Leonardo DiCaprio is one of those Hollywood stars whose roots come from Ukraine.
The Oscar-winning actor’s grandmother Elena Stepanovna Smirnova was born in Odessa. After the October Revolution, she left with her parents to Germany, where she grew up and married a German and changed her surname to Indenbirken and became known as Helen. The mother of the future star Helen was born in 1943 in a bomb shelter during the bombing of Germany by the Allied forces. After the war, the family Indenbirken emigrated to the United States, where the boy was born, named in honour of the famous Leonardo Da Vinci.
The actor was very fond of his grandmother, she took an active part in his upbringing. In the Network viruses a photo in which a very young Leo has lunch at his grandmother Helen.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Helen Smirnova
Even after becoming a celebrity, the actor took every opportunity to see a relative and always spoke very warmly about his grandmother. She died in 2008, at the age of 93 years and managed to see many famous films with his grandson in the title role.
The actor with his grandmother
‘Nana was the strongest and most internally whole person I have ever met in my life. She was not intimidated by any challenge!’, – shared memories of the star of “Titanic”.
Leo and his grandparents on holiday in Karlovy Vary
