Primakov Evgeniy Maksimovich: biography, personal life, activities and interesting facts. Tbilisi secrets of Evgeny Primakov Evgeny Primakov journalist international review

Evgeny Maksimovich Primakov, whose biography is presented in this article, is a famous Russian politician and diplomat. At various times he served as prime minister, head of the intelligence service and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was the speaker of the Supreme Council of the Soviet Union. As a civil servant, he gained a reputation as a defender of Russia's interests, was a respected diplomat abroad, and was considered the most pragmatic person. He was a representative of the Soviet party elite who found a place for himself in modern democratic Russia, becoming a vivid reflection of the country's history in its last decades.

Childhood and youth

Many researchers of modern Russian history and politics are interested in the biography of Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov. The hero of our article was born in Moscow in 1929. True, there is no consensus on this matter. Some researchers of the biography of Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov claim that he was born in Kyiv, and his name at birth was Ion Finkelstein. The future politician grew up in a family without a father; his mother worked as a gynecologist.

Presumably, Primakov’s father left his family, then was repressed during Stalin’s terror in the 30s, his trace was lost in one of the Gulag camps. According to available official data, he was Russian, and his mother was Jewish. Yevgeny Primakov himself revealed the family secret. In his autobiography, the hero of our article stated that his father’s last name was Nemchenko. Previously, various versions were put forward, including Bukharin and Kirshenblat.

The hero of our article spent his childhood in Tbilisi, where his mother moved in 1931, and her relatives lived there. After seven years of primary school, Primakov entered a military school in Baku, which was organized on the basis of a naval special school. However, in 1946 he was expelled from the cadets, having discovered a serious illness - pulmonary tuberculosis.

Returning to Georgia, he graduated from high school and then went to Moscow, where he entered the Institute of Oriental Studies. In 1953 he became a certified specialist specializing in Arab states. He decided not to stop there, and soon became a graduate student at Moscow State University. At Moscow State University he studied at the Faculty of Economics.

Early career

In this article we will talk in detail about who Evgeny Maksimovich Primakov is. His career began in 1956, when he began working as a journalist at the All-Union Radio. Quite quickly he went from an ordinary correspondent to the head of the editorial office, which was engaged in broadcasting for foreign countries.

At the age of 33, serious changes are planned in the biography of Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov. He begins working as an international columnist for the Pravda newspaper. He is entrusted with the well-known Middle Eastern direction.

During this period, according to historical information about Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov, he permanently resided in Egypt in order to be closer to the countries and people about which he would write. At the same time, he carries out various responsible assignments of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. For example, he holds meetings with the top leadership of Iraq, in particular with Tariq Aziz and Saddam Hussein, the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, the Kurdish leader Mustafa Barzani, the head of the Syrian Arab Renaissance Party Zuein, even the Sudanese general Jafar Mohammed Nimeiri, who eventually becomes the head of his country. All these relationships in the future helped Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov, whose detailed biography is given in this article, when he represented the interests of the Soviet Union in the international arena.

According to Western media, in particular journalists from the UK, Primakov at that time was not only carrying out orders from his leadership for the Pravda newspaper, but also working on an intelligence mission. There are suggestions that he was a KGB officer. He performed under the code name "Maxim".

Scientific activity

A complete biography of Evgeny Maksimov Primakov is presented on RBC. There you can find articles about his life and work. Recent publications are devoted to the installation of a monument to Primakov in Moscow, the appointment of his grandson, Vyacheslav Volodin, as an adviser to the speaker of the State Duma. You will learn about other interesting facts further.

The hero of our material was actively engaged in scientific work. In 1969, the future politician received a Doctor of Economics degree. He defended his dissertation on the economic and social development of Egypt. At the end of next year, Primakov was appointed deputy rector of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations at the Russian Academy of Sciences. The head of IMEMO RAS, Nikolai Inozemtsev, approached him with such a proposal.

Having become a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences, Primakov headed the Institute of Oriental Studies, and until 1979 he combined this work with teaching at the diplomatic academy. There he had the title of professor. He also remained deputy chairman of the Peace Committee.

This is the scientific biography of economist Evgeny Maksimovich Primakov. Moreover, in 1985, instead of Inozemtsev, he headed the Institute of World Economy and International Relations. He remained in this position for four years, conducting global research into methods for studying economic and political issues on a global scale, as well as analyzing interstate conflicts and various problems in the field of international relations.

