Today, many with a shudder recall the dashing 90s, when millions of people were forced to experience all the hardships of the transition period from socialism to capitalism. One of the key figures in the political arena of the time was Yegor Gaidar. Although 5 years have passed since the death of this politician, disputes over the economic reforms carried out according to the plan he developed have still not ceased.
Egor Gaidar: biography, nationality of parents
The name of this politician in the former USSR was known to every student, since millions of Soviet children were brought up on the example of the heroes of books written by his grandfather - Arkady Golikov. During the Civil War, he fought in the ranks of the Red Army, and during his service in Khakassia, he got the nickname Gaidar. Later, the writer took it as a surname, which then passed to his son from his second marriage with Leah Lazarevna Solomyanskaya - Timur, and then to his grandson. Thus, the father of Yegor Gaidar is Russian only by father, and on the mother’s side, has Jewish roots.
Timur Arkadevich was born in 1926 and devoted his whole life to the Navy of the USSR, rising to the rank of rear admiral. In parallel with this, he received his second higher education at the Faculty of Journalism of VPA named after After finishing his military career, Lenin worked as a correspondent for the newspaper Pravda abroad. In 1955, he married the daughter of the famous Russian writer P. Bazhov - Ariadna Pavlovna, and in 1956 they had a son - Yegor Gaidar, whose biography, nationality and political activity are described below.
Childhood
Egor Timurovich Gaidar (biography, the nationality of his parents are already known to you) was born in Moscow. As already mentioned, he was the grandson of two famous writers. As for the nationality of the politician, he considered himself a Russian.
At an early age, Yegor was in Cuba, where his father was sent as a correspondent for the newspaper Pravda. There he met Fidel Castro and Che Guevara, who visited the house in which the family of Yegor Gaidar lived.
In 1966, the boy was taken to Yugoslavia, where he became acquainted with literature banned in the USSR, and also discovered the true, perverted meaning of the economic works of Marx and Engels.
In 1971, the family returned to the capital, and Yegor Gaidar began to attend school number 152, which after 2 years he graduated with a gold medal. Entering the Faculty of Economics of Moscow State University, the young man took up the study of planning issues in the field of industry, and after receiving his honors he continued to improve his knowledge in graduate school.
Career and research activities in the pre-perestroika period
In 1980, Gaidar Egor Timurovich defended his thesis on cost accounting mechanisms, joined the CPSU, of which he remained a member until the August coup of 1991, and was assigned to the Research Institute for System Research.
There he began to work as part of a group of young scientists led by the famous Soviet economist Stanislav Shatalin. Soon, Gaidar and his colleagues, involved in a comparative analysis of economic transformations in the countries of the socialist camp, formed a firm conviction that fundamental reforms were needed in the USSR.
In the same period, the scientist met Anatoly Chubais, and a circle of like-minded people formed around them, united by a desire for changes in the economic sphere.
In 1986, Yegor Gaidar, as part of a group led by Shatalin, was transferred to work at the Institute of Economics of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and as a result of the publicity policy announced by Gorbachev in the scientific community, it became possible to discuss issues related to preparations for the transition to market relations.
Jobs in Journalism
Gaidar’s ideas of economic liberalization could have remained unknown to the general public if the scientist had not accepted the offer to become deputy editor of the journal “Communist”, and somewhat later - the head of the economic department of the newspaper “Pravda”. During this period of his activity, he actively promotes the idea of reducing budget expenditures on areas that do not bring tangible benefits. At the same time, at the initial stage of his activity as a journalist, Gaidar was a supporter of gradual reforms that could be carried out within the framework of the existing Soviet system.
Work on the post of IO of the Chairman of the Government of the RSFSR
On the famous August night of 1991, Yegor Gaidar participated in the defense of the White House. There he met with the Secretary of State of the RSFSR G. Burbulis. The latter convinced B. Yeltsin to entrust the development of the economic reform program to the Gaidar group. In October 1991, she was represented at the 5th Congress of People's Deputies and received the approval of delegates. A few days later, Gaidar Yegor Timurovich was appointed deputy chairman of the government of the RSFSR in charge of the economic bloc, and on June 15, 1992 he became acting prime minister of the Russian Federation. He stayed in this post until December 15, 1992 and played a key role in the creation of many state institutions of the Russian Federation, such as the tax and banking systems, customs, the financial market and several others. At the same time, Gaidar’s critics blame him for the negative consequences of the reforms: depreciation of the population’s savings, hyperinflation, a decline in production, a sharp decrease in the average standard of living, as well as an increase in income differentiation.
The political and parliamentary crises of 1993
Yegor Gaidar, whose biography mentions not only ups, but also downs, did not receive the support of deputies of the 7th Congress of People's Deputies on the question of his appointment as chairman of the government. This refusal to approve a politician for one of the most important posts in the state, along with a number of other reasons, led to the onset of a political crisis.
