TV channel was led by Press Minister Mikhail Lesin and Alexey Gromov, who was working as the president’s press secretary at that time. The choice of the editor-in-chief fell on Margarita Simonyan, who had talent, enormous potential and knew perfect English.

The appointment of a girl who has at most 5 years of experience in journalism raised reasonable questions in the press. Evil tongues even claimed that Simonyan was able to obtain such a high position solely thanks to her acquaintances with federal officials, whom she knew well from her work in the youth department of United Russia.

Initially, Simonyan oversaw the English-language direction of broadcasting at Russia Today, and then became the editor of the Arabic and Spanish versions of RT. Three years later, the newly created Russian international channel was present in the broadcast of most countries in the world, and in its popularity even surpassed Euronews and France 24. According to Margarita Simonyan, such popularity of Russia Today was explained by a fresh look at current events in world politics and patriotism, which became the main the dignity of every Russian.

In 2010, the successful journalist and director of the federal channel entered Vladimir Putin’s personnel reserve, and after 2 years she became editor-in-chief of the Rossiya Segodnya news agency. Currently, Simonyan combines the positions of editor-in-chief of a news agency and manages the Russia Today TV channel. The journalist is promoting the radio station and news service of the Sputnik news agency.

Other achievements

While simultaneously working as editor-in-chief of the federal television channel, Simonyan acted as the host and author of an analytical program called “What’s Happening.” At the same time, the “Iron Lady” program was broadcast on the RTR TV channel, where Margarita, together with Ksenia Sobchak and Tina Kandelaki, successfully hosts a popular talk show among viewers. According to Simonyan, working directly in the studio with real people is good school for every journalist, including the head of a TV channel.

Margarita has been interested in literature since childhood, for 18 years in the local literary magazine Simonyan published her first poem. In 2010, the novel “To Moscow” was published, which tells about truths that are understandable and simple for every person, talks about love, overcoming difficulties and dreams. This book became popular among readers; critics responded positively to it, noting Simonyan’s interesting and lively words.

Various TV series were filmed based on books and scripts written by Margarita. The main roles in the sitcoms were played by Svetlana Ivanova, Larisa Guzeeva, Sergei Nikonenko and Alena Khmelnitskaya. These works did not have any huge success among the audience, but it is also impossible to call them a failure.

Personal life of Margarita Simonyan

It is known that in the early 2000s, Simonyan was in a relationship with her colleague Andrei Blagodyrenko, but later the couple decided to break up, while maintaining a good working relationship. Margarita herself noted that all her free time is taken up by work and she simply does not have time to deal with her personal life.

In 2012, the TV series “Actress” appeared on television, in which main role played by Alena Khmelnitskaya. Simonyan, who was a screenwriter, often visited the set, where she became friends with the famous actress, becoming a frequent guest in her house. Soon journalists learned that Khmelnitskaya, after 21 years successful marriage divorces her husband Tigran Keosayan. According to rumors, the cause of the couple’s breakup was the famous film director’s affair with journalist and head of the Russia Today TV channel Margarita Simonyan.

Margarita herself subsequently told reporters that at the time they met, Tigran already had bad relationships in his family and he practically did not live with his wife. Initially, they were only friends, but after the director became free, a relationship began between them, and soon the couple decided to get married. In 2013 it took place magnificent wedding, to which, according to Armenian tradition, all relatives and friends were invited. The couple soon had children:

• Son Bagrat.
• Daughter Maryana.

Children of Tigran Keosayan and his new wife have a schedule written down to the minute. Son Bagrat plays sports and studies languages, and daughter Maryana enjoys dancing. According to the mother, her daughter constantly attends various creative clubs. Simonyan often talks about his unique children. Daughter Maryana, at the age of 5, can speak five languages, is engaged in painting and, like her mother, loves literature.

It is known that in 2018, Margarita became the president’s confidant, actively urging people to vote for him during the elections and supporting Vladimir Putin’s policies in everything. Simonyan notes that in Russia today the reliability of information and freedom of speech are guaranteed, and Vladimir Putin is largely responsible for this.

