Biologia

Yuri Gagarin was born in the village of Klushino near Gzhatsk (now in Smolensk Oblast, Russia), on 9 March 1934. The adjacent town of Gzhatsk was renamed Gagarin in 1968 in his honour. His parents,Alexey Ivanovich Gagarin and Anna Timofeyevna Gagarina, worked on a collective farm.[1] While manual labourers are described in official reports as "peasants", this may be an oversimplification ifapplied to his parents — his mother was reportedly a voracious reader, and his father a skilled carpenter. Yuri was the third of four children, and his elder sister helped raise him while his parentsworked. Like millions of people in the Soviet Union, the Gagarin family suffered during Nazi occupation in World War II. His two older siblings were deported to Nazi Germany for slave labour in 1943, anddid not return until after the war. While a youth, Yuri became interested in space and planets, and began to dream about his space tour which would one day become a reality.[2]
After starting anapprenticeship in a metalworks as a foundryman, Gagarin was selected for further training at a technical high school in Saratov. While there, he joined the "AeroClub", and learned to fly a light aircraft,a hobby that would take up an increasing portion of his time. In 1955, after completing his technical schooling, he entered military flight training at the Orenburg Pilot's School. While there he metValentina Goryacheva, whom he married in 1957, after gaining his pilot's wings in a MiG-15. Post-graduation, he was assigned to Luostari airbase in Murmansk Oblast, close to the Norwegian border,where terrible weather made flying risky. As a full-grown man, Gagarin was 1.57 metres (5 ft 2 in) tall, which was an advantage in the small Vostok cockpit.[1] He became Lieutenant of the Soviet AirForce on 5 November 1957 and on 6 November 1959 he received the rank of Senior Lieutenant.[3]
After the flight, Gagarin became a worldwide celebrity, touring widely with appearances in Italy, the...