Galina Dyakonova lived a life that was as wonderful as it was amazing. How come a woman born amid the snow-covered expanses of Russia became such a big inspiration for the genius of surrealist art Salvador Dali?  Enigmatic and controversial as she was, Galina was still the most devoted friend Dali could ever find in his life. Small wonder that after Gala’s death Salvador was hit by such a strong bout of depression and lost all interest in the arts.  The two lived a long and fascinating life together, from the moment when they first met each other in 1929 all the way to 1982 when Gala Dali departed this world.

Galina Dyakonova’s origin and the first 17 years of her life did not augur for a particularly striking future. She was born in Russia in 1894 into the family of a small-time Russian bureaucrat. Her father died early, mother married again and the family moved to Moscow. At 17, Galina was diagnosed with consumption which in the early 20th century was still a deadly disease. Her stepfather then came up with the money to send Galina to a sanatorium in Switzerland where she made the acquaintance of Eugene Paul Grindel who later came to be known as Paul Eluard. Galina was quick to appreciate the man’s larger than life talent – a magic ability to discern talent in men which she happily retained all her life.  It was then and there that Galina started calling herself Gala with the stress on the last syllable. Well, maybe she derived her new name from a similar sounding French word which translates as “joyous and fun-loving”. 

Galina Dyakonova returned to Russia the following year, cured and madly in love…  And getting passionate letters from Eugene that looked more like poems and poems that looked more like confessions of love. She fully reciprocated Eugene’s devotion and when, after the start of World War One he said he waned to join the army, Galina implored him not to put his life on the line.  In February Galina came to Paris and the two tied the knot. Madly in love Eluard was spending freely literally showering his beloved Galina with gifts. The newlyweds were traveling all across Europe and were the darlings of the local high society. Rolling in money Gala was carefully cultivating in her husband feelings similar to those a son has for his mother.  She was selfless, forgiving of his many flings and was like a doting mother to a frolicking son. He was the first genius that came her way, and she was only learning to handle them. 

Their love already on the low ebb, Gala gave birth to their daughter, Cecil. More than 11 years after their marriage, Gala and Paul were introduced to a strange-looking young Spanish painter, Salvador Dali. Skinny with a pair of long moustaches defiantly looking up, and at the same time self-effacing and shy, the man looked like just another screwball. Whether Gala was quick to appreciate the young man’s exceptional talent is hard to say, because few people would then dare to say he would ever make it big. What Gala knew the very first moment, though, was that this young man really stood out from the rest. From then moment on she was all out to make Salvador her new friend happening. She abandoned her rich but no longer loved husband, her daughter and the elegant environment to spend the next few months living with this strange man in a secluded house lost deep in the Spanish wilderness. Six months later Gala realized that living so far away from the capitals made no sense and so the two returned to Eluard’s apartment in Paris where he lived with Cecil and where the four of them spent the following six months. 

Assured of Dali’s genius, Gala was making every effort to help him reveal his talent. In 1930 they were in Paris living literally from hand to mouth until Dali finally rose to international stardom.  Before that happened however, Gala would spend all her time making rounds of the local picture galleries hawking around Salvador’s works. Toiling day and night she finally managed to put together a group of rich connoisseurs who were now commissioning Dali to paint for them. Before long Gala’s selfless effort started bearing fruit. Salvador Dali was becoming one of the greatest artists of his time and in many of his paintings, as we can see, Gala was portrayed as his one and only muse that made him a man and an internationally acclaimed genius. She was alternatively portrayed as Madonna, Venus and Helen the Beautiful – a delusion, an incantation, a talisman… Forever young on canvas Gala was not getting younger in real life however…  Worried by her inevitable physical decline she would now spend long hours making up, exercising and going to massage parlors. And making love, this time for relaxation purposes… 

Dali’s home was now brimming with young artists and sculptors and there was a crowd of hired-for-money lovers following Gala’s every step. Salvador did not seem to be at all alarmed by his wife’s free wheeling ways, himself being entertained by a bevy of beautiful actresses, including the would be pop diva Amanda Lear. Sensing the end was near, Gala asked Amanda to swear to God she would marry Salvador after she was gone. Amanda said yes fearing the wrath of a woman so many people said was a witch…

Gala died on June 10, 1982. Galina Dyakonova, Madame Eluard and Signora Dali was 88… Devastated by the terrible loss, Salvador Dali broke a plague law enacted back in the 1940s that prohibited moving the dead without official permission. Gala’s body was wrapped in a blanket and seated in the back seat of a Cadillac car, next to a nurse. They agreed that if the police were to stop the car they would say Gala had died on the way to a clinic. After an hour’s drive they reached the crypt with horse heads, a human torso and a giraffe all made of gypsum. There were two graves, one reserved for Salvador himself. Gala’s embalmed body was placed inside a casket with a see-through top and buried at 6 p.m.  The muse of a genius was forever gone now…

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Illustrations: I.Svirin, “Gala and Salvador Dali”, “Sovremenny Literator”, Minsk, 1999