In the media sphere, the latest project with Simonyan’s participation was called a complete disaster. On the RT television channel, a well-known journalist interviewed the alleged Anatoly Chepiga and Alexander Mishkin, who were called the alleged poisoners in London of the fugitive intelligence officer Skripal. During the conversation, Simonyan tried to establish the truth, presenting the two young men not as GRU agents, but as unlucky gay businessmen who found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Margarita Simonyan is a famous Russian journalist who holds the post of editor-in-chief of the Russia Today TV channel and the Sputnik news agency. This woman began her career from the very bottom, being an ordinary correspondent for a provincial television studio. Now she occupies one of the leading positions in domestic television journalism. Forbes magazine calls Margarita one of the hundred most influential women in the world.

Childhood and youth

Margarita Simonyan was born in Krasnodar on April 6, 1980. Her parents raised two daughters; Margarita has a younger sister, Alice. This family did not have much wealth; Simon, the girls’ father, was engaged in repairing electrical equipment; in the city he was famous as the best refrigerator repairman. Mom, Zinaida, sold flowers at the local market. Margarita’s parents, Armenians by nationality, spared nothing for their children. Girls always had beautiful dresses, good toys

A family with young children lived in very difficult living conditions. They were waiting for an apartment, but for now they had to live in an old house on Gogol Street. One could only dream of improvement; there were no conditions for a normal life in the house; there was no running water, no sewage system, no gas. Water had to be carried in buckets up rickety stairs.

But the biggest horror for the girls was the huge rats scurrying around the corners. It was at this time that Margarita developed a strong desire to achieve success in life, so that she would never experience such problems again.

The girl was almost 10 years old when their family received a good apartment in a new microdistrict of Krasnodar.

Rita was an incredibly capable child from early childhood. Already in kindergarten she could read fluently. The teacher encouraged the girl, she gave her the opportunity to entertain other children and read fairy tales to them. Margarita studied at a special language school, her father insisted on this, dreaming of a good education for his daughter. Studying was easy for her, the girl was an excellent student. She was often sent to the Olympiads to defend the honor of the school.

In the 9th grade, a talented girl was very lucky. She was sent to study in the USA under an exchange program. Margarita ended up in a wonderful family, which she still remembers with great gratitude. She really liked it in America; there was a period when she wanted to stay in this country forever. But all this turned out to be a temporary fascination with a foreign country; love for the homeland turned out to be much stronger.

Margarita graduated from school with a gold medal and entered the Faculty of Journalism at KSU. This is not Simonyan’s only education; she also studied in Moscow, at “ New school theatrical skill."

Journalism

Margarita has always been a very active, active person. She truly deserved her first job. This was the position of a correspondent for the Krasnodar television and radio channel, which the girl had long dreamed of. In addition to studying at the university, Margarita wrote poetry. In 1998, she published a collection of her poems, and the TV channel began filming a story about the young poetess. TV crews could not ignore the fact that a real talent had appeared in their city, because Simonyan’s poems were talked about on all corners.

When Margarita talked with the film crew, she voiced her long-time dream - she admitted that she would like to work on a TV channel as a journalist. The girl was offered an internship. So in 1999 she began working on the Krasnodar TV channel.

Margarita is a very brave woman. She was only 19 years old when she went to Chechnya to film a series of reports there. In this hot spot a short, fragile girl, whose height is only 160 cm, showed all the strength of her character. So that her parents would not worry about her, Margarita did not notify them where she was going. Only after returning from where the war was raging, the girl told her family about her business trip to Chechnya.

The series of reports that she filmed there glorified the young journalist and brought her well-deserved awards. She was awarded “For Professional Courage”, was given the first prize at the All-Russian Competition of Regional Television and Radio Companies and the Russian Order of Friendship.

