Margarita Simonyan - biography. Margarita Simonyan - biography of the editor of the Russia Today TV channel Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of russia today

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 take one of the leading places in Russian television journalism. Today, Simonyan is among 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, along with her sister Alice, grew up in a poor family. Father Simon, an Armenian by nationality, made a living repairing refrigerators, and his mother Zinaida sold flowers in the market. There are rumors on the Web that Margarita also has Jewish roots.

As the journalist later wrote from the pages of LiveJournal and "Instagram", together with their parents, the girls lived in an old house on Gogol Street, where rats constantly ran, there was no gas, water supply and sewerage. Difficult living conditions only increased 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 at the initiative of Tigran. He wrote the girl a message on the social network Facebook, where he expressed support to Margarita: at that time there was harassment 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 cinematographer, which grew into a civil marriage.

Margarita Simonyan and Tigran Keosayan

In September 2014, Margarita's son Bagrat was born. 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 second child of the couple - in August 2013, Margarita gave birth to her husband's daughter Maryana. As the journalist said in an interview, she gratefully recalls the time when she was pregnant. Each time, Margarita experienced a surge of strength and never suffered from toxicosis, despite the fact that she survived the threat of miscarriage with Maryana.

Simonyan is committed to early childhood education. In a playful way, linguists are engaged with Maryana and Bagrat, therefore, at such an early age, the kids speak five languages ​​- Russian, Armenian, English, French and Chinese.

Interestingly, between ex-wife Tigran Keosayan - Alena Khmelnitskaya and Margarita Simonyan established friendly relations. The women became best friends, and even together with the director created a project - the psychological thriller "Actress". In the creation of the film, which was successfully broadcast on the NTV channel, Margarita participated as a screenwriter.

For the third time, Margarita became a mother on October 19, 2019, the wife gave Tigran a son, Maro. The woman published the relevant news on Instagram, after which she began to receive congratulations from relatives and friends.

Margarita Simonyan and her children

Rumors about Margarita's third pregnancy have been circulating on the Web 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 the third birth, but took this fact as a blessing and admitted that she was ready to become a mother for a fourth child. Unfortunately, it soon became known that the TV presenter had lost this child.

Simonyan maintains a page on Instagram, where he posts photos with his 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 her life out of the view of subscribers. Margarita does not have a personal website, she publishes all the information in profiles in in social networks.

Simonyan is friends with many Russian stars and leaders. Proof of this are the photos of a woman that periodically appear on social networks of various media personalities. For example, in the spring of 2018, she posted a picture in the company's profile, and Simonyan, signing that their company is similar to the Soprano clan.

The work allows Margarita, together with her husband, to provide children with a comfortable life. Although she does not show income declarations, it is clear without this that the salary of a journalist is estimated at more than one thousand dollars.

Journalism and career

In 1999, Simonyan began working as a correspondent for the Krasnodar TV 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 shoot a story about a talented girl. Speaking with the film crew, Simonyan mentioned that she wanted to work as a journalist, and she was offered an internship on a TV channel. The choice of the first place of work determined the future professional biography Margaret.

At the age of 19, the girl went to shoot a story in Chechnya. A miniature figure (her height was 160 cm) did not prevent her from showing masculinity and firmness of character. Margarita told her parents that she was going to the war zone only upon her return, after 10 days. A series of reports in one of the hot spots of the world brought fame to Margarita Simonyan and a number of journalistic awards: "For professional courage", the 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, a correspondent for the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company in Rostov-on-Don. She continued her career as a military 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 TV program Vesti. 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-taking. The tragedy affected the worldview and views of Margarita, 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 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 appointment of such a young person to such a position, the founders of RIA Novosti argued with the position that the project should have been led by a person who had not seen Soviet news, who 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 channel.

In 2011, the girl became the 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 communicated 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 topical questions to well-known political figures and businessmen on the air. In the 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.

