The magazine Komsomolskaya Pravda has published pictures and some
details of the marriage between Vladimir Kramnik and the French journalist Marie-Laure
Germon. The civil ceremony took place on December 31, 2006, after which the
couple went on a six-day skiing holiday in Switzerland (after which the World
Champion proceeded to Wijk aan Zee for his next big chess tournament).
Kramnik's mother Irina Fedorovna
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The marriage was a private affair, but Kramnik's mother released some details
to the Russian magazine, which also got hold of some pictures. In the article
Irina Fedorovna, who is a music teacher, says that Volodya (Vladimir) and Marie-Laure
first met two years ago in France, when she asked him for an interview. Afterwards
he gave her a call. Last year Vladimir invited his mother to come over and meet
Marie. Irina Fedorovna, who is from Ukraine, took a rushnik
– a special embroidered towel – which it is customary to present
to a daughter-in-law. But Vladimir said: "It is too early, it is not common
in the West countries, people should date for about two years, to get to know
each other better".
Vladimir's mother says that Marie is a very easy-going, cheerful person, who
will sometimes break into song. She describes how they conversed, using a dictionary
or simply gesticulating. Sometimes she couldn't understand what Marie said,
and the two promised each other that they would learn a little of their languages:
Marie Russian and Irina French.
The wedding took place in a close family circle, in Kramnik's appartement in
the centre of Paris. Accompanied by about 40 relatives and close friends
the couple proceeded to the registration office where the civil ceremony was
performed. After that they walked back to the appartement. There a wedding cake
awaited them, baked in the form of a chessboard, with chocolate pieces. The
position on the cake was the final position of his match in Elista, after which
he became the unified world champion. The couple plan to live in Paris, where
Vladimir has a spacious apartment (close to the Opera). Marie said she wanted
many children – a minimum of three. There will be a separate wedding in
the Church of Alexander Nevski in Paris as well, in early February.
Kramnik's father, Boris Petrovich, who is a sculptor, could not attend the
wedding because of a severe illness, but he sent a silver elephant decorated
with precious stones. Kramnik's brother Evgeny presented the couple with a leather-bound
book on Russian history. They also looked for a fine Cognac that had been made
in 1975, the year of Vladimir's birth.
Young Volodya Kramnik
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In the article Vladimir's mother tells about his childhood, how he loved elephants
and bears, how he was modest and retiring, always devoted to chess, which took
his attention from everything else. In fact they feared that he may not get
married.
The article also tells us about Kramnik's youth, how he played chess by telephone
in his home town, where he was soon beating all the "grey-haired old men"
and was soon considered a wonder-child. Volodya's father gave up his work as
an artist to accompany his son to tournaments. It was a tough time for the family.
But the boy was immensely talented: at fifteen he was playing blindfold chess
on twenty boards, but was also able to read War and Peace in two days.
Volodya, says his mother, is hard-working, and a night person, who only goes
to sleep in the early hours of the morning. It is not a healthy lifestyle and
allows fatigue to accumulate.
Irina also speaks about the match and its accompanying scandals in Elista,
about the pressure her son was under, about the rematch challenge issued by Topalov
and the current tournament in Wijk aan Zee. It is worth reading, if you are
able to understand Russian.
Vladimir Kramnik and his fiancée Marie-Laure at a dinner reception in
Germany
... at the start of Kramnik's match against Deep Fritz in October 2006
Some articles and interviews by Marie-Laure Germon
Below are a few articles we found in English. If you are able to read French
you can find plenty more by googling for Marie-Laure Germon. Go through them
– you'll discover that she's the smart one.
Marie-Laure Germon – front-page journalist for Le Figaro
