His colleagues said that when it came to talking about a person he didn’t know, Landau immediately asked: “What did he do?” I didn't intend to, but I already did it. What did the laureate of the USSR State Prizes (1946, 1949, 1953), the Lenin Prize (1962) do in science? Nobel Prize(1962), is well known. But the academician’s niece Ella Ryndina spoke about some aspects of Lev Landau’s personal life.
Dau, as Lev Davidovich was called in the family, gave great importance female beauty and to the women themselves, although not as much as they talked about it and as he himself fanned this topic. True, Landau often spoke about women, classified them by appearance (what about Landau - and without classification?).
He divided attractive women into beautiful, pretty and interesting (1st, 2nd and 3rd class). The pretty ones have a slightly upturned nose, the beautiful ones have a straight nose, and the interesting ones have noses of all other shapes. For ugly women, he came up with the following names: 4th grade - “Reprimand to parents”, 5th grade - “For repetition - execution.”
The theory followed the classification. The main thesis was that a person should be happy at all costs and maintain personal freedom. Most of all, Dau was afraid of losing his independence and often teased his devoted husbands, calling them henpecked.
In his youth, Dau was very shy and very afraid of women. For quite a long time, his wife Cora remained his only woman, but even then, having no one else, he told her: “The foundation of our marriage will be personal freedom.”
There was a lot of talk about women and love.
Dau assured that a woman only needs beauty - everything else is optional. Following his theory, he took Cora, who was very beautiful in her youth, as his life partner. They said that some hard worker, leaving the institute and seeing the blooming, plump Kora and the puny, stooping Dau walking together, said: “Such a woman is wasted.” Unfortunately, beauty gradually fades... But what remains? They had no common interests.
Dau sat down in his place for breakfast, opened the newspaper and began to eat. “Danka, will there be a war?” - Cora asked. “No, Korusha,” answered Dau. Cora asked this question every morning and always received the same answer. They clearly had nothing to talk about, and he didn’t need to.
His head was occupied with other thoughts, and when he wanted to talk “about life,” he found a more interesting interlocutor.
He chose as his wife beautiful woman and raised her on his theory of freedom and free love. At first she resisted, fussed, she wanted simple bourgeois happiness. But Dau was persistent, threatened her with divorce, and in the end Cora decided to live the way he wanted. Demanding freedom for himself, Dau considered it unconditional to observe the same rules for his wife.
Maybe she didn’t like it, but a wealthy life, a magnificent two-story five-room apartment, a dacha, diamonds, a housekeeper and, of course, the celebrity of her academician husband, apparently compensated for Cora’s lack of love.
In fact, she became his housekeeper. She could manage money uncontrollably, without worrying too much about her husband’s wardrobe. When Dau arrived in Leningrad poorly dressed, they had to drag him to a department store to buy a new one to replace the old, worn one.
Whether it was because Cora agreed to live with Dau on his terms, or that she was like that from the start, but distinctive feature her character became calculating. It was getting ridiculous. Once Cora brought home a huge net of oranges (back then you still had to get them, and not just buy them) and, seeing a relative, said: “Excuse me, but I only have oranges for Dau.”
Often, during conversations about love and other joys of life, he suddenly had a blank look, as if he was looking past the interlocutor, somewhere into space. He was still talking to the man, but he was already withdrawing into himself, squeezing out in some colorless voice: “Go... go... then...” There was a feeling that he was always somewhere there - in his thoughts and calculations, and only went down from there for a while. Sometimes, while sitting at a party, he would grab a piece of paper, even a piece of newspaper, and quickly, quickly write something on it.
Probably, for geniuses like Lev Landau, creativity is the basis of life and constant thoughts, and everything else is just that, a reason for jokes...
Lev Landau called one of the greatest scientists of the twentieth century. Scientific works Soviet physicist were recognized throughout the world and were appreciated: in 1962 he became a Nobel Prize laureate. In 1999, 31 years after the scientist’s death, a book of memoirs by his wife Cora, “Academician Landau. How We Lived,” which was recently filmed Feature Film. Both the book and its film adaptation provoked a scandal in academic circles: according to scientists, they defamed the image of the great scientist and were an insult to his memory. The wife idolized her husband and considered him a genius, but, according to her, in everyday life he was a domestic tyrant and a real monster...