Margarita s early childhood 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 active journalism and editorial activities, the writing of the book took about 10 years. This novel tells about the generation of the 90s and hard destinies, unfulfilled dreams. In 2011, thanks to the novel, Simonyan won the prize for the best book journalist.

In 2012, on the pages of the Russian Pioneer magazine, Margarita published an excerpt from her new story The Train. The girl also writes culinary articles for this publication. And a couple of years later, her story “Rats” got into the publication, which caused a lot of discussion on the Web.

Margarita Simonyan, Tina Kandelaki, Philip Kirkorov and Mikhail Galustyan

Margarita supports the policy of the existing 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 refusal 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 the program on Channel One.

Margarita constantly enters into controversy with foreign media. She managed to expose the fake footage of the wounded boy Omran Daknish, which was used as evidence of Russian aggression in Syria. The boy's father revealed the truth in an interview with RT.

The TV journalist has repeatedly become a guest of the studio of a popular political observer. At the beginning of 2018, she gave a detailed interview, where, together with a TV presenter, she reflected on freedom of speech in Russia and in the West.

The scandal with the poisoning of the ex-spy received great publicity, in which the British authorities had suspects - Ruslan Boshirov and Alexander Petrov. Young people gave an interview to Margarita Simonyan, which she commented on the air of the Ekho Moskvy radio. The TV journalist stressed that she had no reason to trust these people, but she also did not trust Western intelligence services. The footage of the meeting, used as a photo, was dismantled into memes by users.

Journalist Margarita Simonyan has long been known to viewers for her reporting from hot spots. It all started in Chechnya. The main turning point was Beslan, which became the starting point for the creation of a new television format called "Russia Today", in which she is the leader. But not much is known about Margaret's personal life. She doesn't talk much about it herself.

Born and raised a journalist in the Kuban, in the city of Krasnodar. Margo's family was poor, but this did not stop her parents from assigning her to an "English" school. Due to her natural qualities, she became the best student and was sent to the United States on an exchange. After studying in the States for several years, the girl decided to return home and devote herself to journalism. Exactly at State University Kuban and began her professional and life path.

Childhood

In 1980, the future star of "Russia Today" Simonyan Margarita was born., whose biography from childhood is associated with constant self-improvement.

Parents at one time received higher education but like most Soviet people, after the restructuring it was not useful. Father repaired refrigeration units, and mother "shuttle" and traded at the market. They tried to give Simonyana's children a good education: the sisters were taken to sports and music, courses in English. As a result, Margot managed to successfully pass the exams and enter a special school.

Krasnodar itself is a small town. In the late 80s, and even more so in the 90s, it was a typical province with dirty streets and destroyed buildings. The Simonyans lived in the "Armenian" region in a small house for five families. Not only was the shared toilet outside, but the neighbors were also drug addicts. Despite their Armenian origin, dad and mom never lived in Armenia.

Margarita grew up as an active child striving for knowledge. It was easy for her to learn. This is evidenced by the fact that little Margo was the first to learn to read in kindergarten. As a result of her love of learning, she graduated from school with a gold medal.

Not wanting to live and work in America, the girl entered the Faculty of Journalism at Krasnodar University. At the age of 19, she published a collection of her poems, thanks to which she was hired by the local Krasnodar TV channel. One could only dream of such a job. But ambitions and energy were in full swing, and in order to "light up", Margarita went as a war correspondent to Chechnya. It was there that her path to success began.

Labor activity

The bet placed on the work of the military correspondent was justified. The coverage of the hostilities by a young Krasnodar journalist attracted the attention of the country's leading television channels. Then there were business trips to other hot spots.

The most memorable was the trip to Beslan. This city and the events that took place in it in September 2004 changed the outlook of the war correspondent. Having launched a stormy activity, Marietta achieved the fact that, a year after the tragedy, a new channel "Russia Today" was created. And who, no matter how she, was destined to head the channel.

