Secrets of the biography of Sergei Kurginyan. Sergey Ervandovich Kurginyan Experimental creative center

13.11.2017

Kurginyan Sergey Ervandovich

Russian Politician

Theater director

Leader of the "Essence of Time" movement

Sergey Kurginyan was born on November 14, 1949 in Moscow. He grew up in the family of a historian and philologist. His father was a professor specializing in Middle Eastern studies and born in a small Armenian village, his mother was a researcher at the Institute of World Literature. A. Gorky. Sergei's birth mothers and grandparents were nobles.

As a child, Serezha dreamed of becoming an artist, so he actively participated in amateur performances, attended the school drama club and played in plays. However, he failed to enroll in drama school after school. But he became a student at a geological exploration university, where already in his 2nd year he began directing the established amateur theater.

After graduating from university in 1972, the young man worked at the Institute of Oceanology, and over time became a researcher and candidate of science. In 1980, he went to work at his native geological exploration institute. Combining scientific activities with a passion for artistic creativity, Sergei remained the director of the studio theater organized during his student years, and also graduated in absentia in 1983 from the College named after. B. Shchukina.

Bibliographers noted with interest that the current adherent of the USSR in Soviet times was not at all a supporter of the existing system. On the contrary, he emphasized the horror and bloodiness of the Stalinist regime and the fact that he, a descendant of a noble family and the grandson of his executed grandfather, had nothing to respect the Soviet regime for.

In 1986, the geophysicist’s favorite brainchild, his theater, was recognized as state-owned and acquired the name “On the Boards,” and Sergei himself left work in his first specialty and devoted himself to creativity.

The activities of the future political scientist as a drama director were not very successful in those years. The only performance “Shepherd” based on the play “Batum” by Mikhail Bulgakov, staged by him in 1992 on the stage of the Moscow Art Theater, failed. However, on the contrary, he succeeded in economic activities. In 1987, an “Experimental Creative Center” was established on the basis of his theater-studio. With the support of his initiative by the secretary of the executive committee of the Moscow City Council, Yuri Prokofiev, the Center was provided with a number of premises in the very heart of the capital in Vspolny Lane and allocated funds.

In 1990, the ETC received the right to be called the International Public Foundation or the “Kurginyan Center”. In 2004, the center also earned the high status of an organization associated with the UN Department.

Sergei Ervandovich supported perestroika and all the initiatives of Mikhail Gorbachev. But he never wanted the collapse of the USSR, but advocated the modernization of the administrative-command system. He joined the ranks of the CPSU in order to introduce his ideas of preserving and improving statehood, and opposed democrats eager for the death of the empire.

Thanks to the mediation of the head of the Moscow City Executive Committee, Prokofv, he, as part of a group of political experts, visited Baku to assist in resolving the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. The report on the results of the trip, submitted to him by the Politburo of the Party Central Committee, contained accurate forecasts of the development of the situation. Therefore, Kurginyan began to be attracted as an expert in the future. He traveled to Karabakh, Lithuania, Dushanbe.

In 1991, he was an unofficial adviser to Gorbachev, who proposed the president's plan to get the country out of the crisis. However, Sergei Ervandovich himself claimed that he and the head of state had differences of opinion regarding ways to lead the party and the USSR out of the impasse. He supported the State Committee for the State of Emergency during the August putsch, announcing this in the publication “I am the ideologist of the emergency.” He subsequently accepted one of the conspirators, the head of the KGB Vladimir Kryuchkov, into his ETC. During the internal political conflict of 1993, he found himself in the premises of the Supreme Council. Supporters of the move to Ostankino kicked him out the door as an opponent of this decision. He immediately informed the public of their intentions.