Lev Landau and Concordia Drobantseva spent 34 years together: 12 years in civil marriage and 22 years old - in the official one. Cora began writing her memoirs after the death of her husband in 1968 and worked on them for 10 years. At first, they were distributed in the form of samizdat among physicists, but almost all copies were destroyed by Landau’s indignant colleagues as discrediting his image and replete with too frank details of the personal life of the genius and those around him. Cora herself explained her position in the afterword: “ I wrote these memoirs only to myself, without the slightest hope of publication. To unravel the most complex tangle of my life, I had to delve into the obscene details of everyday life, into the intimate aspects human life, strictly hidden from prying eyes, sometimes hiding so much charm, but also abomination. I wrote only the truth, the whole truth...».
Early in his academic career, Dandau made a commitment to “not smoke, drink, or marry.” When they met Cora, Lev Landau was 26 years old, and by this time he had already defended his dissertation and became a doctor of science. From the very beginning, he announced to his chosen one that he did not intend to marry and invited them to conclude a conditional “non-aggression pact in married life": none of them should claim the freedom of the other and bind themselves with an obligation to remain faithful. The scientist recognized only open relationships in which each of the spouses could not only allow themselves to have affairs on the side, but also not hide their adventures.
Lev Landau had his own theory of happiness, and he very much regretted that he did not write a separate work about it: “ I have created several good physical theories, but what a pity that I cannot publish my best theory - how to live" He tried to implement his theory on by example, married to Cora. In his opinion, lies and jealousy poison the lives of spouses, so they should be completely excluded: “ A husband cannot be happy if his wife is unhappy. The role of a loser, a sufferer, and any despondency in general do not suit me. I have another plans».
Completely unacceptable for family life the scientist considered boredom: “ He'll come Last Judgment, the Lord God will call and ask: “Why didn’t you enjoy all the benefits of life? Why were you bored?" Landau's formula for happiness consisted of three components: love, work and communication with people, while at least 30% of the time should be devoted to love. The scientist believed: “ Marriage is a cooperative relationship and has nothing to do with love. The main thing a person should do in his life is to be happy. Therefore, walk, love and enjoy every day! You can get married, but remember that spouses are absolutely free people!».
He decided to officially marry Cora only a few days before the birth of their son Igor, after the chosen one swore to him never to be jealous and not to interfere with relationships with other women. He demanded the same from his wife and encouraged her to have relationships with other men, although she herself did not want this. Landau created his own classification, according to which he divided attractive women into beautiful, pretty and interesting (grades 1, 2 and 3), and called ugly women like this: 4th grade - “reprimand to parents”, 5th grade - “for repetition - execution " The scientist believed that a woman should be beautiful, but it is not necessary to have intelligence.
The scientist demanded that his wife not only come to terms with his love affairs, but even leave the apartment during dates, having previously prepared dinner and a clean bed. One day he brought a girl home, and Cora hid in the closet. Landau opened the closet door, saw his wife and locked the door. He released his wife only after seeing off his mistress. Instead of making a scandal with him and leaving, Cora Once again I forgave and blamed myself for everything: “ It's all my fault. After all, she promised that he would remain a bachelor forever. I feel like I deceived the child. After all, he is as pure as a child».
After the publication of Cora’s memoirs, a scandal erupted in the scientific community; the widow was accused of slander, speculation and deliberate distortion of facts. However, her words were confirmed by her son Igor: “ As for the relationship between parents, there was absolute freedom. Life like this was not very simple for my mother, who, although she agreed with this state of affairs, suffered a lot from it».
People stubbornly refuse to understand that happiness is within us. Everyone likes to complicate things, but I, on the contrary, always strive for simplicity. The concepts “difficult” and “difficult” should not be confused. We must learn to think, moreover, to control our thoughts. Then there will be no empty fears and anxieties.”
