Salvador Dalí married Gala in a civil ceremony in 1934.
Gala, born Elena Ivanovna Diakonova, had become Dalí’s partner after they met in Cadaqués in 1929. She was then married to the Surrealist poet Paul Éluard, but later joined Dalí and became his lifelong companion, muse and business manager.
The couple married civilly in 1934. They held a Catholic wedding ceremony much later, in 1958, after Gala’s first marriage had been annulled. The two ceremonies are sometimes confused in simplified biographies.
Gala played a substantial practical role in Dalí’s career, helping manage exhibitions, finances and his public presentation. Dalí frequently represented her in paintings, while she also appeared as a recurring figure in his religious and mythological imagery.