Marina Prusakova’s Early Life and Family Background
Marina Nikolayevna Prusakova was 19 years old when she met Oswald. She was born on July 17, 1941, at Severodvinsk (formerly Molotovsk) in Arkhangel Oblast’, Russia. A few years after her birth, her mother Klavdiya Vasilievna Prusakova married Aleksandr Ivanovich Medvedev, who became the only father Marina knew. As a young girl, Marina went to live with her maternal grandparents, Tatyana Yakovlevna Prusakova and Vasiliy Prusakov, in Arkhangel’sk, where her grandfather died when she was about four. By the time she was seven, she moved to Zguritva in the Moldavian SSR (formerly Bessarabia) to live with her mother and stepfather, an electrical worker. In 1952, the family moved to Leningrad when her stepfather obtained a job at a power station. Marina testified that neither her mother nor stepfather was a member of the Communist Party.
Marina’s Life in Minsk Before Meeting Oswald
In Leningrad, Marina attended the Three Hundred and Seventy-Fourth Women’s School, completing the seventh grade in 1955 before entering the Pharmacy Teknikum at her own request, citing her mother’s poor health. While at the Teknikum she joined the Trade Union for Medical Workers and, in her final year, worked part-time at the Central Pharmacy in Leningrad, graduating in June 1959 with a diploma in pharmacy. After her mother died in 1957 during her second year, Marina continued living with her stepfather but had little contact with him; she testified she was not easily disciplined and was a source of concern. After graduation, she left an assigned pharmaceutical warehouse job after one day and, two months later, went to live in Minsk with her childless aunt and uncle, the Prusakovs, who held one of the best apartments in an MVD building. She started work in the drug section of the Third Clinical Hospital in October 1960, earning about 450 rubles per month, and joined the local Komsomol at about the same time. Her social life centered on cafe meetings with student friends for coffee, newspapers, gossip, and discussions, and she had not attached herself to any particular boyfriend by the time she met Oswald in March 1961.
Development of Oswald and Marina’s Relationship
When Marina first met Oswald, she thought he was from one of the Russian-speaking Baltic countries because of his accent; she learned that same evening he was an American. They met again at another dance a week later, danced together most of the evening, and he walked her home. They arranged to meet the following week, but Oswald called to say he was in the hospital and asked her to visit. Medical records show Oswald was admitted to the Clinical Hospital Ear, Nose, and Throat Division on Thursday, March 30, 1961. Marina visited him often, using her uniform to gain entry outside the regular Sunday visiting hours, and brought him an Easter egg on Easter Sunday. On a later visit, he asked her to be his fiancée, and she agreed to consider it. He left the hospital on April 11. During these visits, Marina discussed Oswald’s reasons for coming to Russia and his current status; he told her he had surrendered his American documents and told officials he did not intend to return, saying he could not return to the United States. Oswald continued visiting Marina at her aunt and uncle’s apartment, who were undisturbed that he was an American, and she accepted his marriage proposal on April 20 (according to her recollection) or April 15 (according to his diary).
Marriage of Oswald and Marina Prusakova
After filing notice of intent to marry at the registrar, obtaining the special consent required for an alien to marry a Soviet citizen, and waiting the usual ten days, Oswald and Marina were married on April 30, 1961. Oswald’s diary entry for the wedding day describes two of Marina’s girlfriends acting as bridesmaids, a dinner reception at her aunt’s home for about 20 friends, an evening of eating and drinking, and the couple walking the 15 minutes to their nearby home at midnight. Both took three days off from their jobs, which they spent in Minsk.
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