The story of Sonya Zolotoy (GOLD) Ruchka, perhaps the most famous Russian criminal, is as mysterious as she herself. And it's no wonder - Sofia Ivanovna Sheindlya-Sura Leibovna Bluvshtein (that was actually the name of the swindler) falsified everything with her own hands. And in this the woman was miraculously good. Although her actions were not always ruled by passion for money. It turned out that love for men was just as much to blame.
According to official court documents, the famous adventuress was born in Powązki, Warsaw province, in 1846. But she herself, having decided to be baptized according to the Orthodox rite in 1899, indicated the place and date of birth of the city of Warsaw, 1851. It is known about Sophia only that she received a brilliant education and was fluent in several foreign languages. And also had an incredible artistic gift, which saved her. And then ruined her.
At the age of 17, Sonya ran away from home with a young Greek man to escape the attacks of her evil stepmother. What happened to Sophia's first lover, the story is silent. But it is known that in 1864 in Warsaw, she married Isaac Rosenbad and gave birth to his daughter Sura-Rivka. Married life and motherhood Sonya did not like: soon enough she fled to Russia with a certain recruit Rubinstein, leaving her daughter to her husband and not forgetting to steal from her husband. The role of a pious married lady and mother frankly did not suit Sonia, and therefore two years later she was arrested for the first time for stealing a suitcase from the Junker Gorozhansky, with whom she met on the train. Then Sophia managed to convince the court that the suitcase she took by mistake. A certain Rubinstein, apparently, too. Because soon Sonya settled in St. Petersburg and began robbing aristocrats in a pair with a new man - a thief and hustler Mikhail Brener.
In St. Petersburg, she invented her own method of robbery and was nicknamed the Golden Hand: Sophia would rent a hotel room, put on soft shoes and sneak into the rooms of rich guests in search of money and jewelry. If the owner of the room woke up, Sophia pretended that she had the wrong room and was very embarrassed. Sometimes she even had sex with her victim, and did it in the highest degree of artistry: no one would not think that the jewels “gone” from the room under the negligee of a charming neighbor.
However, soon the investigators suspected whose handiwork these robberies, and then Sonia left the capital for a while: she married an old rich Jew Shelom Shkolnik, but, without waiting for the inheritance, left him and went on an “international tour”. She changed cities and countries and eventually became the leader of her own gang of thieves and a member of the prestigious criminal club in Moscow, the “Chervonnye Valets”.
In 1871, Sofia married a well-known railroad thief, Michel Blüvstein, and bore him two daughters, Tabba and Michalina. However, no one knows exactly who was actually the father of Sonia's daughters, because she changed lovers like gloves. In the end, the marriage of the famous swindler broke up, because Blüvstein felt insulted: it is one thing when your wife cheats on you with a rich thief, and another - when with a pauper officer, with whom and take nothing but shoelaces. Michel could not stand it and parted with his wife, and Sophia, it seems, was not discouraged: she was not interested in long relationships with men, and the more lovers - the better for her.
Exactly until Sophia really fell in love. Truly.
The aged Sonia Zolotaya Ruchka moved to Odessa and there she met Volodya Kochubchik (aka Wolf Bromberg), an 18-year-old card cheat. Kochubchik started his thieving career as a child, at the age of 8, and managed not only to swindle gullible citizens in the markets, but also to steal from famous thieves. In addition, the character of Kochubchik was not at all to match the biography: he behaved like a favorite and spoiled to the point of spoiling mama's boy. In fact, and Sophia herself, he long called Sofya mother, which she categorically did not like.
Almost every night Kochubchik cleaned up what Sonya managed to loot, and went to play cards. The woman tried to stop his favorite, but in vain: he did not hesitate to scandalize her in public, or even raise his hand at her. Sophia herself, who had previously changed men like gloves, for some reason could not part with a young lover and justified all his antics. Moreover, she tried to steal as much as possible in order to please Kochubchik with another present.
Meanwhile, Kochubchik himself began to tire of Sophia and his dependence on her. In addition, the relationship with Sonya was becoming dangerous: in an effort to steal as much as possible for her beloved, Sonya was almost caught several times and her “tail” grew behind her. So she had to run away, but how to leave her beloved?
Kochubchik himself made the decision for her: he quietly surrendered to the police his already old and completely impoverished (by his efforts) mistress. Sonia was exiled to Sakhalin, and Kochubchik discovered her secret savings, pocketed them and bought himself an estate.
Sonya Zolotaya Ruchka tried to escape from penal servitude to meet her young lover again, but she failed. She died of a common cold in 1902 and was buried in the local cemetery.