Career growth began to gain momentum:

Thanks to his activities, the journalist regularly gets into the ratings of "influential people":

• 33rd place went to her as the most influential woman in Russia in 2012.
• The following year was marked by getting into the top five influential women in the media.
• 15th place among hundreds of influential women in Russia was awarded in 2014.
• Forbes gave Margarita Simonovna 52nd place at the end of 2017 among the hundred most influential women in the world.

The consequence of work in the field of journalism was participation in public life countries. In 2008, Margot became a member of the Television Academy. An active life position made the journalist a member of the third composition of the Public Chamber of Russia. In addition, until 2017, Simanyan was a member of the Public Council of the City Department of Internal Affairs of Moscow. She was later elected to the General Council of the Ministry.

She never hid or was ashamed of her views, which attracted the attention of President Vladimir Putin. At his request, she took part in the "People's Headquarters" during the presidential company in 2012. In the upcoming elections in 2018, she was again registered as a confidant of the Russian presidential candidate V. Putin.

Married life has never particularly attracted Marietta, since pictures from childhood popped up in my memory, where couples were never happy. Therefore, the first joint life with Andrei Blagodyrenko was not formalized in any way. Margarita, with her unwillingness to officially register relations, always upset her parents, who were accustomed to the traditional way of life. She lived in a civil marriage with Andrei Margo for six years, until fate brought her together with Tigran Keosayan.

Until the moment Margarita Simonyan appeared in his life, Tigran's personal life was connected with Alena Khmelnitskaya. With Alena, the director lived together for 20 years, until he was seen in the company of another woman.

Keosayan Tigran and Margarita Simonyan became close on the basis of joint projects. At first, they were united by the restaurant business, and after that the director released several films, where a well-known TV journalist acted as a screenwriter. As a result, feelings for Marietta prevailed and Tigran left his first wife.

Rumors about a couple in love have been circulating for a long time, until they were confirmed by the birth of their second child. Daughter Mariana was born when Keosayan was still officially married to Khmelnitskaya. He himself shared his joy on his page in social networks. He maintains friendly relations with his ex-wife Alena. Moreover, the film "Actress" was created with the direct participation of all three.

Today Tigran Keosayan and his new wife They are already raising two children: daughter Marianna and son Bagrat. But despite all the well-being and love of her husband, Simonyan's marriage is civil. She never changed her principle and did not legitimize the relationship.

Majority public people are always under the guns of cameras and evil tongues. So, for example, rumors appeared: "Margarita Simonyan and Tigran Keosayan divorced." There are no facts about this yet. It is also unknown what relation Paulina Dmitrienko has to Tigran Keosayan. But the truth is this:

The last episode that caused surprise was a joint trip to Nice. There, the trio were seen on the beach in swimsuits. Famous people just having fun, not paying attention to anyone.

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Classmates

Russian journalist Margarita Simonovna Simonyan has been the editor-in-chief of Russia Today TV channel since 2013. When she took this post, she was only 25 years old. This appointment became the most discussed topic at that time, many wondered why this 25-year-old Armenian girl was entrusted with such a responsible position. What distinguished Simonyan Margarita Simonovna? Compromising evidence on her person, in spite of everything, was not found. And passion subsided. Further in the material, we will talk about the life path of this interesting woman who managed to make such a successful career.

The future journalist was born in early April 1980, in the southern city of Krasnodar. Margaret has a sister named 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 rather modest conditions from childhood. Their father worked as a refrigerator repairman, and their mother worked as a flower girl and sold flowers in the market from morning to evening. The money earned by parents was only enough for food. Their house was very old and was located on one of the outskirts of Krasnodar, named after the legendary Russian writer N.V. Gogol. The house was full of rats, there were no the most elementary living conditions: gas, sewerage and water supply. Today it is hard to believe that such terrible living conditions could exist in the Soviet Union. In this nightmare, the girls had to live for about 10 years, after which the family was given an apartment. It was life on the "bottom" that pushed Margarita to an irresistible desire to break out of poverty and take place in life.