From December 1992 to September 1993, Yegor Gaidar was engaged in scientific work. In addition, he advised the President of the Russian Federation on economic policy issues. The politician was one of the key figures during the 1993 constitutional crisis, a few days before which he was appointed deputy chairman of the government of Chernomyrdin. It was he who addressed the Muscovites on television and called for a meeting near the building of the Moscow City Council. As a result, on the night of September 22, barricades appeared on Tverskaya, and in the morning the White House was stormed, ending with the victory of Yeltsin's supporters.
It soon turned out that Gaidar and Chernomyrdin had fundamental disagreements on the most important issues of the country's economic policy, so Yegor Timurovich filed a letter of resignation, having previously explained the reasons for his action in a letter to the president.
Further activities
From December 1993 to the end of 1995, Gaidar was a deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation. In parallel, he led the Democratic Choice of Russia party. During the Chechen war, politician Yegor Gaidar opposed the fighting and urged Boris Yeltsin to refuse to run for the next presidential term. However, after the publication of the plan for a peaceful settlement of the armed conflict in Chechnya, the party led by him supported the incumbent head of state.
In 1999, the Union of Right Forces bloc was formed. The party of Gaidar also entered it. In the elections held in December this year, he was elected to the State Duma of the third convocation. During his work in the highest legislative body of the country, Gaidar participated in the development of the Budget and Tax Codes.
Death policy
In the last years of his life, Yegor Gaidar had certain health problems. In particular, in 2006 he lost consciousness during a public appearance in Ireland, was taken to the intensive care unit of a local hospital and stayed there for several days. Since this event occurred the day after the report of A. Litvinenko’s poisoning with polonium, rumors appeared in the press that Gaidar was also the victim of an assassination attempt. An investigation was conducted, but no signs of poison were found.
The death of Yegor Gaidar occurred on December 16, 2009 in his house, located in the village of Uspensky, near Moscow. The famous economist at that time was only 53 years old. The children of Yegor Gaidar, in particular his daughter Maria, reported that his father died of a heart attack. As for doctors, they called the separation of a blood clot as the reason.
The funeral of the politician took place at the Novodevichy cemetery. The wife of Yegor Gaidar and other members of his family did not want to disclose their date, so the burial took place without the presence of strangers.
Personal life
For the first time, Yegor Gaidar got married quite early, at the age of 22. The chosen student of the 5th year student of the Faculty of Economics of Moscow State University was Irina Smirnova, whom the politician met at the age of 10. As Yegor Gaidar himself later admitted, his personal life during his studies in graduate school and in the first years of work at the Research Institute of System Studies did not work out. Therefore, even despite the fact that in his first marriage he had two children, after the birth of his daughter, he began to think about a divorce.
After some time, Gaidar entered into a second marriage with Maria Strugatskaya. Thus, the politician became related with the famous Soviet science fiction writer Arkady Strugatsky, who became his father-in-law, and with the famous Sinist Ilya Oshanin, who was the grandfather of his wife. The second family of Yegor Gaidar lasted until his death, and in this marriage he had a son.
Children of Yegor Gaidar
As already mentioned, from the first marriage the politician had two children: a son and a daughter. After the parents divorced, the girl stayed with her mother, while her brother - Peter - Irina Smirnova agreed to leave her husband’s parents who didn’t have a soul in him.
In addition, the second wife of Yegor Gaidar, who had a son from a previous relationship, gave birth to another boy in his second marriage. This happened in 1990, and the child was named Paul. He is the grandson of Arkady Strugatsky and the great-grandson of Arkady Gaidar and Pavel Bazhov.
Thus, the politician has only three natural children and one adopted child.
Maria Gaidar
Of all the children of politics, the daughter of her first marriage, Maria Gaidar, is currently attracting the most interest. After the parents divorced at the age of 3, the girl stayed with her mother, who soon married again. When Masha was in third grade, the family moved to Bolivia. Before the trip, the girl changed her name, and she became Smirnova. After 5 years, Maria returned to Moscow with her mother and stepfather and began to attend a special school with a Spanish bias. She returned her surname Gaidar only at the age of 22, after graduating from the Academy of National Economy.
Having received a law degree, the girl changed several professions, having worked as a teacher, manager and planning expert, and then daughter Yegor Gaidar tried herself as a presenter on O2TV channel, and since 2008, on Ekho Moskvy radio station.
At the same time, Maria Egorovna was actively involved in political activities and since 2006 she was a member of the Presidium of the Union of Right Forces. She always adhered to opposition views and repeatedly became a participant in rallies and marches organized by opponents of the country's current authorities.
March 26, 2009, the daughter of Yegor Gaidar became the youngest vice-governor of the Russian Federation, but in 2011 she announced her resignation due to the desire to continue her education in the United States, at the School of Public Administration named after J. Kennedy at Harvard.
After returning from the States, Maria worked for some time in the Moscow government, and then was nominated to the Moscow City Duma, but was not registered by the election committee in view of detecting violations in the documents. This decision was appealed in court, but the latter upheld it.
In the summer of 2015, M. Gaidar was appointed deputy chairman of the Odessa Regional Administration on the recommendation of Mikheil Saakashvili, and a little later renounced Russian citizenship.