In 1996, the politician called on large entrepreneurs to take the pro-state side. As a result, the appeal “Letter of 13” appeared in the press, signed, in particular, by the heads of LogoVAZ Boris Berezovsky, Siberian Oil Company Viktor Gorodilov, AvtoVAZ Alexey Nikolaev, Alfa Group Mikhail Fridman, Menatep Mikhail Khodorkovsky, containing proposals for overcoming the crisis and support for Boris Yeltsin. Later, the result of interaction between big business and the head of state was the emergence of an oligarchic political system in the Russian Federation.

Sergei Ervandovich is married to Maria Mamikonyan. They met and got married while studying at the institute. Today she is an artist of the “On the Boards” theater, an employee of the ETC, the head of the “Parental All-Russian Resistance”, which deals with problems of family protection and education issues. The organization denies the Western model of education and advocates banning sex education for children.

The couple has an adult daughter, Irina, who also works at the Kurginyan Center. By education she is a historian, candidate of sciences. Ira is raising a daughter.

Sergei Ervandovich was interested in new types of theatrical forms. Therefore, he was among the first participants in the experiment of organizing self-financed theater groups, creating “On the Boards.” When it turned out that Melpomene was not inclined to reciprocate his feelings, he found an equally interesting calling - he discovered and developed the talent of an expert analyst. The center named after him, working on the principle of a kind of family contract, publishes newspapers, magazines, and books with political content.

He is the author of numerous articles analyzing world political processes, current problems of social life, theories of disasters, decision-making strategies, wrote more than a dozen books (“Lessons of October”, “Political Tsunami”), and also acted as a co-host in television programs and was a participant various television programs.

In a number of media outlets, he was classified as a “sixth column” inside the Kremlin, which initially stood for European values, for Russia’s non-interference in events in the Donbass, for integration into the Western world, seeing its representatives not so much as enemies but as competitors.

Childhood and youth of Sergei Kurginyan

As a child, Serezha dreamed of becoming an artist, so he actively participated in amateur performances, attended the school drama club and played in plays. However, he failed to enroll in drama school after school. But he became a student at a geological exploration university, where already in his 2nd year he began directing the established amateur theater.

After graduating from university in 1972, the young man worked at the Institute of Oceanology, and over time became a researcher and candidate of science. In 1980, he went to work at his native geological exploration institute.

Combining scientific activities with a passion for artistic creativity, Sergei remained the director of the studio theater organized during his student years, and also graduated in absentia in 1983 from the College named after. B. Shchukina.

Bibliographers noted with interest that the current adherent of the USSR in Soviet times was not at all a supporter of the existing system. On the contrary, he emphasized the horror and bloodiness of the Stalinist regime and the fact that he, the descendant of a noble family and the grandson of his executed grandfather, had nothing to respect the Soviet regime for.

Sergey Kurginyan Center

The activities of the future political scientist as a drama director were not very successful in those years. The only performance “Shepherd” based on the play “Batum” by Mikhail Bulgakov, staged by him in 1992 on the stage of the Moscow Art Theater, failed. However, on the contrary, he succeeded in economic activities.

In 1987, on the basis of his studio theater, the Experimental Creative Center (ECC) was established. With the support of his initiative by the secretary of the executive committee of the Moscow City Council, Yuri Prokofiev, the Center was provided with a number of premises in the very heart of the capital in Vspolny Lane and allocated funds.

In 1990, the ETC received the right to be called the International Public Foundation or the “Kurginyan Center”. In 2004, the center also earned the high status of an organization associated with the UN Department.

Political career of Sergei Kurginyan

Thanks to the mediation of the head of the Moscow City Executive Committee, Prokofv, he, as part of a group of political experts, visited Baku to assist in resolving the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. The report on the results of the trip, submitted to him by the Politburo of the Party Central Committee, contained accurate forecasts of the development of the situation. Therefore, Kurginyan began to be attracted as an expert in the future. He traveled to Karabakh, Lithuania, Dushanbe.

In 1991, he was an unofficial adviser to Gorbachev, who proposed the president's plan to get the country out of the crisis. However, Sergei Ervandovich himself claimed that he and the head of state had differences of opinion regarding ways to lead the party and the USSR out of the impasse.