Despite the fact that Margarita's parents did not pay attention to the development of intellectual and creativity children of great attention, the girls grew up smart and very diligent. Little Rita is one of the first in the group kindergarten started reading. The teacher asked her to read fairy tales to her classmates before going to bed. Later, Simonyan Margarita Simonovna was taken to the 1st grade of a specialized school number 36 in the city of Krasnodar. Here they were engaged in in-depth study of foreign languages. It turned out that the girl has a great ability to speak English. She studied excellently and was sent to the Olympiads. When the girl was 16 years old, and she was in the 9th grade, she had an excellent opportunity to improve her English knowledge to the proper level. She was sent to study in the United States, in the state of New Hampshire, as part of a student exchange program. She lived in a very friendly and warm family, went to American school, communicated with peers and comprehended the peculiarities of life in mysterious America. To this day, she has excellent, one might say “family” relations with this family. Margarita even thought about staying overseas, but soon realized that she was most comfortable living in her native country.

After graduating from school, it is worth noting, with an honors medal, Simonyan Margarita Simonovna, whose biography is the topic of this article, entered the Faculty of Journalism of the Kuban State University, in parallel with this she studied at the V. Pozner School of Television Excellence, and also wrote poetry. It turned out that a collection of poems by an 18-year-old Armenian woman aroused interest in the press, and a film crew came to her house to make a report about her. It was during this interview that she mentioned that she wanted to be a journalist. And then she received an offer to work on Krasnodar television.

In December 1999, she traveled to Chechnya to cover fighting. At the same time, Margarita decided to take pity on her parents and only told them that she was going on another business trip. In parallel, Margarita began filming stories for federal channels. Her fearlessness and professionalism were highly appreciated by the government, and Simonyan Margarita Simonovna was awarded many federal awards. A year later, she became the leading editor of the Krasnodar information portal, and in 2000 she was appointed editor-in-chief on the same TV channel. Later, the girl 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 travels to Abkhazia, writes reports on clashes in the Kodori Gorge.

In 2002, Margarita Simonovna Simonyan finally received an invitation from the directorate of the Vesti television program to work as a staff correspondent, of course, having moved to the capital. Of course, she happily accepted the offer, and soon she was already part of the presidential pool. In September 2004 in North Ossetia, in Beslan, there was a terrible tragedy. At that time, Margarita was in Minvody. She received an assignment from the editorial office of the channel and went to the scene. All the time while the hostages were in the hands of the militants, she stood at the school and went on the air every half an hour. Sometimes her voice broke because of the sobs that choked her. After that, she could not calm down for a long time.

In 2005, Russia Today TV channel appeared in Moscow. He conveyed information in English and was called upon to express the official Russian position regarding various political situations in the world. In the professional sphere, many were perplexed that it was Margarita Simonyan who was appointed editor-in-chief of the channel. Despite this, 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 news was on Soviet television. She must have a new way of thinking, a modern view of what is happening. In addition, she knew English very well and could objectively evaluate the flow of information. Subsequently, Margarita also directed the Arabic and Spanish versions of the channel.

In 2011, Margarita decided to create a personal news project “What is happening” on the REN TV channel and be its host. The program was released every week, on which M.S. Simonyan discussed the most important events last days, which the federal channels avoided talking about. Direct participants of these events were invited to the program. After 2 years, a new political show was released on NTV, hosted by Margarita Simonyan and Tina Kandelaki - an Armenian and a Georgian. The program was called "Iron Ladies". But due to some reasons, the show was closed.

Since childhood, Margarita dreamed of being a writer. She wrote poetry, and at the age of 18 she published a collection of poems written by her. Her next book was released in 2010 and was called "To Moscow". This is a novel about the generation of the nineties, about the problems, the difficult fate of people whose lives coincided with the split Soviet Union, about the unfulfilled dreams of young people who lost their present and future in an instant. 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, for this magazine she also writes articles on culinary topics.