Place in politics

Primakov began his political career relatively late - only at the very end of the 80s. He is elected by the deputies of the Supreme Council, and then by the head of the Council of the Union of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

Even in a short biography of Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov, it must be mentioned that at that time he played an important role in the international arena. With his active participation, many acute problems and conflicts between different states were resolved. For example, Primakov met with Saddam Hussein on the eve of the conflict in the Persian Gulf. Conducted negotiations with Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, Israeli politicians Yitzhak Rabin and Golda Meir, and Syrian leader Hefez Assad.

When the putsch took place in Moscow in 1991, it was Primakov who was appointed first deputy chairman of the KGB. With the formation of the Russian Federation in place of the collapsed Soviet Union, the hero of our article was put in charge of the Foreign Intelligence Service. He remained in this responsible position until 1996.

On Yeltsin's team

As is known from the biography, serious changes begin to occur in the political career of Yevgeny Primakov under Boris Yeltsin. In 1996, he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. In this post, he replaces Andrei Vladimirovich Kozyrev.

Primakov repeatedly states that he is an ardent supporter and adherent of the Realpolitik course, introduced in his time by Bismarck. Its essence lies in making political decisions solely for practical reasons, without taking into account moral, ideological and other possible aspects. This is exactly what Russia’s foreign policy is becoming under Primakov; he advocates multi-vectorism.

In particular, it was the hero of our article who advocated the creation of a strategic triangle, which, in addition to Russia, should have included India and China in order to create a counterweight to the United States in the international arena. At the same time, he insisted that the Russian Federation must develop relations with Western countries in a positive way, opposed the expansion of NATO, and was always a supporter of a speedy end to the Cold War. Many people highly appreciate what he did in this position. It is believed that Primakov returned to the Russian diplomatic service the dignity and authority that it had lost during the years of the aggressive policy of the Soviet Union in the international arena.

At the head of the government

In 1998, Primakov left the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs to head the government. He becomes prime minister under President Boris Yeltsin. At the same time, he automatically immediately begins to be considered by specialists and analysts as one of the future contenders for the presidential post.

Primakov becomes prime minister during a difficult period for Russia. The financial crisis of 1998 deals a powerful blow to the economy, and his predecessor Sergei Kiriyenko is fired.

Primakov spends relatively little time in his post as Prime Minister - only eight months. However, many note that the situation in the country has improved significantly during this time. In particular, the market economy has stabilized. When he was dismissed, appointing Sergei Stepashin as head of government, most Russians perceived this as a negative change. The official reason for this decision was the slowdown in the reform process.

Work in parliament

In 1999, Primakov became a deputy of the State Duma. It is he who heads the “Fatherland - All Russia” faction. She is perceived by many experts as the main opposition to the current government, and Primakov is regarded as the main candidate for the post of the next president.

In December 1999, he led Fatherland - All Russia to the parliamentary elections. According to public opinion polls, he is one of the most popular politicians in the country, and his political movement is capable of competing with the main party of recent years in the Russian parliament - the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.

However, the Kremlin succeeds in decisive political maneuver. A few months before the elections, the presidential administration creates the socio-political movement "Unity", which supports Yeltsin. It is headed by Sergei Shoigu.

Presidential ambitions

In the elections to the State Duma, Unity inflicts a crushing defeat on the OVR, almost overtaking the Communists. As a result, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation wins, receiving 24.3% of the votes, Unity - 23.3%, and OVR - 13.3%. Only thanks to the large number of deputies who won in single-mandate constituencies, OVR is kept afloat, slightly inferior to Unity in the total number of deputies in parliament.

But the next blow dealt by the presidential administration turns out to be fatal for Primakov. On December 31, 1999, Boris Yeltsin made one of the most unexpected acts of his life, announcing that he was resigning. He appoints new Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as acting president. The resignation of the head of state means early elections will be held in March 2000. Such an early election campaign was not part of the plans of Primakov and his supporters; they simply did not have time to prepare. The hero of our article himself is losing the trust of the electorate every month. As a result, two months before the elections, he decides not to run for the post of head of state, although in mid-1999 many considered him as one of the likely winners.

In the elections in March, the OVR is not nominating anyone. These presidential elections are becoming one of the most popular in the history of modern Russia. There are 11 candidates vying for the highest post in the country. At the same time, four of them fail to gain even one percent of the votes. Vladimir Putin wins the first round. Almost 53% of Russians support him. Gennady Zyuganov, who took second place, does not reach the 30% mark.

After Putin is elected president, Primakov announces that he is becoming his adviser and ally.

Chamber of Commerce and Industry

In 2001, Primakov received the post of head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which he held for the next ten years. Afterwards he became chairman of the club of veterans of “big politics”, in which he made analytical reports on the situation in the country and the world.