They say that only extraordinary women can be near a genius, because they often have to put up with their vices, quirks and weaknesses: .
Some time after his parents returned home, Igor said to his mother: “Mom, I decided to get married.” - Isn’t it early? Can't we wait for my father's recovery? - You see, mom, there should be a distribution in our course. They want to send Sveta to Crimea: she is an astronomer. If she leaves, I might lose her. Cora guessed that her son could tell her about his upcoming marriage at any moment; he had been courting the girl for two years, although he had not introduced her to her mother. - Mom, please tell dad about this when I leave. Cora shook her head: “No.” If you decide to get married, find the courage to tell your father about it yourself. “Mom, let’s go together,” the son asked. “My God, what a child you are,” thought the mother. - And you’re getting married so early? And she answered: “Okay, let's go.” When they entered Dau’s, he was talking about something with Tanya. Having sent Tanya to dinner, Cora took her place and looked at her son. “Dad, I want to get married...” he said embarrassedly. Dau laughed: “This is news, Garik.” In my opinion, you still have your own salary, and you’re already getting ready to get married! Garik jumped up and ran out of the room. Cora noticed that Dau should not have offended Igor like that. The boy is independent, he can earn a living, he’s been in love for two years now, and with his secrecy you won’t get anything from him. What if they are planning to have a child? - Garik! Come here! - Dau called loudly. Garik is back. - Why didn’t you immediately say that you’ve known your girlfriend for a long time? I decided it was a pig in a poke! And if you have checked your feelings, if your girlfriend is so smart, I certainly agree. Moreover, you are graduating from university. Tell her that I really want to meet her. The acquaintance took place: Lev Davidovich liked his son’s bride, it could not have been otherwise. “Very sweet,” Dau said to his wife when Igor left to see Svetlana off. “But you are more beautiful!”
There was no wedding: on the day of registration of the marriage, Garik was sick with the flu, and both the bride and groom considered the wedding a “merchant relic.” Four years later, their daughter Olga was born. Igor turned out to be an extraordinary father and husband.
Although Cora never consciously taught him to homework, after the birth of his daughter, he did absolutely everything around the house. Svetlana was sick for a long time. There was no one to help: her parents lived far away, in a remote village, and Cora had difficulty managing own affairs- all worries about his wife and child fell on Igor. After work, he had to wash a mountain of diapers, cook food, go to the pharmacy for medicine - Cora was only surprised how he coped with everything. Her stories alarmed Dau. He didn’t say anything to his son, but in a conversation with his wife he blurted out: “Will Garik really be henpecked?” Cora, of course, could not resist and conveyed her father’s words to Igor. “No, mom, it doesn’t threaten me,” the son answered. Soon after Garik graduated from university.
The Landau family is one of the most famous rabbinical medieval families, which gave the world big number Talmudists, scholars and public figures. That is why Landau is one of the most famous families among Polish, German and Russian Jews. The surname traces its origins to the Bavarian city of Landau. As the Jewish Encyclopedia of 1911, under the general editorship of Doctor of Oriental History A. Garkavi and Doctor Katsenelson, Brockhaus-Efron publishing house, tells us about this city: “Landau is a city in Bavaria, in the Palatinate region. A Jewish community existed in Landau as early as the 14th century, if not earlier (persecution of Landau Jews is mentioned in 1337 and 1349). In 1525, an agreement between the Jews of Landau and the townspeople was concluded, according to which the former’s right to live in the city was reduced from 29 years - the previous condition - to 24 years.”
| Castle in Landau |
The earliest representative of the Landau family about whom any information has been preserved is the famous Rav Yehuda Landau, an outstanding Talmudist of the 15th century and the head of a rabbinical school, which attracted students from all over Germany. Actually, it is he who is considered the founder of this famous dynasty, who received his surname from the name of the city in which he then lived.
