I was in high school when “Dr. Zhivago” came out in 1965. I loved the movie. I bought the book. I loved the book, too. I researched the characters. When I read that the “Lara” in the story was a nickname for Larisa, I swore that if I ever had a daughter, I would name her Larisa. It was the most beautiful female name I’d ever heard.
One of the last scenes in the movie - Dr. Zhivago having a heart attack as he watches Lara walking past unaware that he’s there - the whole idea of lost and war-torn love. It was romantic, it was sad, it was emotionally wrenching, it was memorable.
Years passed, and RT and I had our first child - a girl. We named her Larisa. I still love the name - and always will. Now, for us, “Larisa” is so eternally wrapped around our sweet daughter with the dark curly hair and gorgeous brown eyes, and because of that, I love the name even more. I rarely think of the connection between our daughter’s name and “Dr. Zhivago.” It moved beyond that connection long ago. Our Larisa is definitely her own person - the CEO of a successful business, the mother of our two wonderful grandgirls, and someone I talk to every day.
There could not have been any more perfect actors to play the key roles in the movie. Omar Sharif and Julie Christie became Dr. Zhivago and Lara.
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October 19th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Well! I’m just a Lara. My parents got engaged during the intermission of Dr. Zhivago. And married in January 1967. I was born May 1, 1968. They said their first daughter would be named Lara, and that was me! It’s a most romantic story (even though they divorced when I was 18)- it seems that every real LARA or LARISA I meet is just about my age…it was fun to read about your story.
What I’d really like to hear about is how you divorced RT and then 8 years later married him again. Seems IMPOSSIBLE! As my husband of 17 years and I divorced 2 1/2 years ago and have nothing to do with each other (save for sharing our 3 beautiful children). How did you make it work?