Media reports that Irina Viner and Alisher Usmanov are getting divorced after almost half a century of marriage. We tell their beautiful love story full of victories and defeats.
Today Alisher Usmanov is one of the richest people in Russia, and Irina Viner is the queen of gymnastics and concurrently President of the All-Russian Federation of Rhythmic Gymnastics. These two strong, influential, and active people have been together for almost half a century, to be exact – 47 years.
Recently, rumors appeared in the media that Alisher Usmanov and Irina Viner were getting a divorce: the oligarch allegedly filed a lawsuit. Like it or not, time will tell, and we remember their amazing love story.
Acquaintance
As a child, Usmanov, having seen enough of the film “The Three Musketeers”, decided to connect his life with fencing. In high school, his training took place in the same room as the gymnasts. It was there that he saw her – the stately beauty-gymnast Irina Viner.
It was love at first sight, but Alisher did not dare to approach and get acquainted. Irina was five years older than him and was already known as a star – the champion of Uzbekistan, the main fashionista of the city.
After school, Usmanov entered MGIMO and left for the capital. It was there that, years later, he and Wiener met again. And now they have spoken. She also recognized him: it was difficult not to remember the young man who had once never taken his eyes off her.
“She thought I was a pompous turkey, and I turned out to be a crazy charming, amazingly intellectually developed young man who knows a lot about the female being. So she could not resist, ”Alisher recalled immodestly.
“All over the world, in all ages, there is a law: men love with their eyes, women with their ears. Note: even if a man is outwardly the most unpresentable, but he is educated, well-spoken, speaks well, what is called “coolly hangs noodles on his ears,” then you will feel sympathy for him. It’s another matter of how to find out whether it’s love or not … But with other options, when the language is not too suspended, beauty also often helps out, ”Irina noted, adding that her husband is both handsome and smart.
Prison
After graduation, Alisher returned to Tashkent. They fell in love with each other and began dating, despite the fact that at that moment Irina was going through a difficult break with her first husband, left with a small child in her arms. Years later, Usmanov would adopt a boy, pay for his studies, and help him start a business.
An interesting fact: absolutely nothing is known about Wiener’s first wife, and son Anton from an early age bears his mother’s surname.
At the very beginning of the relationship, Irina and Alisher faced a serious test. In 1980, a high-profile trial took place in Uzbekistan over the “golden” youth of Tashkent, which included 26-year-old Usmanov. Together with a friend, he was charged with bribery, fraud, and group theft of socialist property was found guilty and sentenced to 8 years.
Wiener promised to wait for her beloved, despite the fact that it almost cost her a career. She was not allowed to travel abroad because she visited Alisher in prison. Once, Usmanov sent a silk scarf to his beloved – this is how they make a marriage proposal in Uzbekistan. Wiener left a gift, which meant yes.
In 1986, Usmanov was released ahead of schedule, and in 2000 Alisher was able to rehabilitate himself: the court recognized his arguments that the case was fabricated, and all charges were dropped.
The wedding of Usmanov and Viner
Despite the fact that Alisher made a marriage proposal back in the 80s, they got married to Irina only in 1992, when they already lived in Moscow.
Wiener assures that it was a modest holiday: “Unfortunately, I did not have a wedding. At my wedding, the sky was the ceiling and the earth was the floor.” There are no other details about that day.
Alisher’s affairs went uphill: he sees his wife’s merit in this – she was waiting for him for 6 years in prison, and he felt responsible to her and longed to live up to her expectations.
Marriage at a distance is stronger
Of all the 50 years of relationship, Irina and Alisher spent catastrophically little time together, because everyone is very passionate about their work. “Alisher is a very busy person, I don’t sit under elms either. When we meet, we have something to talk about. I am always surprised when I see a beautiful young couple in a restaurant sitting silently all evening. They just have nothing to say to each other! So maybe it’s better the way we are? Wiener shared.
True, Usmanov was often jealous of his wife for gymnastics and still tried to support her, including financially. She, too, was not in debt. “I am an oriental woman and I am used to the fact that the husband is the head of the family. When the husband enters the house, the wife should greet him standing. And keep your eyes down. And I bring up my gymnast girls in the same way. I teach them that family, husband, and children are the most important thing. In the first place – the husband, then the children. And all this together makes a woman’s happiness. And work and everything else is secondary, ”Winer is sure. By the way, Irina and Alisher never became parents. Usmanov does not have his own children, which he publicly stated.
Even many years later, they talk about each other only with love, warmth, and respect, noting that the family is not only feelings but also a partnership.
“The wife makes the husband. At the request of a woman, a man becomes the very one that she thought of him. I always told Alisher: “You are a genius! You are great!” And he became like that, although he went through many trials. He despaired, but I still said that everything would be, although then it was unrealistic to think about it. I always knew that he was super, “Irina shares her experience of a happy marriage.
Agree, after such a divorce, Usmanov and Wiener are hard to believe. But in any case, time will tell.