He supported the State Committee for the State of Emergency during the August putsch, announcing this in the publication “I am an ideologist of the emergency.” He subsequently accepted one of the conspirators, the head of the KGB Vladimir Kryuchkov, into his ETC.

During the internal political conflict of 1993, he found himself in the premises of the Supreme Council. Supporters of the move to Ostankino kicked him out the door as an opponent of this decision. He immediately informed the public of their intentions.

Sergei Kurginyan about Navalny

In 1996, the politician called on large entrepreneurs to take the pro-state side. As a result, the appeal “Letter of 13” appeared in the press, signed, in particular, by the heads of LogoVAZ Boris Berezovsky, Siberian Oil Company Viktor Gorodilov, AvtoVAZ Alexey Nikolaev, Alfa Group Mikhail Fridman, Menatep Mikhail Khodorkovsky, containing proposals for overcoming the crisis and support for Boris Yeltsin. Later, the result of interaction between big business and the head of state was the emergence of an oligarchic political system in the Russian Federation.

Personal life of Sergei Kurginyan

In April 2015, in St. Petersburg, the RVS’s action to distribute its newspaper in schools across the country caused a public outcry. Many deputies of the Legislative Assembly were outraged that children were actually made the target of political propaganda. Moreover, according to parliamentarians, the publication presented a distorted view of the country’s history.

The couple has an adult daughter, Irina, born in 1977, who also works at the Kurginyan Center. By education she is a historian, candidate of sciences. Ira is raising a daughter.

Sergei Ervandovich was interested in new types of theatrical forms. Therefore, he was among the first participants in the experiment of organizing self-financed theater groups, creating “On the Boards.” When it turned out that Melpomene was not inclined to reciprocate his feelings, he found an equally interesting calling - he discovered and developed the talent of an expert analyst. The center named after him, working on the principle of a kind of family contract, publishes newspapers, magazines, and books with political content.

Sergey Kurginyan today

In 2012, the politician was among the initiators of measures to prevent the “Orange Revolution” in the Russian Federation, similar to the Ukrainian one - in particular, he established the “Anti-Orange Committee”, which opposes the collapse of the Russian Federation. Representatives of the opposition forces accused him of working for Vladimir Putin.

In 2013, Sergei organized the Parents’ Congress, at which the “All-Russian Parental Resistance” was established, chaired by the politician’s wife Maria Rachievna Mamikonyan. The president of the country stopped by the event and made a short speech.

Political scientist Sergei Kurginyan about Vladimir Putin

In 2014, the political scientist visited Donetsk, where he exposed Igor Strelkov as a traitor, causing outrage and controversy in online forums. As noted in the media, a politician has a unique quality - the ability to take the position of an oppositionist and at the same time maintain absolute loyalty to the current government.

Kurginyan Sergey Ervandovich (1949, Moscow) - political scientist, president of the international public foundation "Experimental Creative Center" (Kurginyan Center).

Graduated from the Moscow Geological Prospecting Institute (1972, geophysicist) and the Theater School named after. Shchukin (1984, director).

Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, until 1980 he worked as a senior researcher at the Institute of Oceanology of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

The studio theater he created during his student years eventually became professional and in 1986 received state status (Theater “On the Boards”). His performances, starting from the 80s, aroused great interest in the Russian and foreign theater world. Sergei Kurginyan is still the main director and stage director of the theater's performances.

In 1989, he organized and headed the “Experimental Creative Center” corporation, and then the International Public Foundation “Experimental Creative Center” (Kurginyan Center). Author of the books “Post-Perestroika”, “The Seventh Scenario”, “Lessons of Bloody October”, “Russia: Power and Opposition”, as well as hundreds of analytical and journalistic articles in the Russian and foreign press.

He is the editor-in-chief of the scientific and journalistic magazine “Russia-XXI”, published by the Center since 1993, and the almanac “School of Holistic Analysis”, which began publication in the spring of 1998.

