How the father of the Bogdanov brothers ended up in France
Igor Bogdanov and his twin brother Grigory were born on August 29, 1949 in France, in the family of a Russian artist and a representative of the count family of Austria. Igor is the eldest, he was born 45 minutes earlier. Neither of them speak Russian.
When the Great Patriotic War began, 13-year-old Yura Ostasenko-Bogdanov, the future father of twin brothers, was in Leningrad. To prevent the children from dying in the blockade, they began to be taken out. Yura ended up in Pavlovsk. But the Germans occupied the town and drove the children and youth to Germany. From there, Yura managed to escape to Spain, where Irakli Bagration-Mukhransky helped him.
Subsequently, Yuri found the documents of his mother, nee von der Osten-Sacken (Ostasenko), grandfather Boris Bogdanov, who died in 1917, and received the title of prince. He never returned to the USSR.
While still in Spain, Yura met his future wife Maya Kolowrat-Krakovskaya, the illegitimate daughter of an Austrian countess. Maya's father was actually a black American singer, Roland Hayes. Yuri and Maya settled in France in the city of Saint-Lary. In addition to the twins Igor and Gregory, four more children were born into the family.
Childhood and youth
The Bogdanov brothers
If you look at the photographs of Igor Bogdanov and his brother in childhood and youth, it is difficult to disagree with the fact that nature did not offend them with their external data. Correct facial features, thick hair, good height and physique.
Education was added to attractive external data. Both of them read a lot in childhood; there were a lot of interesting books in the family castle of the Austrian grandmother Bertha. After graduating from military school in Soreze at the age of 14, both went to Paris to continue their education.
In Paris
The Bogdanovs work on television
Igor received a higher education with a degree in semiotics. Gregory graduated from the Institute of Political Studies in Paris. In the future, his scientific career will develop better than that of Igor, who will not be able to defend his doctoral dissertation.
While doing science, the Bogdanov brothers at the same time passionately dreamed of television. Having a good appearance and the ability to behave in front of cameras, they attracted the interest of television people with their project “Time X”. The brothers' task was to tell viewers popularly about space, quantum physics, galactic black holes, etc. The program was released and very quickly gained enormous popularity among viewers.
The young scientist-showmen received everything they so strived for: fame, fame, adoration of fans, financial security.
We want to become scientists!
However, the status of simply popularizers of knowledge was no longer enough for them, and in the 1990s they began to engage in real science. For several years they worked in institutes, published scientific papers, and in the late 1990s they were awarded academic degrees in mathematics and theoretical physics.
True, the scientific world reacted to this with distrust. Classical scientists feel some disdain for those who prefer the educational path. Even Sergei Petrovich Kapitsa, the legendary host of the “Obvious - Incredible” program, admitted that with the start of his career on TV, scientists stopped perceiving him as a colleague engaged in practical activities.
But in the case of the Bogdanovs, the claims were justified. No, they were not accused of asserting something contrary to reality in their works. Those who immersed themselves in their works said that there was simply nothing there. Knowing the terminology, Igor and Grishka created empty texts that did not contain any discoveries. They simply repeated what was already known or simply piled up verbal nonsense.
Professor Daniel Sterheimer , who was the supervisor of the brothers’ dissertations, countered the claims as follows: “The guys worked for free for 10 years. They probably had the right to get a diploma for this, especially since it means little these days.”
And indeed, inflated doctors of science are a dime a dozen these days all over the world. But the Bogdanovs were too famous, and the scientific world began to seek deprivation of their degrees.
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What made you change your appearance?
Life in the rays of fame required always being in shape. By the age of 40, both decided that it was time to take drastic measures to rejuvenate. After all, thousands of people look at them every day. Grigory and Igor want to slow down aging, especially since plastic surgery is just beginning to come into fashion.
At first, plastic surgery turned out to be appropriate, and the TV presenter brothers really began to look younger. But, according to many, it was ultimately not possible to achieve a radical improvement in appearance.
What interventions are especially noticeable on the face of Igor Bogdanov
The exact number of operations performed is not known. We can only assume that there were several of them.
What changed in his face so much that he became unrecognizable:
- Chin. He was, as they say, strong-willed by nature. After plastic surgery, he became very large, standing out noticeably on his face.
- The cheekbones on Igor’s face increased in volume due to silicone injections. The upper part of the face even began to cover the eyes. Open by nature, they became twice as narrow.
- Lips . Noticeably increased in size thanks to injections along the contour.
- Circular facelift.
Igor Bogdanov
Igor Bogdanov is now over 70. But his face is smooth, without wrinkles. If we evaluate the beauty of appearance by this parameter, then we can assume that the desired result has been achieved.
Loud scandals of “living mannequins”: what made the Bogdanov brothers famous
The most popular twins in France with Russian roots and heavily pumped faces are Grishka and Igor Bogdanov. They have not left television screens for almost half a century. Loud scandals and the quiet death of one of them, Grishka, forced the world to once again remember the brothers, who at one time were suspected of almost secretly ruling the country. After their meeting with Macron, they started talking about their closeness to shadow power circles. And after the meme with their participation, a conspiracy theory of the brothers’ omnipotence appeared: for example, with just one call they allegedly collapse the cryptocurrency market.
But the brothers were not always the butt of jokes. In France, they are considered the founders of the television science fiction genre. Their broadcasts beat all the ratings. Not only teenagers ran to the screens to learn about the secrets of the universe from them. The cute young presenters quickly acquired an army of fans. But popularity was not enough for them. They desperately began to prove their knowledge of everything they talked about on the show. Publications in scientific journals, doctoral defense and the first scandals. The scientific community suddenly realized: they had been fooled. Proceedings began, their dissertations and articles increasingly began to be called dummy.
