Gala, whose real name was Elena Ivanovna Dykhanova, was born on August 26, 1894, in Kazan and died on June 10, 1982, in Port Lligat, Cadaqués, Spain. She was the wife of Paul Éluard, the lover of Max Ernst, and later became the wife, muse, and model of Salvador Dalí.

Elena was born in 1894. Her mother, Antonina Deulina, was born in 1868 into the family of a Tomsk merchant, Pyotr Deulin. In her youth, she married Ivan Dykhanov, a zemstvo official of the Barnaul district, but in 1888, at the age of 20, she left him and moved to Moscow.

In Moscow, Elena studied at the M. G. Bryukhonenko women's gymnasium, where the sisters Tsvetaeva, Anastasia and Marina, also studied. In 1912, she went to the Klavadel sanatorium in Switzerland for tuberculosis treatment. There she met Paul Éluard, whose father, a wealthy real estate trader, also sent him to this sanatorium. Éluard was impressed by Elena's passion, determination, and high culture. She called herself Gala or Galina, and Éluard gave her the name Gala with the stress on the last syllable. They married in 1917, and a year later, they had a daughter, Cecile.

In 1921, Éluard and Gala visited the artist Max Ernst in Cologne, Germany. She posed for him and became his lover while remaining Éluard's wife. The following year, Ernst moved into Éluard's house in France, and their love triangle was not hidden.

In 1929, Éluard and Gala visited the young Catalan artist Salvador Dalí in Cadaqués. It was love at first sight for both of them. They officially married in 1932, and a religious ceremony took place in 1958.

Gala became the main model and source of inspiration for Dalí, who constantly praised her as a living myth and a modern icon. She took over the management of her husband's financial affairs and made them profitable.

In 1968, Dalí bought a castle in Pubol for Gala, where he could not visit without her written permission.