He leads the intellectual discussion club “Substantive Unity” and a number of political and analytical seminars.

He is engaged in the analysis of political processes in Russia and the world, studies of post-capitalist ideologies, problems of political philosophy and decision-making strategies.

Books (8)

Current archive. Theory and practice of political games

We bring to the reader's attention the main early works of S.E. Kurginyan, written between 1988 and 1993. Reprinting old works has nothing to do with automatically placing previously published books under a new cover.

We took the liberty of selecting the most significant works of Sergei Ervandovich for the modern reader. We have provided these works with a reference apparatus because many of the figures and events mentioned have faded from public memory.

Esau and Jacob: The fate of development in Russia and the world. Volume 1

Esau and Jacob: The fate of development in Russia and the world. Volume 2

The famous political scientist Sergei Kurginyan in his book examines the question of the fate of development in Russia and the world.

Kurginyan rejects two currently prevailing methods: academic, which he calls “retro,” and postmodernist. Kurginyan proposes a “third method” that requires various kinds of syntheses (current political science and political philosophy, religious metaphysics and secular philosophy, etc.).

The “third method” allows Kurginyan to prove that humanism and development in the 21st century are equally hostage to the “war with History.” Kurginyan reveals the Game as the fundamental antagonist of History, who decided in the 21st century to draw a line under the Historical as such. And it shows that removing Russia from History through the so-called perestroika is only the first attempt at writing. And that only Russia can, returning to History, save both itself and the world.

Swing. Conflict of elites or collapse of Russia?

Well-known political scientist Sergei Kurginyan in his new book examines the phenomenon of so-called “undercover politics.”

At the same time, he develops an apparatus with which to analyze non-transparent (“undercover”) political processes, and applies this apparatus to the analysis of current events.

The author analyzes the most current events in recent Russian politics. Resignations and appointments, arrests and statements, commercial projects and political excesses. At the same time, the relevance (some would say “sensationalism”) of the events being analyzed does not obscure for him the true meaning of what is happening. Sergey Kurginyan does not take sides, does not try to demonize anyone. He acts not as an investigator or journalist, but as an investigator of the elite.

The essence of time. Volume 1

The essence of time. Volume 2

“The Essence of Time” is a series of video lectures by Sergei Kurginyan, a political and public figure, director, philosopher and political scientist, president of the International Public Foundation “Experimental Creative Center”.

The book “The Essence of Time” contains transcripts of all 41 lectures in the cycle. Each of them contains Sergei Kurginyan’s reflections on the essence of the current time, its metaphysics, dialectics and their reflection in key aspects of current Russian and global politics. The central theme of the cycle is the search for ways and mechanisms to overcome the systemic global human impasse in all its dimensions: from metaphysical to epistemological, ethical, anthropological. And, as a result, a socio-political, technological and economic impasse.

The essence of time. Volume 3

“The Essence of Time” is a series of video lectures by Sergei Kurginyan, a political and public figure, director, philosopher and political scientist, president of the International Public Foundation “Experimental Creative Center”.

The book “The Essence of Time” contains transcripts of all 41 lectures in the cycle. Each of them contains Sergei Kurginyan’s reflections on the essence of the current time, its metaphysics, dialectics and their reflection in key aspects of current Russian and global politics. The central theme of the cycle is the search for ways and mechanisms to overcome the systemic global human impasse in all its dimensions: from metaphysical to epistemological, ethical, anthropological. And, as a result, a socio-political, technological and economic impasse.

The essence of time. Volume 4

“The Essence of Time” is a series of video lectures by Sergei Kurginyan, a political and public figure, director, philosopher and political scientist, president of the International Public Foundation “Experimental Creative Center”.