Margarita Simonyan received the position of editor-in-chief of the Krasnodar channel

The girl’s career took off; a year after she got the job, she became editor-in-chief of the Krasnodar TV channel. In 2001, the girl was offered another position; she became a correspondent for VGTRK in the city of Rostov-on-Don. Simonyan continues to travel to hot spots. During this period, Margarita visited Abkhazia, filming a story about a clash between militants and the state army. All these events took place in the Kodori Gorge.

Talented and fearless journalists are needed everywhere. In 2002, she was invited to the capital, offering the position of correspondent for the Vesti program. There was a time when Margarita was part of the presidential pool of journalists and accompanied Vladimir Putin. The tragedy in Beslan required her participation on the scene; in September 2004, she covered the hostage crisis in high school. This event had a very strong influence on the worldview of the young journalist. She strongly discourages her young colleagues from starting a career as war correspondents.

Margarita Simonyan editor-in-chief of Russia Today

The creation of the Russia Today TV channel (2005) became an important project of domestic television. The broadcast here was supposed to be in English to inform about Russia's position in relation to international events. Simonyan became the editor-in-chief of the new project. And this appointment raised many questions.

The founders of RIA Novosti approved Margarita for the position based on the following considerations. They needed an editor-in-chief who had not seen Soviet news. At the same time, he was obliged to have his own ideas about what Russian news should look like when shown to foreigners. Margarita was ideally suited for the high position of editor-in-chief of the new project. After some time, her responsibilities began to include overseeing the Arabic and Spanish versions of the TV channel.

Since 2011, Simonyan has been hosting the news project “What’s Going On?” on the REN-TV channel. This is a very interesting program, during which the journalist covers the most significant events of the week. She works with those news about which viewers were not sufficiently informed on federal channels. It is always interesting to learn news first hand, from the words of eyewitnesses. "What's happening?" was structured in exactly this way, the presenter involved direct participants in the events and spectators in the conversation.

In 2013, Margarita became the co-host of the “Iron Ladies” program, which was broadcast on NTV. In tandem with she asked questions live famous politicians and businessmen. These were topical issues that worried the audience, and of course, they were not always convenient for the guests of the program. As a result, the channel's management decided to close the TV show. It didn’t even last on the channel for a year. In the same year, Margarita was appointed to the position of editor-in-chief of the international news agency Rossiya Segodnya.

Writing activity

Simonyan is still in early childhood dreamed of becoming a writer. This woman tries to make all her dreams come true. Margarita was only 18 years old when her first collection of poems was published. Thanks to this book, Margarita got her first job. The work schedule of this bright, active journalist and editor leaves very little free time. Despite this, Margarita wrote the book “To Moscow” (2010). It took her 10 years to create the novel; it is a story about the generation of the 90s, about people with a difficult fate, their unfulfilled dreams. A year after the release of the novel, Simonyan received an award for the best book by a journalist.

In the magazine “Russian Pioneer” for 2012 you can find an excerpt from Simonyan’s new story called “Train”. Margarita writes culinary articles for the same magazine. In addition, Simonyan constantly polemicizes with foreign media. It was she who exposed the fake photographs associated with the “injury” of the boy Omran. With the help of fake footage, enemies tried to prove how aggressive Russia is behaving on Syrian territory. Omran Daknish's father told how everything really happened in an interview with RT.

Margarita was invited many times to visit a program with Vladimir Solovyov. Early last year she was the subject of an interesting interview, reflecting on freedom of speech in Western countries and in the Russian Federation. In collaboration with the journalist, she participated in the creation of the film “Crimean Bridge. Made with love!". The film was released at the end of 2018. Star actors filmed here - Sergei Nikonenko, Yuri Stoyanov, Artem Tkachenko, Alexey Demidov.

Not long ago, Margarita interviewed suspects in the Skripal case - Ruslan Boshirov, Alexander Petrov. She commented on her vision of the outcome of this conversation on the Ekho Moskvy radio. The journalist got the impression that no one can be taken at their word in this matter - neither Western intelligence agencies, nor even Russian citizens who were suspected of poisoning.