But today we would like to tell the reader about one of the branches of this ancient family. About that branch of the Landau family, which begins in the 15th century in Bavaria and is crowned in Russia in the second half of the 20th century by such a name as Lev Davidovich Landau- academician, Nobel laureate and an outstanding physicist. Enough memories have been written about Lev Landau, about him unique abilities, about his unique character, about his relationships with others and about his amazing ideas. What interests us now is not his amazing discoveries in the field of theoretical physics, not his theory of free love, or even his relationship with the Soviet regime. We are interested in the flow of history - the Jewish family, which for at least five centuries has produced exceptional individuals to the world. We will try to trace the history of this family and restore the pedigree of the Landau family. In this article we will recreate only one of the branches of this family.
So we begin with Rav Yehuda Landau, who was born around the year 1400 and left this world in 1469. Let us remind the reader familiar with historical realities that it was during these years that the Maid of Orleans - the legendary French Joan of Arc - had already ended her heroic existence, Andrei Rublev died in distant Russia, knightly tournaments were taking place in all the principalities of Germany, the famous Vasco De Gama had already been born, England was going through the War of the Roses, the majority of the population of Europe was almost entirely illiterate, and Jews in most countries had to wear special insignia and live within Jewish ghettos. It was under these conditions that Yehuda Landau managed to create his famous Academy or yeshiva, which resounded with fame throughout medieval Germany.
His son, Rav Yaakov Boruch Landau, nicknamed Agur, who had no less abilities than his father - “a famous codifier and ritualist,” moved from Germany to Italy. First to Pavia, and then to Naples, where between 1487 and 1492 he published the ritual code Agur, which he compiled. He compiled this code for his student, Rav Ezra Abraham ben David Ovadia, “who, due to his studies in physics and metaphysics, did not have the opportunity to delve into the study of the Talmud and rabbinic authorities.” Due to its practical nature, the Agur code gained great popularity not only in Italy, but also in Germany and subsequently became authoritative on ritual issues among the majority of Ashkenazi Jews. In particular, he contributed to the transfer of the religious customs of German Jews to Italy.
The son of Yaakov Baruch, Rav Yekusiel, did not leave written works that have survived to this day, but we know about him that among other children he gave birth to a son, Moshe, who also became a rabbi and received the nickname Azoken; he died in 1560.
The son of Moshe Azoken, Rabbi Benjamin Wolf Segal Landau, moved to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the city of Sandomierz Voivodeship Opatow and received the position of dayan there, that is, a judge of the Jewish community.
His son Herzl, who was born already in 1589 and also became the rabbi of Opatov, wrote down his surname as Landi, not Landau. Opatov was attacked and captured by the Swedes several times. Perhaps the spelling of the surname changed precisely because of this.
Herzl's son, Rav Yechiskiel Segal, born in 1615, being, like his grandfather, a dayan of Opatov, is recorded under the same surname - Landi.
But his son already inherited from his relatives an unusually long name - Zvi Hirsh Segal Vitesh-Viteles-Kharif Landau. The solution to the triple name Vitesh-Viteles-Kharif is as follows: Zvi’s mother’s grandfather had a nickname or family name - Kharif (which in this case means “sharp-tongued” or “character”) and was a famous Polish rabbi. The children did not want to give up their hereditary nickname and translated it into Polish - Vitush or Vitesh and into Lithuanian - Viteles. Zvi Hirsch Landau himself was born in 1643 and lived 71 years. He was an outstanding rabbi and was elected one of the leaders of the Vaad of the Four Lands, which arose in the mid-16th century as the main Council of Jewish self-government, including the administration of four lands - Greater Poland (with its capital in Poznan), Lesser Poland (with its capital in Krakow), Lviv land (or Red Russia) and Volyn.
It was under him that the Kagal (Council of Management of the Jewish Community) of Opatov consisted of “3 seniors, 4 tuvim, 2 deputies, 4 gabbais of the “large charity fund”, 5 cashiers, 8 synagogue gabbais, 3 courts (each of 4 judges), 4 gabbais to raise money for the benefit of the poor in Palestine and 4 gabbais to collect money for the ransom of prisoners. Under him, the following regulations were introduced for the local rabbi: he “could not have more than one married son; for 2 annual sermons he was entitled to 2 ducats; in addition, farmers of meat, dairy and goods must pay him 9 Polish zlotys; Kahal meetings should not take place in the rabbi's house; and the rabbi himself was forbidden to enter into kinship with members of the community.”