The journalist does not like to talk about herself. In 2012, in an interview, she said that for 6 years now she and journalist Andrei Blagodyrenko have been living in a civil marriage, but regarding the consolidation of official relations and marriage, she is absolutely not ready for this. In the same year, Margarita went to Sochi, where the Simonyanov family restaurant Zharko! was under construction. It was there that she became close to her compatriot, the famous director. Tigran Keosayan and Margarita Simonyan spent more and more time together. 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 had a daughter, who was named Maryana. The following 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 have not legalized their relationship. They have two wonderful children.

In 2000, Margarita was in the arena of hostilities in Chechnya and was reporting in a bulletproof vest. For devotion to the profession, for courage and professionalism, she was given a state award. In the same year, Margarita became the winner of the II All-Russian competition of regional television and radio companies. Her TV report about Chechen children was recognized as the best. All in the same 2000, she was also awarded a presidential scholarship.

In 2010, in Moscow, the Armenian President presented the famous journalist with the “Movses Khorenatsi” medal, the highest government award of the Republic of Armenia. She has several other state awards of the Russian Federation: “For services to the fatherland of the 4th degree” (2014), two “Order of Friendship” (2007 and 2008), etc. In 2012, the name of Margarita Simonyan was included in the list of 100 most influential women Russia, where she took 33rd place. She is a member of the public council at the main department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, and since 2013, by appointment of D. Kiselev, she has assumed the post of editor-in-chief of the MIA Rossiya

After what happened in Ukraine, Margarita Simonyan found herself on the list of 49 journalists and media leaders who were banned from entering the territory of the republic.

The news that the Khmelnitsky-Keosayan star couple broke up appeared thanks to the famous journalist Bozena Rynskaya. It was she who first posted a photo on the Internet showing Tigran Keosayan, his new wife and their children. The public was shocked by the news, because until recently Alena and Tigran looked quite happy together. Khmelnitskaya gave her husband a second daughter, was his muse and always appeared together at all social events. What happened in the star family? Why did they suddenly separate after 21 years of marriage?

Read also:

Tigran Keosayan and Alena Khmelnitskaya: divorce, ...

How did the novel begin?

Rumor has it that the star marriage began to crack back in 2011, when Tigran began to appear alone in the light more often. Many then did not give it of great importance and decided that the wife does a lot of work with youngest daughter. But already in 2012, Tigran began to appear with the famous host Margarita Simonyan. In an interview of the same year, Margarita announced that she was opening the Zharko! restaurant in Sochi. As it turned out, later it was their joint project with Keosayan. It was later.

And first there was a post on Facebook. Once Margo received a message from Tigran, in which he admitted that he had been watching her for a long time, since the time of reporting from Beslan, and sympathized with her. He was outraged by the persecution that the girl was allegedly subjected to. The journalist herself did not believe it, she thought it was a fake. Why would the famous director suddenly become interested in her fate. She saw him only on TV and even somehow appreciated the humor when he participated in a cooking show. BUT! For some reason she replied! Correspondence began, then long phone conversations began. And then lunches and dinners in restaurants. Gradually began to grow common themes, interests, projects.

Tigran Keosayan, his new wife, and Alena Khmelnitskaya

Tigran taught the girl to write scripts. Her longtime dream was to become a writer, but there was not enough time. Margaret's talent woke up. Together they began to shoot serials based on her scripts. Comedy “Sea. Mountains. Expanded clay.”, filmed by Tigran Keosayan and his new wife, was broadcast on the first channel with such success that Konstantin Ernst himself called and announced a high rating.

Once both realized that life without each other is no longer possible. There was an urgent need to see each other every day, correspond every minute, hold hands. Margarita, with a smile on her face, admits that all the most important things in life go to her unexpectedly literally fall from the sky.

Tigran Keosayan and Margarita Simonyan

Biography of Margarita Simonyan

Unlike the childhood of her lover, Margot's childhood was not so rosy. She was born in Krasnodar. In the 80s, it was not a well-groomed, luxurious metropolis, but an abandoned province with the ruins of houses right in the center. Her family had a small house in the Armenian “ghetto”, with walls that never dried out, an outdoor toilet for five families, and neighbors who were drug addicts. According to the journalist, although her parents are full-blooded Armenians, the family is absolutely Russian. Dad was born and raised in Sverdlovsk, mom in Sochi. They never lived in Armenia. Numerous relatives live in Adler.

