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Valentina Gagarina, widow of world’s first man is space, dies at age 84

After her husband’s death in March 1968, she has given no interviews, but took part in various events dedicated to her husband

Valentina Gagarina Vladimir Rodionov/TASS

Valentina Gagarina

© Vladimir Rodionov/TASS

MOSCOW, March 17. /TASS/. Valentina Gagarina, the widow of the world’s first man in space Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, has died at the age of 84, a spokesperson for the Cosmonaut Training Center told TASS on Tuesday.

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Yuri Gagarin: World's pioneer in space travel

"Valentina Ivanovna Gagarina has died today," the spokesperson said.

Valentina Gagarina (nee Goryacheva) was born in Orenburg on December 15, 1935. She finished the Orenburg Medical School and worked at the Mission Control Center’s laboratory.

She married Yuri Gagarin in October 1957. After her husband’s death in March 1968, she gave no interviews, but took part in various events dedicated to her husband. In the recent years, she lived in Zvezdny Gorodok (Star City) outside Moscow.

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