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Gagarin was born near Gzhatsk, and his parents worked on a collective farm. While manual labourers are described in official reports as "peasants", this is something of an exaggeration; his mother was reportedly a voracious reader, and his father a skilled carpenter who did not advertise his abilities to avoid the wrath of Stalin's purges against the " kulaks". The third of four children, his elder sister helped to raise him while his parents worked. Like millions of Russians, the Gagarin family suffered great hardship in World War II. His two elder siblings were taken away to Germany in 1943, and did not return until after the war. Gagarin himself was described as an intelligent, hard-working, if occasionally mischievous boy by his teachers. His mathematics teacher flew in the Red Army Air Force during the war, which presumably made some substantial impression on the young Gagarin.
After starting an apprenticeship in a metalworks, Gagarin was selected for further training at a technical school in Saratov. While there, he joined the "AeroClub", and learned to fly a light aircraft, a hobby that began to take up an increasing proportion of his time. Through dint of effort, rather than brilliance, he reportedly mastered both; in 1955, after completing his technical schooling, he entered military flight training at the Orenberg Pilot's School. While there he met Valentina Gorycheva, whom he married in 1957, after gaining his pilot's wings in a MiG-15. After graduating, he was posted at an airbase near MurmanskMurmansk is a city in the extreme northwest of Russia with a seaport on the Kola Gulf, 20 miles from the Barents Sea on the northern shore of the Kola Peninsula not far from Russia's borders with Norway and Finland. It has 308 100 inhabitants (2004) and i, where terrible weather made flying risky.
In 1960Events January-February January 1 Independence of Cameroon January 9 Aswan High Dam construction begins in Egypt January 11 Chad declares its independence. January 14 Ralph Chubb, the gay poet and printer, dies at Fair Oak Cottage in Hampshire. January 23, an extensive search and selection process saw Gagarin, amongst 20 other cosmonauts, selected for the Soviet space program. Along with the other prospective cosmonauts, he was subjected to a punishing series of experiments designed to test his physical and psychological endurance, as well as training relating to the upcoming flight. Out of the 20 selected, eventually the choice for the first to launch was between Gagarin and Gherman TitovGherman Stepanovich Titov ( Russian: ; September 11, 1935, Verhnee Zhilino September 20, 2000, Moscow) was a Soviet cosmonaut and the second person to orbit the Earth. After graduating as an air force pilot, he was selected for cosmonaut training in 1960,, because of their excellent performance in training, as well as their physical characteristics - space was at a premium in the small Vostok cockpit. The choice of Gagarin, ultimately approved at the highest levels, was probably made due to Gagarin's modest upbringing and personality, as distinct from the middle-class and somewhat aloof Titov.