But the barrage of criticism did not affect his career. All the attention of the audience was now focused on the appearance of the presenters. They began to be compared to living mannequins. Although they themselves denied going to surgeons and cosmetologists.
“Botox is a toxin that is extremely dangerous. We will never stick it in our face. Because no one knows what the consequences of such injections will be in the long term,”
– Igor Bogdanov said earlier.
But cosmetologists have repeatedly stated that on the face, or rather on faces, there is more than one cube of hyaluronic acid, dozens of Botox injections and, possibly, surgical reshaping of the face. The cheekbones, chin, and eye shape have changed beyond recognition. Skin even at 70 is smooth and taut. Lip augmentation manipulations are also obvious. Their appearance made them Internet legends, and brought them popularity among those who had never watched their show.
“The twins have their own cult of worship on the Internet, where various conspiracy theories are discussed, such as that the Bogdanovs personally met with aliens and they have superpower,”
– says the blogger.
The descendants of the Russian emigrant Bogdanov were suspected of many things: pseudoscientific activities, a secret conspiracy with an extraterrestrial civilization, and even immortality. With the latter, the fans were clearly mistaken, although there are already versions on the Internet that Grishka did not die, but was only reborn in order, as his family’s official statement says, “to join his stars forever.”
Why was Igor given the status of “victim of plastic surgery”
It is unknown what Igor would look like if he allowed his face to age naturally. There are many examples where people over 70 look excellent without the intervention of plastic surgeons. Of course, genetic predisposition is of great importance. And people with good genetics in this regard age gracefully. For example, there are no traces of interference on the face of the main “robin” of the Soviet stage, Yadwiga Poplavskaya. She looks stunning at the same time. And she is already well over 70.
Olivia de Havilland at 104 looks natural and wonderful. The secret is not in plastic, but in lifestyle, said the famous Hollywood star.
The face that Igor Bogdanov received as a result of apparently numerous operations has changed greatly compared to what he was given at birth. Much more suitable for this image is the definition of not a handsome man, but a “victim of plastic surgery,” Igor’s anti-fans mutter.
However, the “victim” herself does not consider herself a victim and even manages to change partners frequently, and his personal life arouses the good envy of Gregory, who is not so successful in relationships.
Personal life
Igor had four marriages, each marriage had children, six in total. What the offspring do, whether they look like their father and how they evaluate his transformation in terms of rejuvenation - one can only guess. One thing can be said with confidence by looking at the photo of Igor Bogdanov before and after plastic surgery: the mothers of Igor’s children made the right decision by choosing such a father. Young Igor is a handsome guy to look for. Apparently. It was not for nothing that Igor’s third wife was the great-great-great-granddaughter of Louis VI, Amelie de Bourbon-Parme, heiress of the Bourbons.
Igor Bogdanov
Photos from the prestigious event, held in 2022 in Cannes, are publicly available. Igor Bogdanov stands next to 24-year-old model Julie Jardon. They say that the relationship between Igor and Julie is more than just friendly.
Gregory, Igor's girlfriend Julie, Igor in Cannes
Illness or plastic surgery?
The legal battle ended in defeat for the brothers. The work was declared to have no scientific value and forced to pay compensation of 2,000 euros to the French National Committee for Scientific Research.
What happened had no effect on Igor and Grishka as showmen. They soon became regular participants in the French version of Fort Boyard, asking players tricky questions from the field of science.
At one time, the Bogdanovs were guys with an ordinary appearance, but in the 1990s changes began, as a result of which their faces took on an unnatural and, according to some, repulsive appearance. This is associated with numerous plastic surgeries, although the brothers themselves categorically denied this. According to an alternative version, Igor and Grishka have acromegaly, a disease that causes enlargement of the bones of the facial part of the skull.
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Appearance and career
It is impossible to say unequivocally that with a change in appearance, the career went uphill or, on the contrary, there was a decline and the Bogdanovs were not allowed on television. As cosmological scientists, they continued to write scientific works that were evaluated by the scientific community; there were reports of professional claims against the Bogdanovs among those involved in the science of cosmology and science fiction.
In 2010, they were accused of unscientific research presented in their doctoral dissertations. The Academic Council approved Grigory's doctoral dissertation, but rejected Igor's doctoral thesis. As a result, he did not receive the title of Doctor of Science.
Their television career, which began in 1979 when they were invited to host the “Time X” program, continues to this day. They worked on different channels and in different projects. In 1982, they hosted the show “2002: Future Odyssey.” In 1989 - host of the Future program. In 2010, they worked for the France 2 channel. At the same time, they were invited to teach cosmology at a private university in Belgrade. In 2015, both brothers took part in the filming of the popular show “Fort Boyard”.
The first French "stalkers"
Having received a good education, the brothers became interested in advanced technology and issues of the future. Science fiction was a big thing in the 1970s, and in 1976 they published their first book on the subject. Guys with unusual origins began to be invited to television, and in 1979 they became the hosts of their own program, “Time X,” in which they talked about quantum physics and astronomy in a popular way.
Nothing like this existed in France at that time, and the Bogdanovs’ show became extremely popular. They appeared in the frame in unusual costumes, imitating the uniform of future star pilots, and broadcast from an interior that looked like a spaceship. Add to this the Russian names - the USSR was a pioneer in space exploration, and this also played into the hands of the brothers. And Grigory also called himself Grishka, playing off the fame of Grigory Rasputin in France.
For ten years, the Bogdanoff brothers had a monopoly on French science: a whole generation of French people learned about the future from various programs of Igor and Gregory.
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