Vyazemsky Yuri Pavlovich is one of the most prominent representatives of the Russian intelligentsia. He is known to a wide audience as the host of an intellectual program for schoolchildren called "Clever and Clever." However, this wonderful person has many different personalities - he is a well-known writer, professor, religious philosopher, as well as the head of the department of the most prestigious university in the country. We will talk about this interesting person in this article.
Origin
Vyazemsky Yuri Pavlovich comes from a famous and ancient noble family. Several of his closest relatives became famous in various fields of activity. More than one entertaining novel can be written about the family history of this person. The presenter’s grandfather bore the name Stankevich, went through the Tukhachevsky case and was convicted. After that, the grandmother of Yuri Pavlovich, in an attempt to save her own son from prosecution of the authorities, married a man of low descent. She herself belonged to an ancient Swedish family. This fact became decisive in her fate - shortly after the marriage she was exiled and shot.
Little Pasha was lucky - he ended up in a foster family. He was adopted by Vasily Simonov (sculptor), who gave the boy his own surname and patronymic. Subsequently, Pavel Simonov became an academician, a famous biophysicist and psychologist.
The second grandfather of Yuri - Sergei Vyazemsky - was a major historian, the creator of a huge archive containing information about the history of St. Petersburg. This wonderful scientist throughout his life was forced to abandon his noble roots.
Mama Yuri - Olga Sergeevna - worked as a teacher of foreign languages. The future TV presenter was born in 1951 on June 5, in Leningrad. He was born in the clinic of the Military Medical Academy, where his father, Pavel Vasilievich, was studying at that time. Three years later, the second child was born to Yuri’s parents - Yevgeny Simonova, the future movie star.
Strange disease
Vyazemsky Yuri (father - Simonov) grew up in difficult conditions. In the early years he was seriously ill, so he lived in the care of his grandfather and grandmother Vyazemsky. The nature of this strange disease could not be recognized by famous Leningrad professors. The fact is that the boy suddenly lost consciousness while maintaining all motor functions. In this state, he could suddenly fall off the bridge or run out onto the roadway. Everyone was waiting for the disease to pass by itself. Once it happened. The day came when seizures literally exhausted the weakened boy. It was probably a crisis, because after that they completely stopped. And Yuri, finally, was able to move to the capital to his parents.
Childhood
All this time, the boy’s father and mother lived with their younger sister in Moscow. The father of the future TV presenter entered the service at the hospital. Burdenko, who was in the capital. Having recovered, Yura left his grandparents and moved to his parents. The boy attended a music school at the Leningrad Conservatory, learned to play the violin.
At school, the future celebrity studied poorly. The boy hardly mastered the exact sciences, felt like a humanitarian and did not immediately come to the final choice of his profession. As a child, Vyazemsky Yuri raved about the stage - he dreamed of a career as a dancer or opera singer. After graduating from music school, he asked his mother to give him English lessons. In this field he was waiting for success - the boy comprehended the basic program in just six months and switched to training in an English special school. Now Yuri Pavlovich, to varying degrees, speaks five languages - French, German, English, Swedish and Spanish.
Education
Vyazemsky Yuri Pavlovich, whose biography is interesting, received a certificate in 1968. Then he entered the faculty of international journalism at MGIMO and successfully graduated from it. After that, the future TV presenter began to work as a journalist in the publication "International Life", as well as moonlighting as translators in various international organizations. By that time, Yuri Pavlovich had already married a former classmate.
Extravagant act
A year after graduating from MGIMO, Vyazemsky committed, without exaggeration, the most extravagant act in his life. The guy argued with a friend that he could enroll as a free listener in the famous Shchukin school. At this time, Yuri Vyazemsky’s sister was taking her first steps on the stage. At this time, she was a student of "Pike" and was in a very bright and interesting company. Her circle of contacts included such eminent actors as Yarmolnik Leonid, Vasiliev Yuri, Zhdanko Stas. Yuri was so impressed with the success of his sister that he won his unusual argument and entered an artistic university. It was not easy - the first two rounds Vyazemsky went relatively calmly. But on the third he was almost let down by the cart "p". Especially Vladimir Etush made fun of him. This infuriated the guy, and he so convincingly performed the Shakespearean monologue Mark Anthony before the commission that he was immediately accepted. However, after studying for six months and getting rid of a speech impediment, the guy realized that he had made a mistake. Probably, the birth of the eldest daughter, Anastasia, also played a role. Four years later, she had a sister - Ksenia.
