Gherman Stepanovich Titov was born in the village of Verkhneye Zhilino, Kosikhinsky District, Altai Krai on September 11, 1935. His father was the village teacher Stepan Pavlovich Titov while the mother of the future cosmonaut Alexandra Mikhailovna started as the local commune’s bookkeeper and later became a housewife.
Gherman Titov spent his childhood and youth in the Polkovnikovo village in Siberia where his family moved in 1938. His friends and relatives recalled that from a very early age, the boy showed character, determination, and willpower. At the age of three, he learned how to ski and soon raced against local boys and girls.
Later, Gherman’s father started teaching him to read music and to play the accordion, violin, and mandolin. However, the active and mischievous boy did not enjoy learning music. Legend has it that he once drowned an accordion to avoid having to play the instrument and to listen to his father’s criticism. Nevertheless, Stepan Titov managed to cultivate the love of good songs in his son.
Gherman tried to sing in a choir but soon realized that he was not good at it and, in his own words, abandoned singing in favor of a literary circle where he started to contribute to the school’s creative activities. He enjoyed it and soon became more and more interested in literature.
In this photo from the museum collection, Gherman Titov is portrayed standing in the front row, on the far left. Alexander Fomich Kulik, a teacher of Russian and literature, reminisced,
Gherman Titov spent his childhood and youth in the Polkovnikovo village in Siberia where his family moved in 1938. His friends and relatives recalled that from a very early age, the boy showed character, determination, and willpower. At the age of three, he learned how to ski and soon raced against local boys and girls.
Later, Gherman’s father started teaching him to read music and to play the accordion, violin, and mandolin. However, the active and mischievous boy did not enjoy learning music. Legend has it that he once drowned an accordion to avoid having to play the instrument and to listen to his father’s criticism. Nevertheless, Stepan Titov managed to cultivate the love of good songs in his son.
Gherman tried to sing in a choir but soon realized that he was not good at it and, in his own words, abandoned singing in favor of a literary circle where he started to contribute to the school’s creative activities. He enjoyed it and soon became more and more interested in literature.
In this photo from the museum collection, Gherman Titov is portrayed standing in the front row, on the far left. Alexander Fomich Kulik, a teacher of Russian and literature, reminisced,
