Gagarin’s daughters sue film makers

Published September 8, 2007

MOSCOW: A Moscow court met on Friday in a case brought by the daughters of legendary cosmonaut Yury Gagarin against the makers of a film touching on racial issues in Russia, officials said.

The court postponed hearing the case brought by Yelena and Galina Gagarin, daughters of the first man in space, until next Thursday, a spokeswoman for the Babushkinsky district court, Nadezhda Sokolova said. The daughters are suing Moscow-based film company Central Partnership, distributor of the tragi-comic feature film “Gagarin’s Grandson,” for allegedly misusing Gagarin’s name and misrepresenting his life, the company said.

The film deals only tangentially with Gagarin, who died in 1968 and has had near saint-like status in Russia since his 1961 space flight.—AFP