In the summer of 2015, the hero of our article dies after a long illness. Doctors discovered he had liver cancer. Evgeny Maksimovich Primakov (1929-2015) is trying to overcome the disease, undergoes surgery in Milan, and is treated at the Blokhin Center in Moscow. But everything was unsuccessful. The biography and years of life of Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov are discussed by everyone who comes to say goodbye to him at the memorial service in the Column Hall of the House of Unions. Russian President Vladimir Putin also speaks. Primakov is buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy cemetery.

Family

In the biography of Yevgeny Primakov, personal life played a big role. He was married twice. He met his first wife, Laura Gvishiani, as a child. They lived in neighboring houses in Georgia. Laura was the daughter of an NKVD general.

The young people went together after school to enroll in Moscow, where they got married in 1951. In 1954, their son Alexander was born, and in 1962, their daughter Nana. The family suffered a strong blow in 1981, when the Primakovs’ son died of a heart attack. In the summer of 1987, the politician’s wife died of heart disease. They were married for 37 years. From his son, Primakov leaves a grandson, Evgeniy, who now has four daughters. Nana gave birth to two children - Maria and Sasha.

Changes in the biography and personal life of Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov began in 1994. He is getting married a second time. His chosen one is the politician’s personal physician, Irina Borisovna. A graduate of the Medical Institute in Stavropol, she worked for a long time in the Fourth Main Directorate, where she treated the entire leadership of the state. Over time, she became the head of the Barvikha sanatorium, where in 1990 she met a politician. It is noteworthy that at that time she was married, but for the sake of Primakov she left her doctor husband and daughter Anya.

Soon after meeting at the sanatorium, Primakov invited Irina Borisovna to become his attending physician. It is known that they became close after the coup. Then the woman divorced her husband and married the hero of our article.

In the last years of his life, Primakov retreated from public politics, but actively commented on events taking place in the country. In particular, he began to be attributed to the so-called “seventh column”. If the opposition is considered the “fifth column”, system liberals are considered the “sixth” column, then sensible security officials are considered the “seventh”, who are afraid of worsening relations with the outside world, conflicts and negative consequences from this for Russia.

Primakov regularly spoke about the need to re-establish relations with the West, begin domestic policy reforms, behave more rationally in the international arena, and wind down the Ukrainian campaign.

The ex-Prime Minister of Russia hid his real father all his life

The ex-Prime Minister of Russia hid his real father all his life

Only in his last autobiographical book did Evgeniy PRIMAKOV shed light on his childhood. The former politician and intelligence officer names a certain NEMCHENKO as his father. Before this, other surnames were also found in various sources - KIRSHENBLAT and BUKHARIN. Express Gazeta conducted its own investigation.

In memoirs Evgeny Primakov wrote this: “My father’s last name Nemchenko- my mother told me about this. I've never seen him. His paths with his mother diverged; in 1937 he was shot. From birth I bore my mother’s surname – Primakov.”

In Tbilisi, where Evgeniy Maksimovich spent part of his childhood, his distant relatives and friends remained. It was they who told the truth about the “secret father” of the former prime minister and head of foreign intelligence.

Committed suicide

Primakov has a dash in the “Paternity” column on his birth certificate. According to relatives, Evgeny Maksimovich’s mother, Anna Yakovlevna, married an engineer in her youth Maxim Rosenberg, that’s why my son’s middle name is Maksimovich. Primakov, however, did not mention this surname in his memoirs.

Because of this dash, many versions have appeared, says an elderly Tbilisi friend of the family Tamara Chelidze. - In one book they wrote that Evgeniy Maksimovich was the son Bukharin. This was assumed after Primakov said that his biological father was shot in 1937. Some external similarity between both confirmed this version. However, the version that his father is a doctor is just as complete nonsense David Kirshenblat.Kirshenblat’s great-granddaughter, whose mother grew up with Evgeniy, shared her memories.“Primakov is his mother’s last name,” says Karina. - Evgeniy Maksimovich writes everywhere that my mother’s name was Anna Yakovlevna, but her relatives called her Hanoi. And his maternal grandmother’s name was Berta Abramovna. Hana was a famous gynecologist in Tbilisi. For some reason, Evgeniy Maksimovich also changed his place of birth: he was born not in Kyiv, but in Moscow. According to relatives, Kirshenblat was still related to Evgeniy. He lost his wife early and married the governess of his two children, Faina, who had a sister, Khana, Primakov’s mother. Since Zhenya’s mother had only an 11-meter room in a communal apartment, he grew up in his aunt’s house.

