Maria Arbatova - playwright, writer, publicist. She successfully combines literary activity with social work, speaks on television and radio, and actively promotes the ideas of feminism. More than 20 books and 14 plays have been published in Russia, many works have been translated into foreign languages and repeatedly reprinted.
Childhood and youth
Maria (Gavrilin's real name) was born in 1957 in the city of Murom, a year later the family moved to Moscow. Ivan Gavrilovich Gavrilin, father, taught Marxist philosophy, mother Tsivya Ilinichna Aizenshtadt worked as a microbiologist.
Maria’s childhood was overshadowed by a serious illness, because of which she had to spend a lot of time in hospitals and sanatoriums. Due to the forced immobility, the girl read and thought a lot, a penchant for literature appeared very early. From a young age, the future writer showed strength of character - for example, because of personal beliefs, she did not join the Komsomol, although this greatly complicated school life. In high school, she joined the hippie movement, it was at this time that Maria chose her future pseudonym - Arbatova.
The girl attended the school of a young journalist at Moscow State University, entered the Faculty of Philosophy, but dropped out due to ideological pressure from teachers. Later she graduated from the faculty of drama of the Literary Institute. Gorky, in parallel, studied the basics of psychoanalytic counseling with Boris Kravtsov, who specialized not so much in psychoanalysis as in esotericism.