The parents of the new wife of Tigran Keosayan received higher education in Krasnodar. But it didn't work for them. Despite a red diploma from the Krasnodar Polytechnic Institute, my father was forced to repair refrigerators, and my mother, an intelligent and fragile woman, was engaged in odd jobs. She knitted hats, sold persimmons, tried to “shuttle”. With all this, my mother managed to take Rita and her younger sister Alice to all kinds of circles, to a special school of English and to music and sports classes.

Brilliantly passed the entrance exams in the most best school Krasnodar, Margot determined her future. At that time, there was already an exchange program for schoolchildren, and young Margarita was sure that she would go to America to finish her studies. And so it happened. In 1995, the Americans chose the 5 most promising guys, and she was among them. In the States, Margo was a straight A student and had great opportunities to stay there. She was expected to study at a good university, a well-paid job.

But at one fine moment, the girl realized that she could only live where she grew up, that she would never be happy in a foreign country.

She graduated from school already at home with a gold medal. Then she entered the Kuban University as a journalist. In 1999, she published her first collection of poems, thanks to which she got a job as a correspondent for the local television and radio channel Krasnodar. But this was not enough for an ambitious and ambitious girl.

Energy was in full swing, I wanted to conquer the peaks. Not knowing how to get into the big federal media, the nineteen-year-old girl came up with only one way - she went to war in Chechnya. Of course, without telling your parents anything. Counting on amazing reporting from hot spot turned out to be true, she was noticed. Margarita was awarded the journalistic award "For professional courage", the Russian Order of Friendship.

Deciding to continue her career as a military television journalist, she covered the clashes of militants in Abkhazia. In September 2004 she went to Beslan. This tragedy greatly influenced the worldview of the journalist. A year later, the Russia Today channel was created, of course, Simonyan was appointed editor-in-chief. Further, the career of an international news star was on the rise.

And in 2013, Margarita was appointed editor-in-chief of the Rossiya Segodnya MIA, where she has been working to this day.

Joint life with Tigran Keosayan

Before the appearance of Tigran in her life, Margot was not serious about close relationships. It is known that at the time of her acquaintance with the famous director, she lived in a civil marriage with journalist Andrei Blagodyrenko. The fact is that while living in her “ghetto”, the girl did not see happy families there. A married woman seemed to her an unfortunate downtrodden creature, whose task is to do daily housework.

Margarita with Andrey Blagodyrenko

She never intended to marry, which made her parents very upset. After all, they have been waiting for grandchildren for a long time. Even now, Tigran Keosayan and his new wife, although they have two children, live in a civil marriage.

When the couple realized they were having feelings, they decided to break up because they didn't want to hurt anyone. We broke up for one day - we couldn't stand it anymore. As a result, Keosayan moved to Rita in a small but cozy house, located 63 km from Moscow. Until Alena Khmelnitskaya got a man, ex-husband every morning I went to see them in Barvikha to talk with my daughters over morning tea.

Oddly enough, they are on friendly and respectful terms with Alena. Khmelnytsky, as wise woman, encouraged the continuation of the relationship of daughters with their father, because they are not to blame for anything. Moreover, Alena found the courage to invite Tigran Keosayan and his new wife with their children to a family celebration. They got to know each other better and, as usual with this trio, a joint project has matured. The film “Actress” was filmed according to the script of Rita, in which the ex-wife played the main role.

Now the Keosayan-Simonyan couple are loving, but strict and demanding parents. Especially the young dad. He talks to his son and daughter as adults. But he is also not averse to fooling around, he loves to tell them all sorts of fables of his own composition, to sing funny songs.

We hope that Tigran Keosayan and his new wife will be happy for a long time, for life ...