Kirshenblat treated Zhenya like his own, says Karina. - And Evgeniy Maksimovich does not mention his mother’s husband, Maxim Rosenberg, for certain reasons. The fact is that Hana and Maxim did not have children for a long time. And she, as her mother said, had an affair with another man. When Zhenya was nine months old, Rosenberg committed suicide. The tragedy happened during a family dinner: Hana and Maxim had a fight, the husband got up from the table, ran along the corridor and jumped out of the window. Kirshenblat was just returning home and discovered Maxim’s body on the street: he died in his arms. After Maxim's death, Hana never remarried. But she was a bright woman...

The “Jewish trace” haunted Primakov. During the years of perestroika, denunciations were written against him more than once. Thus, at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Yevgeny Maksimovich was accused of involvement in a Zionist conspiracy. “Anti-Semitism has always been a tool for bullying stupid party officials,” wrote Evgeniy Maksimovich. - Both chauvinism and nationalism have always been alien to me. Even today I do not believe that God chose any nation to the detriment of others. He chose us all, whom he created in his own image and likeness...” Yevgeny Maksimovich did not talk about his relatives who emigrated to Israel, but after the end of his political career he visited and supported them.

Beat Laura's fans

Primakov met his first wife in Tbilisi. Laura grew up in the family of her father's sister, an opera singer. Nadezhda Kharadze and her husband - conductor Alexis Dimitriadi, because her parents were shot.

At the age of 14, Zhenya entered the Baku Naval School, but fell ill and returned to Tbilisi, said Laura’s cousin, a professor at the conservatory. Nana Dimitriadi. “That’s why he finished school with us.” And when he entered the Institute of Oriental Languages ​​at Moscow State University, everyone was perplexed. From Moscow he often came to Tbilisi, where he had friends. Zhenya knew Laura, and became close while on vacation in Gagra. They were 19 then. He often fought over Laura. One day my mother couldn’t stand it and said: “Either you get married, or you, Zhenya, leave.” Laura was charming, played the piano beautifully, and could turn anyone’s head. She then left the Tbilisi Polytechnic, where she studied at the Faculty of Chemistry, and transferred to the Institute. Mendeleev and left for Moscow. They celebrated their wedding in Moscow, in a small circle. He and Zhenya lived modestly: they rented a corner in the janitor's room. When the firstborn, son Sasha, was born, he was brought to his grandmother, Anna Yakovlevna... Laura was always next to Zhenya. I went with my beloved to Egypt, where he was sent as a correspondent. Despite a congenital heart defect and doctors prohibiting her from giving birth to a second child, after returning from Egypt she made her husband happy with her daughter Nana. When Boris Yeltsin in 1999, eight months after Primakov was appointed prime minister, he dismissed him, and the politician went to a hockey match as if nothing had happened. But family is a completely different matter. He never worried about any political situation as much as the death of his son.

“Alexander died at the age of 26,” recalls Nana Dimitriadi. - Handsome, graduated from MGIMO, completed an internship in the USA. But during the May Day demonstration he became ill... When the autopsy was performed, it turned out that the guy suffered two micro-infarctions. Six months before this, a dark story happened in Moscow. He went out with a friend to smoke and was beaten. Sasha then had to have her nose reconstructed...

Another unpleasant story that happened to Sasha was the disappearance of his dissertation. It is quite possible that these events caused heart problems.

Nana, like her parents, was very upset by the death of her brother. She named her eldest daughter Alexandra in his honor. “Zhenya started drinking then,” says a friend of the Primakov family, Tamara Chelidze. - I spent long hours every day at the Kuntsevo cemetery. Grief brought him even closer to his friend, the director. Georgiy Danelia, whose son Nikolai died almost at the same time under strange circumstances. Their sons knew each other, they are buried in the same cemetery... Granddaughter Sasha became a translator and photographer, and then started breeding dachshunds. She never boasted about her grandfather: she dressed simply and hardly wore makeup. I married a good intelligent boy - Anton Lenin. “Grandfather spoiled his granddaughter Sasha, but not that much,” said Karina, a distant relative of the Primakovs. - But the grandson Evgeny, born from the son of Sasha (TV journalist Evgeniy Sandro. - N.M.), bought several apartments. When the grandson got divorced, the apartment remained with the wife, and a new one was bought for him.

Daughter blessed

Distant relatives of the Primakovs remember their first wife Laura as a hospitable woman who was fond of antiques and theater.