Personal life

Margarita is not inclined to advertise her personal life. Sometimes she talks about her, but very briefly. So, in 2012, it was from Simonyan’s words that it became known that she had a common-law husband, journalist Andrei Blagodyrenko. This union was quite long, it lasted 6 years, and Margarita at that time was not at all worried about an official marriage, a beautiful wedding. She approaches such questions very wisely, believing that the main thing is warm feelings, not surroundings.

Her family at that time was opening the restaurant “Zharko!” in Sochi. Around the same period, the famous journalist began to increasingly appear in company with Tigran Keosayan. Bright, charismatic man at that time he was not free, his official wife was Alena Khmelnitskaya. The romance between Margarita and Tigran began on his initiative. At first it was virtual, Tigran supported the girl by writing a warm message to her on Facebook, who at that time was going through a difficult period in her professional activities.

Margarita Simonovna Simonyan. Born on April 6, 1980 in Krasnodar. Russian journalist, TV presenter, screenwriter. Editor-in-Chief of the Russia Today TV channel (since 2015), Rossiya Segodnya agency (since 2013), Sputnik agency (since 2014).

Father - Simon Sarkisovich Simonyan, was born and raised in Sverdlovsk, later his parents moved to Krasnodar. Our ancestors come from Crimea, where they fled from the Turkish genocide at the beginning of the 20th century. He worked as a refrigerator repairman.

Mother, originally from Sochi, sold flowers at the market.

Grandfather - Sarkis Simonyan, participant of the Great Patriotic War. My grandparents' family was repressed in 1944.

Younger sister - Alice.

Most of her relatives live in Adler.

Although Margarita’s parents are purebred Armenians, they, according to her, had an absolutely Russian family. Her parents speak Armenian, but in different dialects. Margarita herself does not speak Armenian at all. I visited Armenia as an adult for work reasons.

She graduated from special school No. 36 in Krasnodar with in-depth study of foreign languages. In the tenth grade, she was sent on exchange to New Hampshire (USA) to improve her English. After graduating from school, she entered and graduated from the Kubansky Faculty of Journalism state university and the School of Television Excellence.

From February 1999 to January 2000 - correspondent for the Krasnodar television and radio company. She worked as a war correspondent, covering the Chechen conflict. In January 2000, for a series of war reports, she 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. Appointed leading editor of information programs of the Krasnodar TV and Radio Broadcasting Company.

In September 2000, she received a presidential scholarship.

In February 2001, she was appointed VGTRK’s own correspondent in Rostov-on-Don. Then she became a special correspondent for Vesti. Covered military clashes in the Kodori Gorge of Abkhazia. In the fall of 2002, she became part of the presidential pool of journalists. In September 2004, she covered the terrorist attack in Beslan.

Since the founding of the first Russian news channel broadcasting in English around the clock in 2005, Russia Today (now RT) has been its editor-in-chief. She took up this post at the age of 25. Subsequently, she also became the editor-in-chief of the Arabic-language (Rusia al-Yawm) and Spanish-language (RT Español) versions of RT.

In 2010 she published the book “To Moscow!”. She said about her work: “This is a story about the country, about love and about provincial boys and girls born in the 1980s. We all dreamed of going to Moscow for better life, and none of us knew that we had to be careful in our wishes - they could come true."

From April 2011 to February 2012, she hosted the weekly analytical program “What’s Going On?” on the REN TV channel. From October to November 2012 - host of the weekly column “Point of View” on the Kommersant FM radio station. From February 17 to June 23, 2013, together with she was the host of a political talk show on the NTV channel “Iron Ladies”.

In 2012, she played the role of a journalist in the melodrama “Three Comrades.”

Margarita Simonyan in the TV series "Three Comrades"

In 2012, she was included in the list of the hundred most influential women in Russia, taking 33rd place. In 2013, she entered the top five most influential women in Russia in the field of media.

