Yuri Gagarin's farewell letter to his wife and daughters

On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin, having started from the Baikonur cosmodrome on the Vostok spacecraft, for the first time in the world made an orbital circling of the Earth, thereby opening the era of manned space flights. Two days before the start, Yury Alekseevich wrote a farewell letter to his wife and daughters - just in case.

“Hello, my dear, beloved Valechka, Helen and Tick! I decided to write you a few lines to share with you and share together the joy and happiness that I had today. Today the government commission decided to send me into space first. You know, dear Valya, how glad I am, I want you to be glad with me. An ordinary person was entrusted with such a large state task - to pave the first path into space!

Can you dream of more? After all, this is history, this is a new era! One day I have to start. You will go about your business at this time. A very big task fell on my shoulders. I would like to be with you a little bit before that, talk to you. But alas, you are far away. Nevertheless, I always feel you next to me.

In the technique I believe completely. She should not let down. But it happens that on a flat spot a person falls and breaks his neck. Here, too, something can happen. But I still do not believe in it. Well, if something happens, then I ask you and first of all you, Valya, not to be killed with grief. After all, life is life, and no one is guaranteed that tomorrow the machine will not crush it. Please take care of our girls, love them as I love. To grow out of them, please, not a Belarusian, not mamma’s daughters, but real people for whom the bumps of life would not be terrible. Grow people worthy of a new society - communism. The state will help you with this.

Well, arrange your personal life, as your conscience will tell you, as you see fit. I do not impose any obligations on you, and I do not have the right to do this. Something too mournful letter turns out. I myself do not believe it. I hope that you will never see this letter, and I will be ashamed in front of myself for this fleeting weakness. But if something happens, you should know everything to the end.

So far I have lived honestly, truthfully, with benefit for people, although it was small. Once in my childhood I read the words of V.P. Chkalov: "If to be, then to be first." So I try to be and will be until the end. I want, Valechka, to dedicate this flight to the people of a new society, communism, in which we are already entering, our great Motherland, our science.

I hope that in a few days we will be together again, we will be happy.

Valechka, you, please, do not forget my parents, if there is an opportunity, then help with anything. Give them a big hello from me and let them forgive me for not knowing anything about it, but they were not supposed to know. Well, it seems that's all. Goodbye my family. Tightly hug you and kiss you, greetings to your dad and Jura.”

This letter was given to Valentina Gagarina in 1968 after the death of her husband.