She drove an old Zaporozhets and did not want to get into an expensive car,” said her Tbilisi friend Sofiko. - Attended all the general premieres. She died when she and her husband were getting ready to go to a concert Gennady Khazanov. Heart. She died six years after the death of her son, in 1986. At the Kuntsevo cemetery, Evgeniy then bought four places at once. He always insisted that he wanted to be buried next to his son and wife. We were surprised that his second wife Irina recently agreed to have him buried at Novodevichy. Probably the authorities decided so... After Laura’s death, many wanted to marry him, but for a long time nothing worked out, until the young blue-eyed Irina, his personal doctor, appeared in his life. Because of her new love, she divorced her husband. Irina once admitted: “He takes such beautiful care! They can’t do that now.” And what poems he dedicated to her! Irina and Evgeniy Maksimovich asked Nana for blessings. She was friends with Primakov’s daughter, and she didn’t mind. When the family got to know the new wife better, they accepted her into the family. It is interesting that Irina’s daughter from her first marriage, Anna, took the surname Primakov. Not only the widow, children from two marriages, grandchildren, but also illegitimate offspring can claim Yevgeny Primakov’s inheritance if he did not leave a will.- Primakov has an illegitimate daughter, Anya, he officially introduced her at one of his anniversaries. He helped Anya all her life. She looks like Yevgeny Maksimovich’s daughter, Nana,” Karina shared.

AND THIS IS ALL WITH HIM

When commemorating Yevgeny PRIMAKOV, journalists mainly noted two of his achievements. A sensational turn over the Atlantic on March 24, 1999 (when the Nazis dropped bombs on peaceful Yugoslav cities) and the salvation of Russian foreign intelligence. In the fateful 1991, Primakov saved her from large-scale purges. But for some reason not a single media outlet appreciated Yevgeny Maksimovich’s initiatives in the post of Prime Minister. Our columnist Elena KREMENTSOVA tried to remember what Primakov managed to do as head of government in just 8 months, when the country needed emergency resuscitation after the 1998 default. There were many merits, and perhaps the most important are these:

* Prevented a repeat of the bloody October 1993. Deputies demanded resignation Yeltsin and began impeachment proceedings. There was a threat of dissolving parliament or abandoning market relations. Primakov through compromises, he eased the tension between the president, the liberal government and the State Duma, and calmed the people.

* He did not succumb to the pressure of the governors and the military-industrial complex, who demanded money from the government, and refused to turn on the printing press, preventing the rise of inflation. * He forbade the issuance of loans to everyone who received them and did not return them. And he kept the ruble from falling further.* He proved that the state has enough money and there is no need to increase debts. For the first time since the collapse of the USSR, his government drew up an honest budget in which revenues exceeded expenses.* Although it devalued the ruble, it immediately adopted a number of tax measures, which benefited the countryside and small towns of Russia, where the remnants of existing production were concentrated.* For the first time Since August 1991, salaries and pensions began to be paid on time.

* Restored the work of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Russia, which after eight years of Yeltsin’s reforms had fallen into extreme decline and served the “opportunistic political preferences” of the rarely sober head of state and his team. * Insisted on the development of Soviet Islamic studies and the expansion of domestic peaceful Islam into the countries of the Arab world. And in every possible way he promoted the interests of our country in the Middle East. For this alone, Evgeniy Maksimovich deserved a monument during his lifetime.

Think about it!

In 1975, Primakov brought billionaire David Rockefeller to Tbilisi. And I decided to invite him to visit my relatives. Having called his mother-in-law, Evgeniy Maksimovich said: “We’ll stop by in the evening!” The woman began to panic: the apartment was put in order in a fire emergency manner, the table was set, but they did not have time to repair the entrance. Then the security guards, who had arrived ahead of time, came out of the situation: they turned off the lights in the entrance so that the wall could not be seen. Having assessed the set table, Rockefeller approached the portrait of Ernest Hemingway hanging on the wall. Moving the picture to the side, he saw a faded spot on the wallpaper: “So it really was hanging...”

Bear in mind

CPSU member Yevgeny Primakov was never a religious person, but at the end of his life he came to God and was baptized.

Primakov loved magic tricks

Politician shows children circus tricks

In 2000, Evgeniy Maksimovich stayed with a politician Stepan Sitaryan in Yerevan,” said the businessman Narine Davtyan. - He not only had many friends among Georgians, but also Armenians. Stepan Sitaryan was a relative of mine. Evgeny Primakov saw that my 6-year-old son had strabismus. He immediately called the ophthalmologist Svyatoslav Fedorov, and gave instructions to begin treatment immediately. Doctors began to treat his son in time using new methods of that time and thanks to this they managed to avoid surgery. He loved children: he immediately began showing my children different tricks: circus tricks with coins falling from their sleeves. My daughter, who is interested in painting, then drew a portrait: Primakov is wearing a turban, and coins are falling from his sleeve. We solemnly presented it to him.

Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov is a famous politician, diplomat, former prime minister, head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and intelligence services, speaker of the Supreme Council of the Soviet Union.

He was an academician, a statesman who earned a reputation as an unshakable defender of the interests of the Russian Federation, a pragmatic and respected diplomat in the state and abroad, a large-scale personality with an inner core from a unique generation of the Soviet and post-Soviet era, which became a reflection of the history of the country.

Primakov’s most striking and famous political decision was the cancellation of a visit to Washington in 1999, which occurred right in the air during a flight over the Atlantic. Having received information about the North Atlantic military bloc's intention to bomb Yugoslavia, he decided to return immediately.

The childhood of Evgeny Primakov

One of the most influential people in the state was born on October 29, 1929 in Kyiv, the capital of the Ukrainian SSR. His real name is Ion Finkelstein. His mother is a gynecologist. The politician did not know his father. In the thirties, he was repressed and disappeared in one of the Gulag camps. According to official data, the politician’s mother is Jewish, father is Russian.

The politician grew up in Tbilisi, where his mother’s relatives lived, and where she moved 2 years after his birth. After graduating from seven classes, he entered the Baku military school (BVMPU), created on the basis of a naval special school. In 1946, the young man was expelled from the cadets due to pulmonary tuberculosis.

Returning to Georgia and graduating from school in 1948, he entered the capital’s Institute of Oriental Studies. In 1953, he became a certified specialist in Arab states and continued his education in graduate school at the Faculty of Economics of Moscow State University.

The beginning of the career of Evgeny Primakov

Since 1956, he began working as a journalist for the All-Union Radio, holding positions from correspondent to editorial director of radio broadcasting to foreign countries of the State Committee for Cultural Relations.

At the age of 33, Primakov began working as an international columnist for the newspaper Pravda, and since 1965 he has been the Middle East correspondent for this tabloid. While living in Egypt, he carried out important tasks of the Central Committee of the Party, met with the leadership of Iraq (Saddam Hussein, Tariq Aziz), the Kurdish military man Mustafa Barzani, the leader of Palestine Yasser Arafat, with the Syrian leader of the Arab Renaissance Party Yu. Zuein, as well as with the Sudanese general who became the head of the country, Jafar Mohamed Nimeiri.

According to the British media, at that time Primakov was not so much engaged in journalism as he was carrying out an intelligence mission, being a KGB agent and working under the pseudonym “Maxim”.

Scientific work of Evgeny Primakov

In 1969, the politician received a doctorate degree, defending his scientific research “Social and Economic Development of Egypt.”

At the end of 1970, the head of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IMEMO), Nikolai Inozemtsev, invited him to take the post of his deputy. As a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences, he headed the Institute of Oriental Studies, combining this position with teaching at the Diplomatic Academy as a professor, as well as with the post of deputy chairman of the Peace Committee.

Since 1985, he was the head of IMEMO for 4 years. A member of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences, he led the research into methods for studying global political and economic issues, and analyzed interstate conflicts and other problems in the field of international relations.

Since 1989, Primakov became the head of the Union Council. In 1990-1991 he joined the Council of the country's leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

With his direct participation, the main players on the world political arena searched for ways to solve many pressing problems and regulate key interactions in international politics. Thus, on the eve of the conflict in the Persian Gulf, he met with Saddam Hussein, with Israeli figures - Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin, as well as with Hosni Mubarak (Egypt), Hafez Assad (Syria) and others.

After the putsch in August 1991, he was appointed first deputy chairman of the KGB. With the formation of the Russian Federation, he was chosen to head the Foreign Intelligence Service, serving in office from 1991 to 1996.

Being an adherent of “Realpolitik”: the course pioneered by Bismarck (in which political decisions are made primarily for practical reasons, without taking into account ideological or moral aspects), the head of the Foreign Ministry advocated a multi-vector foreign policy.

He was the initiator of the creation (as opposed to the United States) of the Russia-China-India strategic triangle, simultaneously with the development of relations with the West, an opponent of NATO expansion, and a supporter of the end of the Cold War. By all accounts, he restored authority and dignity to the country's diplomatic service.

During the period 1998-1999. Primakov was appointed prime minister. At the same time, he automatically became a contender for the presidency. During the 8 months of his premiership, the market economy in the Russian Federation quickly stabilized and recovered. Yevgeny Maksimovich's resignation from office (due to the slowdown in reforms) was perceived negatively by more than 80 percent of citizens.

Since 1999, Evgeny Maksimovich has been a State Duma deputy and headed the Fatherland - All Russia party. In 2000, 2 months before the election of the country's leader, in a televised address, he refused to participate in the presidential race and, after the election of Vladimir Putin, became his ally and adviser.