On December 31, 2013, the general director of the Rossiya Segodnya news agency, Dmitry Kiselev, appointed Margarita Simonyan as editor-in-chief of the international news agency Rossiya Segodnya, who also remained at the post of head of RT.

On November 10, 2014, she became the editor-in-chief of the Sputnik news agency, affiliated with the Rossiya Segodnya news agency.

In 2014, she received the national award “Media Manager of Russia” for successfully winning the RT television channel a foreign audience. At the end of 2017, Margarita Simonyan was included by Forbes in the ranking of “100 Most Influential Women in the World” and ranks 52nd.

Since 2013 he has been working as a screenwriter. She was the author of the script for the melodrama “The Sea. Mountains. Expanded clay." In 2017, she acted as a screenwriter for the crime detective film “Actress,” starring.

Social and political position of Margarita Simonyan

Since 2008 - member of the Academy of Russian Television. Since 2010, he has been vice president of the National Association of Television and Radio Broadcasters. Since June 2011 - member of the board of directors of Channel One.

In 2010-2012 she was a member of the Public Chamber Russian Federation third team.

In 2012, she was a member of the “People's Headquarters” (in Moscow) of a presidential candidate.

In August 2014, the Ukrainian National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting published a list of 49 journalists and heads of Russian television channels who may be banned from entering Ukraine, which included Simonyan. In May 2016, she was included in the Ukrainian sanctions list by President Petro Poroshenko and was prohibited from entering Ukraine.

Until 2017 - Member of the Public Council at the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the city of Moscow. Since 2017 - Member of the Public Council under the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.

In January 2018, she was registered as a proxy of Vladimir Putin in the presidential elections on March 18, 2018.

Margarita Simonyan's height: 160 centimeters.

Personal life of Margarita Simonyan:

She lived in a civil marriage with journalist and television producer Andrei Blagodyrenko. They have been together since 2005. However, this relationship eventually ended.

Since 2012, she has been in a relationship with the director. At the time their romance began, Keosayan was married to an actress and had two daughters, but divorced in 2014.

In August 2013, the couple had a daughter, Maryana, and in September 2014, a son, Bagrat. At the end of 2018, it became known about Margarita’s third pregnancy. October 19, 2019, which was named Maro.

The couple is in no hurry to formalize the marriage. : “I have always had a very wary attitude towards legal marriage. I have never been officially married, these are some kind of childhood complexes, I saw enough in my childhood of very unhappy women in marriage. And I had a rejection. I once shocked my parents by declaring at the age of 12: “I will never get married.”

The family owns a restaurant in the Krasnaya Polyana area of ​​Sochi. Margarita said that she opened a restaurant there, fulfilling an old family dream. However, the restaurant business was not a success: “This happened a couple of days before the start of the Sochi Olympics, and whoever dined with us during these fabulous two weeks: Dmitry Kozak, Konstantin Ernst, Oleg Deripaska, Mikhail Prokhorov, Andrei Malakhov, Yana Churikova... But the Olympics ended, the guests left, but the restaurant remained. It was built against the main rule of this business - not where there is high traffic, but right in the courtyard of my grandmother’s house, where my mother was born and raised, and now her sisters, nephews and, "Actually, my grandmother. The location is unfortunate - not in the mountains or by the sea, on an old highway that few people drive on anymore. In general, the restaurant has withered away, we are now trying to rent out the building."

Filmography of Margarita Simonyan:

2012 - Three comrades - journalist
2012 - Deadline (documentary)

Scripts by Margarita Simonyan:

2013 - Sea. Mountains. Expanded clay
2017 -

Bibliography of Margarita Simonyan:

2010 - To Moscow!

