Early Life Yuri Gagarin was born on 9 March 1934 in the village of Klushino. There were four children in the family and Yuri was the third. His father, Alexey, was an able carpenter. Both father and mother worked on a collective farm. It is also known that his mother, Anna, was a voracious reader. As parents worked their daughter helped them to bring up Yuri. In World War II the Gagarins underwent Nazi occupation and their dwelling was taken over. The family had to build a mud hut and they lived there for almost two years till the occupation ended.