Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin was born on March 9, 1934, at Klushino, near Gzhatsk in the Smolensk Oblast of Russia (then in the Soviet Union). Gzhatsk was renamed Gagarin in his honour in 1968 after his death. Young Yuri’s parents worked on a collective farm. He was too young to serve in the Second World War, in which his family suffered like many others. His two elder siblings must have perished in Nazi Germany after being deported as forced labourers.
Air Force Pilot
As a youth, Gagarin was interested in flying. During his one year of studies at Saratov Technical School, he joined its “Aero Club” and learned to fly light aircrafts. In 1955, he joined the Orenburg Pilot School for military flight training. He met his future wife, Valentina Goryacheva (Valya), in Orenburg, and they married in 1957. After graduation, he was accepted as a lieutenant of the Soviet Air Force. He was based near the Norwegian border, where harsh weather made it very risky to fly. Gagarin became a senior lieutenant in 1959.
Space Program
These were the times of the “space race” between the superpowers, the USA and USSR. The USSR was clearly in front, sending the first satellite to space in October 1957, following it up by sending live animals for the first time also. By early 1960s, the country was preparing to send a man to outer space.