Awards for Margarita Simonyan:

Medal "For Strengthening the Military Commonwealth" from the Russian Ministry of Defense (March 9, 2005)
- Order of Friendship (June 27, 2007) - for his great contribution to the development of domestic television and many years of fruitful work
- Order of Friendship (South Ossetia, December 25, 2008) - for objective coverage of events during the period of Georgia’s armed aggression against South Ossetia in August 2008
- Gratitude of the President of the Russian Federation (2010)
- Movses Khorenatsi Medal (Armenia, November 18, 2010) - for significant contribution to the development of the field of journalism and high professionalism
- Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree (2014) - “for objectivity in covering events in Crimea”

Russian journalist Margarita Simonyan Simonyan has been the editor-in-chief of the Russia Today TV channel (Russia Today) since 2013. When she took up this position, she was only 25 years old. This appointment became the most discussed topic at that time, many wondered why this twenty-five-year-old Armenian girl was entrusted with such a responsible post. How did Margarita Simonovna Simonyan distinguish herself? However, no incriminating evidence was found on her person. And the passions subsided. Further in the article we will talk about the life path of this amazing woman who was able to make such a successful career.

Simonyan Margarita Simonovna: biography, parents

The future journalist was born in early April 1980, in the southern city of Krasnodar. Margarita has a sister, Alice. After she took the post of general director of the RT television channel in 2013, many began to wonder who Simonyan’s parents were. Margarita Simonovna and her sister lived in very cramped conditions since childhood. Their father was a refrigerator repairman, and their mother was a flower girl and sold flowers at the market from morning to evening. The money my parents earned was only enough for food. Their house was very old and located on one of the outskirts of Krasnodar, named after the great Russian writer N.V. Gogol. The house was infested with rats, there were no ordinary living conditions: gas, sewerage and water supply. Today I can’t even believe that the USSR could have had such terrible living conditions. The girls had to live in this horror for about 10 years, after which the family received an apartment. It was life at the “bottom” that inspired in Margarita an irresistible desire to escape from poverty and achieve success in life.

Academic success

Despite the fact that Margarita’s parents did not pay attention to the development of intellectual and creativity children received a lot of attention; the girls were smart and quite diligent. Little Rita was one of the first in her kindergarten group to learn to read. The teacher told her to read fairy tales to her classmates before bed. Later, Margarita Simonovna Simonyan was admitted to the first grade of specialized school number 36 in the city of Krasnodar. Here they engaged in in-depth study of foreign languages. It turned out that the girl has a great ability for English. She studied with straight A's and was sent to the Olympiads. When the girl was 16 years old and in the 9th grade, a great opportunity opened up for her to improve her English knowledge to the proper level. As part of a student exchange program, she was sent to study in the United States, in the state of New Hampshire. She settled with a very friendly and warm family, went to American school, communicated with peers and learned the peculiarities of life in mysterious America. She still has excellent, one might say “family” relationship with this family. Margarita even thought about staying overseas, but soon realized that life was best for her in her native country.

Higher education

After graduating from school, by the way, with a medal of honor, Simonyan Margarita Simonovna, whose biography is the topic of this article, entered the Faculty of Journalism of the Kuban State University, along with this she studied at the V. Posner School of Television Excellence, and also wrote poetry. It turned out that the press was interested in the collection of poems by the 18-year-old Armenian, and a film crew came to her home to make a report about her. It was during this interview that she mentioned that she dreams of becoming a journalist. And then she was invited to work on Krasnodar television.

First steps in the media

In December 1999, she went to Chechnya to cover fighting. At the same time, Margarita decided to spare her parents and only told them that she was going on another business trip. At the same time, Margarita began filming stories for federal channels. Her fearlessness and professionalism were highly appreciated by the government, and Margarita Simonovna Simonyan was awarded many federal awards. A year later, she was appointed leading editor of the information portal of the TRK Krasnodar, and in 2000 - editor-in-chief on the same TV channel. Later she moved to the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Channel in the city of Rostov-on-Don. Then Margarita decides to continue her “military” career and goes to Abkhazia, writes reports about the clashes in the Kodori Gorge.