Son of Zvi Hirsh - Yehuda Landau, born in 1672 in the German city of Hildesheim and died in Opatov on Kislev 13, 1737, was chosen not only, like his father, one of the leaders of the Vaad of the four lands, but also “parnassus of the family of Israel in four lands”, that is, the head of the Vaad. Yehuda Landau begat Yehezkel, one of the most famous rabbinic authorities of his time.
Yehezkel ben Yehuda Landau born in 1713 in Opatov. He was a dayan in Brody from 1734 to 1745, a rabbi in Yampol in Ukraine, and from 1754 he became not only the chief rabbi of Prague, where he led the Jewish community for 38 years, but also the spiritual leader of all the Jews of Bohemia. He was called “Noda bi-Yehuda” after the title of the main work of his life. In Prague, he headed one of the largest yeshivas of the time, attracting hundreds of students from different countries. All his life he fought against Hasidism and Askala. He had eight children. He died in 1793 and is buried in Prague's Fiberchov Cemetery. Of all his children, we are interested in his son Shmuel.
Rav Shmuel ben Yehezkel Landau was the main dayan of Prague. He compiled the responsa "Schibat Zijon" and notes on his father's writings. He was buried in Prague, in the same cemetery as his father on Tishrei 28, 1834. One of Shmuel's sons is Rav Yisroel Landau(1758 – 1829, Prague) gave birth to Eleezar Landau.
Eleezar ben Isroel Landau born in 1778 in Prague and died in 1831 in Brody from cholera, became one of the most famous Talmudists of his time. He created the famous work “Yaad HaMelech” - a commentary on Maimonides’ “Mishneh Torah”, which is extremely popular among Talmudists.
His son, born in 1810, Yehuda Leib Landau, named his son Eliezer after his father.
Eliezer Landau born in 1842 in Brody and died there in 1906 gave birth to a son Arie Lev Landau.
Yakov Weinshal, a Zionist, doctor, writer and brilliant publicist, whose “Memoirs” were published in the Jerusalem Journal in 2001, describes Arie Lev Landau as a silent ascetic who, having been brought by fate at the beginning of the 20th century to free-thinking Baku, even there managed to observe absolutely all the commandments. By the way, Arie Lev's wife - Feiga, was the daughter famous writer and the mathematician from Vilna Abraham ben Simcha Katsenelenbogen, a descendant of another famous rabbinical medieval family.
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David and Lyubov Landau |
Arie Lev Landau and Feiga have a son David. The Jewish community of the city of Baku wrote about David Landau: “The young engineer David Landau, thanks to his talents, quickly achieved the post of chief engineer of the entire Rothschild oil field. Landau was elected to supreme body Baku oil industrialists - the Congress Council and sat there together with Emmanuel Nobel and other major oil industrialists.”
And here is how Yakov Weinshal, his nephew, writes about him in the same “Memoirs”: “Uncle David was in every respect amazing person. He had the special happiness of falling into the clutches of death and slipping out of it unharmed. As a child, he drowned in the Dnieper. One day, during a big fire at an oil plant, he found himself in its center, surrounded on all sides by a burning sea a kilometer square. At night they wrapped me in a blanket and, along with others, carried me onto the steamer, and the sailors stood with axes at the boats, for the fire had ignited the sea, covered with oil, and this was in case of a sudden departure. Uncle David was considered dead by everyone, since he was only a few meters from the first explosion. Despite this, he escaped with only fainting and gas poisoning.
He was subsequently kidnapped by bandits who threatened to kill him unless a large ransom money was sent. From his captivity, he asked for a ransom, but stubbornly signed his letters instead of “David” - “Dictation”. He emerged unharmed from this ordeal, despite the fact that the kidnappers' demands were not satisfied. It is strange that Stalin, then only a party agitator, who was considered the initiator of this kidnapping, did not pay attention to this small difference in spelling between the word “David” and the word “Dictation”. My mother could read her brother's handwriting better than the future head of half the world.