Yevgeny Primakov about Vladimir Putin

Since 2001, Primakov has been the head of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for 10 years. He then became chairman of the veterans' club, exchanging opinions and analyzes of the political situation with the state leadership.

Personal life of Evgeny Primakov

Yevgeny Primakov was married twice. He knew his first wife Laura Gvishiani (Kharadze) since childhood; they lived next door in Georgia. She was the adopted daughter of NKVD General Mikhail Maksimovich Gvishiani, and later became the sister of son-in-law Alexei Kosygin. Together the young people went to enroll in Moscow. In 1951 they got married.

They had two children - their first-born Alexander in 1954 and their daughter Nana in 1962. In 1981, the politician suffered a severe loss - the death of his son from a heart attack. At this time he was on duty on Red Square during the May Day festivities. His heart was weak, and the ambulance could not arrive quickly.

In the summer of 1987, the politician’s wife also died of heart disease. She felt sick in the elevator while they were going down. They lived together for 37 years.

From his son, Primakov left a grandson, Evgeniy Jr., who gave him 4 great-granddaughters. And daughter Nana gave birth to 2 girls, Sasha and Maria.

The politician’s second wife was his attending physician Irina Borisovna, whom he married in 1994. She graduated from the Stavropol Medical Institute, and during her residency she worked in the Fourth Main Directorate, where the country's leadership was treated. Then she became the head of the special department of the Barvikha sanatorium, where in 1990 she met a politician. At that time, she was married to a doctor, and their daughter Anya was born into the marriage.

Yevgeny Primakov invited her to become his attending physician. A year later, after the putsch, Irina divorced her husband and became close to the politician. Soon they got married.

The last years of life and death of Yevgeny Primakov

Recently, the diplomat was ranked among the so-called “seventh column” because of his statements about the need to restore relations with the West, curtail the Ukrainian campaign, implement domestic political reforms and pursue a rational foreign policy. (Recall that the “fifth column” includes the opposition public, the “sixth” - system liberals, the “seventh” - sensible security officials who fear the worsening of the conflict with the whole world and the negative consequences of this for the Russian Federation).

In 2011, he resigned as president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation and after that finally left “big politics”.

Yevgeny Primakov died in Moscow

In 2014, the politician underwent surgery in Milan, then underwent treatment at the Blokhin Russian Cancer Center. At the beginning of June 2015, he got there again.

Primakov passed away at the age of 86 after a serious illness (according to various sources - a brain tumor or liver cancer) on June 26, 2015. He was buried with military honors at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow. At the civil funeral service in the Hall of Columns of the House of Unions, the President of Russia himself spoke, and the funeral service for the politician was Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Kirill.

Vladimir Putin, former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and other political figures expressed deep condolences in connection with the death of Primakov to his relatives.

Death of Yevgeny Primakov: Vladimir Putin’s speech at the farewell ceremony

Earlier, noting the outstanding achievements of Yevgeny Maksimovich on the eve of his 85th birthday, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called him an iconic figure in the foreign policy of the Russian Federation and expressed the conviction that the progressive system of his views (thanks to which, in particular, a turning point in the foreign policy of the Russian Federation) took place in the future will be studied as a special concept - the “Primakov Doctrine”.

Evgeny Primakov is a famous Russian statesman and political figure, orientalist, economist, who has made an incommensurable contribution to the economic, political and scientific sectors of the Russian Federation. From 1991 to 1996 he headed the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, from 1996 to 1998 he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, and in 1998-99 he was Chairman of the Russian Government. Over the next ten years, from 2001 to 2011, he was president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation.

Childhood and youth

Evgeniy Maksimovich Primakov was born on October 29, 1929 in Kiev, but three months after his birth, together with his mother Anna Yakovlevna, Kirshenblat became a “victim” of Stalin’s repressions, and therefore they had to leave their hometown and move to Tbilisi to live with relatives.

Young Evgeniy never saw his father and knew nothing about him; he was raised by one mother, who lived only for the sake of her son. It is known that the mother of the future Prime Minister of the Russian Federation was a professional obstetrician-gynecologist and devoted her entire life to this profession.

Primakov spent his childhood in a 14-meter communal apartment without basic amenities, but the boy was always well-fed and clothed, despite the difficult wartime - his mother worked two jobs to provide her son with everything he needed.

Due to his mother’s full-time job, young Zhenya was left to his own devices, walking on the street all day with the kids, but this did not prevent him from reaching colossal heights in the political firmament of modern Russia in the future and becoming a worthy citizen of his country.