To Moscow

In 2002, Margarita Simonovna Simonyan finally received an invitation from the management of the Vesti television program to work as a staff correspondent, naturally moving to Moscow. Of course, she accepted the invitation, and soon she was already part of the presidential pool. In September 2004 in North Ossetia, in Beslan, a terrible tragedy occurred. At that time, Margarita was in Minvody. She received an order from the channel's editorial office and went to the scene of the tragedy. The entire time the hostages were in the hands of terrorists, she stood outside the school and went on air every half hour. At times her voice broke due to the sobs choking her. After that, she could not come to her senses for a long time.

First responsible post

In 2005, the Russia Today TV channel was created in Moscow. He broadcast in English and was called upon to express the official Russian position on various political situations in the world. In the professional sphere, many were surprised that Margarita Simonyan was appointed editor-in-chief of the channel. Nevertheless, RIA Novosti presented arguments regarding this appointment. According to them, the head of the service had to be so young that he did not remember what the news was on Soviet television. She must have a new way of thinking, a modern view of everything. In addition, she spoke excellent English and could objectively assess information flows. Later, Margarita also led the Arabic-language and Spanish-language versions of the TV channel.

Career

In 2011, Margarita decided to create her own news project “What’s happening” on the REN TV channel and act as its presenter. The program was broadcast weekly, on which M. S. Simonyan discussed the most important events last days, which they avoided talking about. Direct participants in these events were invited to the program. After 2 years, a new live political show appeared on NTV, hosted by Margarita Simonyan and Tina Kandelaki, an Armenian and Georgian. The program was called “Iron Ladies”. However, due to some reasons, the show was closed.

Creation

Since childhood, Margarita dreamed of becoming a writer. She wrote poetry, and already at the age of 18 she published a collection of poems written by her. Her next book was published in 2010 and was called “To Moscow.” This is a novel about the generation of the nineties, about the difficulties, difficult destinies of people whose lives coincided with the collapse of the USSR, about the unfulfilled dreams of young people who in an instant lost their present and future. A year after the release of the novel, Margarita received an award for the best book written by a journalist. Her next work was the story “Train”. She published excerpts from it in the Russian Pioneer magazine; she also writes culinary articles for this magazine.

The journalist does not like to talk about herself. In 2012, in an interview, she said that she and journalist Andrei Blagodyrenko had been living in a civil marriage for 6 years now, and as for consolidating official relations and a wedding, she was not at all ready for this. In the same year, Margarita went to Sochi, where the Simonyan family restaurant “Zharko!” was being built. It was there that she became close to her compatriot, a famous director. Tigran Keosayan and Margarita Simonyan spent more and more time in each other’s company. And everyone already perceived them as a couple, despite the fact that Tigran continued to be married to actress Alena Khmelnitskaya. A year later, in the summer of 2013, Margarita gave birth to a daughter, Maryana. The next year, she and Tigran had a son, who was named by the Armenian name Bagrat. Today Simonyan Margarita Simonovna and Keosayan Tigran are a family, although they are not legally married. They have two beautiful children.

Awards and titles

In 2000, Margarita was in the arena of military operations in Chechnya and reported in a bulletproof vest. She received a state award for her dedication to the profession, courage and professionalism.

In the same year, Margarita was recognized as the winner of the II All-Russian competition of regional television and radio companies. Her TV report about children in Chechnya was recognized as the best. Still in the same 2000, she received a presidential scholarship.

In 2010, in Moscow, the President of the Republic of Armenia presented the famous journalist with the “Movses Khorenatsi” medal - the highest government award of the Republic of Armenia.

She has several more state awards of the Russian Federation: “For Services to the Fatherland, 4th degree” (2014), two “Order of Friendship” (2007 and 2008), etc.

In 2012, Margarita Simonyan’s name was included in the list of 100 most influential women in the Russian Federation, where she took 33rd place. She is a member of the public council at the main directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, and since 2013, by appointment, she has assumed the position of editor-in-chief of MIA Rossiya.

Compromising evidence and sanctions

After the well-known events in Ukraine, Margarita Simonyan was included in the list of 49 journalists and media executives who are prohibited from entering the territory of the republic.