The book “The Essence of Time” contains transcripts of all 41 lectures in the cycle. Each of them contains Sergei Kurginyan’s reflections on the essence of the current time, its metaphysics, dialectics and their reflection in key aspects of current Russian and global politics. The central theme of the cycle is the search for ways and mechanisms to overcome the systemic global human impasse in all its dimensions: from metaphysical to epistemological, ethical, anthropological. And, as a result, a socio-political, technological and economic impasse.

Sergei Ervandovich Kurginyan says that a return to modernity is impossible.

Sergei Ervandovich Kurginyan says that the postmodern era can only be replaced by the supermodern era.

Sergei Ervandovich Kurginyan says that otherwise the transition to counter-modernity is inevitable.

Sergey Ervandovich Kurginyan knows what he's talking about!

Thus, love, dialectically connected with post-love (often experienced as hatred or loss), can only be reborn into something fundamentally new - into super-love.

But how do we understand this very ultra-modern? What could he turn out to be?

Kurginyan responds to this with his mysteries. And I want to talk about his mysteries, symbolize them through turning to dance or painting. In other words, I want to abandon all symbolization and find myself in the space of the imaginary. This “want” is natural, but turning to a song dedicated to dancing turns out to be an unacceptable compromise. To the old humorous song "Solomon Klar's School of Dance." To the very one in which the most important words for the analysis of culture through dialectics are heard: “Two steps to the left, Two steps to the right, Step forward and turn.”

The direction of dialectical development cannot be revealed in its actual trajectory. The negation of negation describes circles around only an assumed center that is shifting somewhere. Each transition, separated from a number of previous ones, seems to be a spontaneous play of chance (more precisely, a confluence of many reasons), devoid of external meaning and purpose. Likewise, the constancy of Sergei Ervandovich and his magnificent troupe in addressing political science mysteries can be understood through many different intelligible systems. But only the understanding of this constancy as another step in the dialectical development of world culture gives it meaning. In any case, the meaning that is heard in Kurginyan’s speeches. And he knows what he's talking about!

The transition from one object to another following it turns out to be a tact of dialectical (and not illusory progressive) development only due to the sum of the elements of movement: “step forward” and “turn”. Only their generalized properties allow us to talk about novelty or avant-garde. It is these properties that can be detected in the actions taking place in the “On the Boards” theater. It is these properties that make people lie when they say “this is supermodern.”

To perform the “step forward” maneuver, you must at least stand somewhere and know where the front is. The song says clearly: “Where the bow is, there’s the front.” But in culture everything is a little more complicated... In the 21st century, we are dancing a postmodern shadow dance. No matter how much we would like to, we can only be nostalgic about modernity within the framework of postmodernity - we see it through the lens of modernity only as another ghost, just as a successful quote in a set. Here we stand. Walk from here. This means that Kurginyan’s works, turning out to be supermodern, must first be postmodern. Just as “Eugene Onegin” and “The Overcoat,” (turning) romanticism into realism, remain romantic works at their core, so “I!” grows its supermodernity on the fragments of a completely ordinary postmodernity.

Only all the typically familiar elements of postmodernism are shifted forward and turned sideways. For example: one can understand postmodernity as a defense of culture and the author from psychoanalytic discourse. “I won’t allow myself to be judged; I don’t have my own text at all: just quotes and links,” the postmodernist author silently declares. “The reader is the source of interpretations, and I, the author, am only the composer of the text.” Sergei Ervandovich is not embarrassed by possible interpretations, he, building his mysteries according to all the laws of postmodernism, not only introduces the author as an active character, but also publicly speaks before the beginning and after the end of each performance, raising authorship to a power and thereby expanding the stage to life . And not in vain, because Sergei Ervandovich knows what he is talking about!

By bringing himself personally into the performance, the director destroys all possible frames and boundaries. If one could also try to decompose the text, acting or scenography into a finite number of elements, references or quotes, then one must have remarkable (bordering on stupidity) self-confidence to do this with a living Kurginyan. But he also regularly reports on the uniqueness of the actors of his troupe as a result of highly motivated meaningfulness, which anyone can be convinced of by opening at least the file of the newspaper “The Essence of Time.” By the way, in the time we have available to us, authorship may also well turn out to be an element of a work of art, for which Warhol and Dali are classic examples; there is (it would seem) nothing new here... But even here Sergei Ervandovich goes ahead with a twist: in his case, authorship is not an end in itself, but only a tool for building “supermodernity”.