Russian journalist Margarita Simonovna Simonyan has been the editor-in-chief of the Russia Today TV channel since 2013. When she assumed 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. What distinguished Simonyan Margarita Simonovna? Compromising evidence on her person, however, was not found. And passion 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 over as CEO of the RT TV channel in 2013, many began to wonder who Simonyan's parents were. Margarita Simonovna and her sister lived in very cramped conditions from childhood. Their father was a refrigerator repairman, and their mother was a flower girl and sold flowers in the market from morning to evening. The money my parents earned was only enough for food. Their house was very old and was 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 simple living conditions: gas, sewerage and running water. Today it is hard to believe that such terrible living conditions could exist in the USSR. 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 prompted in Margarita an irresistible desire to break out of poverty and take place in life.

Academic success

Despite the fact that Margarita's parents did not pay much attention to the development of the intellectual and creative abilities of children, the girls were smart and quite diligent. Little Rita was one of the first in the kindergarten group to learn to read. The teacher told her to read fairy tales to her classmates before going to bed. Later Simonyan Margarita Simonovna was admitted to the first class of the specialized school number 36 in the city of Krasnodar. Here they were engaged in in-depth study of foreign languages. It turned out that the girl has a great ability to speak English. She studied for one "five", and she was sent to the olympiads. When the girl was 16 years old, and she was in the 9th grade, she had a great opportunity to improve her English knowledge to the proper level. She was sent to study in the United States, in the state of New Hampshire, as part of a student exchange program. She settled in a very friendly and warm family, went to an American school, communicated with her peers and comprehended the peculiarities of life in mysterious America. She still has excellent, one might say “family” relations 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 distinction, 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. Pozner School of Television Excellence, and also wrote poetry. It so happened that the press was interested in the collection of poems of the 18-year-old Armenian woman, and a film crew came to her house 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 the 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 to shoot stories for federal channels. Her fearlessness and professionalism were highly appreciated by the government, and Simonyan Margarita Simonovna was awarded many federal awards. A year later, she was appointed editor-in-chief of the Krasnodar information portal, and in 2000 she was appointed 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 on clashes in the Kodori Gorge.

To Moscow

In 2002, Margarita Simonovna Simonyan finally receives an invitation from the directorate of the Vesti television program to work as a staff correspondent, naturally, having moved 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, there was a terrible tragedy. At that time, Margarita was in Minvody. She received an assignment from the editorial office of the channel and went to the scene of the tragedy. All the time while the hostages were in the hands of terrorists, she stood at the school and went on the air every half an hour. Sometimes her voice broke because of the sobs that choked her. After that, she could not come to her senses for a long time.

First responsible post

In 2005, 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 it was Margarita Simonyan who 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 like on Soviet television. It must have a new way of thinking, a modern look at everything. In addition, she was fluent in English and could objectively evaluate the flow of information. Later, Margarita also directed the Arabic and Spanish versions of the channel.

Career

In 2011, Margarita decided to create her own news project “What is happening” on the REN TV channel and act as its presenter. The program came out weekly, on which MS Simonyan discussed the most important events of recent 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 a 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, hard fates of people whose lives coincided with the collapse of the USSR, about the unfulfilled dreams of young people who lost their present and future in an instant. 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, for this magazine she also writes culinary articles.

The journalist does not like to talk about herself. In 2012, in an interview, she said that for 6 years now she and journalist Andrei Blagodyrenko have been living in a civil marriage, as for consolidating official relations and marriage, she is not at all ready for this. In the same year, Margarita went to Sochi, where the Simonyanov family restaurant Zharko! was under construction. 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 following 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 hostilities in Chechnya and was reporting in a bulletproof vest. For devotion to the profession, for courage and professionalism, she received a state award.

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 the children of Chechnya was recognized as the best. Still all in the same 2000, she received a presidential scholarship.

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

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

In 2012, the name of Margarita Simonyan 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 department 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 the Rossiya MIA

Compromise and sanctions

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