The first literary experiments
Then Vyazemsky Yuri directed his creative aspirations to the field of literature. As a pseudonym, he chose his mother's maiden name and henceforth became for the general public not Simonov, but Vyazemsky. A talented writer wrote several works. Among them is the story “The Guns Brought”, the hero of which was the actor. In 1982, the first book of Yuri Pavlovich was released. It published stories and the psychological novel “The Jester”, in which a gifted teenager brutally avenges his offenders. The story gained great popularity; an approving review was published on it in Literaturnaya Gazeta. In 1988, the "Jester" was filmed. The script was written by Vyazemsky himself. The film was watched by seven million people. Despite the resounding success, Yuri Pavlovich changed his creative direction and began to lean toward philosophy. As a result, in 1989 a fundamental study entitled “On the Origin of Spirituality. Vyazemsky Yuri wrote it together with his father - Pavel Simonov.
Work on television
Then, in 1989, the hero of our article began working on Central Television. First, he led the youth program "Image", built in the form of a quiz on literature. Subsequently, in connection with new political trends, this project was closed. Then Yuri Vyazemsky, whose biography is very rich, joined the ORT television station at Ostankino. Here he created the program of the educational direction "Clever men and clever women". This project has no analogues on any television channel in the world. An intellectual show for schoolchildren, the victory of which ensured that the seven participants enrolled in MGIMO, quickly became popular. He was awarded the Teffy Prize three times, and in 2003 the program reached the final of the New York Television Festival. The host of “Clever Men and Women” Yuri Vyazemsky showed himself to be a brilliant showman, a great artist who knows how to create intrigue in an academic intellectual show. His second wife, Tatyana Smirnova, helped him work on the program. In the past, she worked as a teacher of the French language, and then became the project’s chief editor and executive director of the TV-image TV studio created by Yuri Pavlovich. No one, including the creator, could have thought that “Clever Men and Women” would last on television for 22 years. Vyazemsky still does not consider himself primarily a writer, and not a famous media person.
Scientific activity
It has boiling energy Yuri Vyazemsky. "Clever and clever" - a project in which its potential is far from fully revealed. In 1993, Yuri Pavlovich, without leaving television, took up another serious and responsible business - he took the post of head of the Department of World Literature at MGIMO. Now he reads at this university several disciplines of a cultural and religious nature in Russian and English. Among his scientific publications are the following:
- "Armament of the Odyssey."
- "And there is peace on earth."
- "An open letter to Ivan Karamazov."
Literary works
Also manages to engage in literary activities Yuri Vyazemsky. Books by this author come out with enviable popularity. In 2008, the writer offered the reader a series of “Sweet Spring Bakkuroty”, which traces the mixture of genres - historical research, fiction, philosophical essay. In addition to the main work, it included the novels “The Childhood of Pontius Pilate” (2010), “The Poor Parrot, or Youth of Pilate” (2012), “The Great Lover, or Youth of Pontius Pilate” (2013). In addition, since 2010, the writer has been publishing a series of books on the materials of the program "Clever and Clever". They are collections of questions and answers in various fields of knowledge. The latest book in this series to date is From Dante Alighieri to Astrid Erickson (2014).
Personal life
Married twice Yuri Vyazemsky. The first wife - classmate Irina - was the school love of the TV presenter. He recalls that he managed to interest the girl only after the ninth grade, when he, having traveled to Sverdlovsk, learned to drink, smoke and sing Vysotsky’s songs to the guitar. Signed lovers in nineteen years. Two girls appeared in this marriage: Ksenia and Nastya. The eldest daughter of Vyazemsky graduated from the Literary Institute and became a translator, the youngest followed in the footsteps of her father and completed her studies at MGIMO. Both women live abroad. The youngest (Ksenia) is in London, she has a son George and daughter Olga. And the eldest (Nastya) married three times, and in each of these marriages she gave birth to a child: in Switzerland, in the Netherlands and in Iran. Thus, Yuri Pavlovich has five grandchildren from his first marriage. The second time the TV presenter married Tatyana Alexandrovna Smirnova. In this marriage, he has no native children, but he raised a stepson of Sergei.
Children of Yuri Vyazemsky rarely meet with their famous father. He sadly notes that he is more often seen with his clever and clever women than with close relatives.
Relation to religion
As a highly intellectual and educated person, Yuri Pavlovich came to faith through various inferences. He grew up in an atheist family and never thought of God. His movement toward faith began through art and literature. At first, Vyazemsky was impressed by the viewing of the rock opera Jesus Christ - Superstar. A recording of this masterpiece was brought to him by his father from America. The TV presenter thought about a lot when he first read The Masters and Margarita. So the coming to faith of Yuri Pavlovich was specific. He committed a lot of stupid things in life, often was on the verge of life and death, but he invariably overcame all obstacles. Once he thought about who to say thanks for the fact that he is still alive and unharmed. And I realized that I need to thank God. Now the TV presenter is sure that there is no death, and talks about this to his students in lectures. In addition, Vyazemsky belongs to the phrase that the absolute atheist is close in its attitude to the animal. However, he immediately notes that there are few such people in the world. Most still believe in some kind of Higher power that protects them.
