Marina Denikina

Who was Marina Denikina?

Marina Antonovna Denikina was a Russian-born French writer and journalist. She was the daughter of Russian general Anton Denikin, leader of the counter-revolutionary White movement in the civil war.

Born in Ekaterinodar she lived in exile in France from 1926. She became a journalist and a producer at the French Radio and Television. She wrote several historical books about the Russian Civil War and her father, General Denikin.

In exile she married a French historian Jean-François Chiappe, getting the title of countess. She met Russian president Vladimir Putin on several occasions during his visit to France and eventually gave her consent to transfer her father's remains from USA to Russia. President Putin granted her Russian citizenship.

She last saw her homeland in October 2005, when the remains of General Denikin were repatriated and buried at the cemetery of Moscow’s Donskoy monastery. She died aged 86 at her home at Versailles on November 17, 2005.