After graduating from 7 years of high school, the future head of the Russian Foreign Ministry decided to enter the naval preparatory school in Baku, but after two courses of study he was expelled from the ranks of the cadets for health reasons - then Primakov was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis. In this regard, the guy had to return to his school desk to receive a complete secondary education.

Thanks to the tireless efforts and care of his mother, Evgeniy managed to overcome the most terrible illness. In 1948, the young man successfully graduated from boys' school No. 14 in Tbilisi. Due to the fact that he was a good and diligent student at school, he was able to enter the prestigious Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies “without cronyism.”

After graduating from university, Evgeny Primakov continued his studies and in 1956 graduated from the economics department of the graduate school of Moscow State University. In 1959 he defended his dissertation and became a candidate of economic sciences.

Career

Yevgeny Primakov’s career began in the Arabic editorial office of the Main Directorate of Radio Broadcasting to Foreign Countries, where he worked his way up from an ordinary correspondent to editor-in-chief. The future Prime Minister of the Russian Federation worked in journalism until 1970, after which Primakov’s biography changed its direction towards science.

Then Evgeniy Maksimovich took the post of deputy director of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations, and 7 years later he headed the Institute of Oriental Studies, while being a professor at the Diplomatic Academy and academician-secretary of the department of economics and the department of problems of world economy and international relations.

In 1989, the first political star appeared on the horizon of Primakov’s career, and he quickly entered global world politics. At the beginning, he was elected a member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, and literally a year later he became a member of the Presidential Council, where, with his participation, many serious issues related to the development of dangerous events, situations, and conflicts were resolved.

After the 1991 putsch, Yevgeny Primakov became chairman of the Foreign Intelligence Council, first of the USSR, and then of Russia, while he served as first deputy chairman of the KGB of the USSR. In 1996, Evgeny Maksimovich was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, which brought him tremendous success in the political arena.

Then he managed to conduct successful negotiations with the countries of the Middle East and obtain many unrelated loans in the amount of $3 billion, which were very necessary for the country at that moment.

In 1996, Primakov became Prime Minister of the Russian Federation under the then-current president. In this position, Evgeniy Maksimovich also clearly demonstrated his professionalism, since he had many receptions, meetings and negotiations with high-ranking representatives of European countries, which, due to Yeltsin’s illness, he had to conduct independently.

In 2001, at an extraordinary congress of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, Primakov was elected its president. Until 2011, Primakov remained the unchanged head of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Evgeniy Maksimovich focused all his vast experience and scientific potential in this field.

Thanks to his colossal achievements, he was considered a global authority as a statesman and public figure, promoting the implementation of major programs of federal importance.

In 2008, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation joined the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences and became an honorary member of the Russian Academy of Education. Evgeniy Maksimovich is one of the leading Russian orientalists, a major scientist in the field of international relations, foreign policy and economics of Russia.

Personal life

The personal life of Yevgeny Primakov, like his career, has sharp turns and unpleasant events. He has been married twice and has a daughter, two granddaughters and a grandson. His first wife was Laura Kharadze, the adopted daughter of an NKVD general. Evgeniy Maksimovich married her in 1951 while still a graduate student. The famous politician lived with his first wife for 36 happy years, but in 1987 Primakov became a widower.

From his first marriage, Evgeniy Maksimovich had a son, Alexander, who died suddenly at a young age from a heart attack, and a daughter, Nana. Primakov’s son left behind his only grandson, Evgeniy, who works under the pseudonym Sandro (in honor of his father) as a correspondent for Channel One, and his daughter gave the politician two charming granddaughters.

7 years after the death of his first wife, the politician’s heart opened again to love, and he married for the second time his attending physician Irina Borisovna, with whom he walked hand in hand along a difficult career path until the end of his days.

In addition to politics and science, Primakov distinguished himself in literature. He is the author of numerous articles and books on political and economic topics. In addition, Evgeniy Maksimovich was fond of poetry and wrote poetry himself.

Death

On June 26, 2015, the prominent political figure Yevgeny Primakov was 85 years old. According to media reports, the former head of the Russian Foreign Ministry died of cancer. The entire Russian elite mourns the death of a major political figure who devoted his entire life to the development of society and the economy of the Russian Federation.

Evgeny Primakov in recent years

According to friends and associates of the former Russian Prime Minister, with the death of Primakov, “the era of conscience, honesty and statehood in the new Russia has died.” The President of Russia and the Prime Minister personally expressed condolences to the relatives of the deceased politician who created the history of the Russian Federation.

According to leading scientific and government figures in Russia, all the criteria and goals of Evgeniy Primakov’s scientific creativity will continue to remain guidelines in the work on the development of various sectors of our state.