But Uncle David’s trials did not end there. When the Bolsheviks came to power, he was arrested and threatened with execution because, following the instructions of the Shell company from London, he tried to send abroad a bowl of pure platinum weighing forty kilos even before the Bolsheviks came. He was saved by the fact that his assistant, who was arrested with him, an engineer like himself, had a Bolshevik sister, the unofficial wife of Ordzhonikidze himself.
Two years later he was arrested again because he refused to transfer his salary, detained in London, to the Bolsheviks. He did not feel sorry for this money, but he knew that the moment the Bolsheviks had the money, he would inevitably be shot. As long as he is the owner of this money, his life is assured.
After painful years in prison with the constant threat of execution, he was suddenly remembered as one of the best engineers, oil production specialists. He was released, transferred to Moscow, and given the largest post in oil management of the entire Soviet republic.
His healthy, cold brain of a real Landau, with large mathematical abilities, was subsequently inherited by his son...”
And so on January 22, 1908, a boy was born into the family of David Landau, named Lev in honor of his grandfather. This boy will in the future become one of the most famous physicists of our time - Lev Landau.
According to the memoirs of Lev Landau’s niece Ella Ryndina, published in the Vestnik magazine in 2004: “In 1991, the Izvestia of the CPSU Central Committee magazine published the materials of the criminal case on charges of L.D. under the title Lev Landau: a year in prison. Landau in anti-Soviet activities. This publication contains the “Protocol of the interrogation of Lev Davidovich Landau”, “Personal testimony of L.D. Landau”, “Certificate” and other documents relating to the arrest of Academician Landau in 1938. From the “Interrogation Protocol” it follows that Landau was prompted to “get closer to the anti-Soviet group of physicists” by “dissatisfaction and anger caused by the arrest of his father D.L. Landau". In the same “Interrogation Protocol”, from the words of the accused, information about his father David Lvovich Landau is recorded: “Before the revolution, my father served as an engineer in one of oil companies in Baku. In 1930, when I was abroad, my father was arrested and soon convicted of sabotage in oil industry to ten years in a concentration camp." This information about the arrest of the father is used further in the case as an immutable fact that does not require proof. So, on page 153 in the “Reference” it says: “LANDAU admitted that being embittered by the arrest of his father - Davyd Lvovich LANDAU - an engineer, convicted in 1930 for sabotage in the oil industry to ten years of imprisonment in camps (he was later released) , in revenge for his father, he joined the anti-Soviet group that existed at the Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology.”
The fact of his father’s counter-revolutionary activities became an integral part of the biography of Academician Landau; the “stain” remained until the end of his life and played a significant role in the wary and distrustful attitude towards him on the part of the authorities and the KGB.
It has now been documented that L.D. Landau was under continuous surveillance both with the help of recruited agents from the people with whom he communicated and through listening equipment. On December 20, 1957 (almost twenty years have passed since the arrest and release of Landau), the head of the Science Department of the Central Committee, corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences V.A. At his request, under the heading “Top Secret”, Kirillin was sent from the KGB of the USSR “Information on the materials of surveillance of Academician Landau.” The KGB certificate states: the following statements Lev Landau: “We don’t understand and don’t like science, which, however, is not surprising, since it is led by mechanics, carpenters, and joiners. There is no scope for scientific individuality. Directions in work are dictated from above” (1947). About politics Soviet government during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956: “Our people decided to splash themselves with blood... For us, these are criminals running the country.” On the Soviet system: “...I believe that our system, as I have known it since 1937, is most definitely fascist system. The fact that Lenin was the first fascist is clear.”
The scientific contribution that Lev Landau made to modern physics is apparently difficult to overestimate. As his colleagues said about him, “he was the last universal physicist, that is, he worked in almost all areas of theoretical physics.” The history of a family, the history of ancestors and descendants is never accidental. Of course, any family, and we have just looked at this using the example of one branch of the Landau family, carries its energy potential through space and time, through any social conditions, countries and eras. The history of a family, its pedigree, is the potential of each of us, regardless of whether we are aware of it or not.
Am. Z.
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