In the case of Kurginyan’s super-modernity, the front is in the work’s fullness of meaning. Where the modernist author puts the interpretation in the most prominent place and expertly guides the entire work through it, as if on a string of meaning, where the postmodernist author timidly hides the interpretation in the rocks of someone else’s text or scraps of plot, there is so much meaning and interpretation in the mysteries of the theater “On the Boards” that the viewer successively experiences “overflow of the array”, “departure of the roof” and “explosion of the brain”. This is very difficult to believe. And it's not necessary. But on the stage of the theater a palimpsest is literally played out.

In the waterfall of meanings and interpretations, a necessary condition for swimming out seems to be not only a thorough knowledge of the work, which is nominally a prototype of the mystery, in order to clearly understand where, for example, London ends and Kurginyan begins, not only a deep (to the point of complete immersion) acquaintance with the cultural and historical context of the mystery, not only a superficial (to a thorough) reading of political texts and viewing Kurginyan’s speeches, not only an in-depth acquaintance with various knowledges and ologies, not only a personal acquaintance with the greatest (even unnoticed) works of world art. But (without excluding all of the above), first of all, the ability to live and face the real. Kurginyan's mysteries are completely real, that is, extremely traumatic, unbearable, obscene.

But supermodernity would not have happened if there had not been a “turn” in it. (After all, the palimpsest itself fits well into postmodernity, and is even loved by it). However, a “turn” without a “step forward” doesn’t make any difference either. The twist lies in the form of the presentation: calling the action unfolding in the “On the Boards” theater “mystery,” Kurginyan knows what he’s talking about!

He's not joking, this is precisely a mystery - from the Greek mysterion - sacrament. A genre that, through the theatricalization of Christian mysteries, goes back to the Dionysian rites, with which all theater began. And it should be understood through Nietzsche and his “The Birth of Tragedy from the Spirit of Music.” Once upon a time, this work was intended to kill theater in general and criticism in particular, and with them the projects of world Western art and the same civilization. And it successfully completed its task. The theater is dead. Criticism is dying out. Art in general and civilization are on the way. Nietzsche believed that the mistake (the rejection of tragedy) in favor of “Socratic” optimism occurred in Greece within the framework of its culture, but he proposed correcting this error within the framework of the culture contemporary to him. Kurginyan, entering into a titanic dispute with the irresistible Friedrich, puts on the board not arguments, but mysteries. Living, truly tragic Dionysian-Apollonian mysteries, clearly demonstrating the inevitability (and at the same time being the foundation stone) of a restart of the optimistic project.

The actions of the theater “On the Boards” turn out to be mysteries due to the unprecedented turn towards the “spectator”. Everything that happens on the stage and in the theater hall is directed and dedicated to just one goal - to build a “supermodern” space in which a collision with the real is possible for everyone. The mystical content is not access to conditionally objective knowledge accessible to a few (as in the classical mystery), but a collision with the truth of deep unidentification (unsymbolized and unimaginative), that is, the reality of oneself and, as a consequence, the world.
So, in order to appear as a supermodern on stage, dialectically denying all postmodernity, Sergei Ervandovich returns the basic, but already obviously untenable elements of modernity - will and knowledge, but with something else. This “something” provides legitimacy for the presence of both the prefix super- and the ending modern in this new-old project. It is precisely this “something” that will and knowledge are always lacking in order to be fully wealthy.

This is how dancing happens when Kurginyan speaks!

Dmitry Tretyakov

A collision with the insufficiency of the grammatical apparatus of the Russian language is inevitable. “Spectator” is a word that is clearly not suitable for the situation: the viewer sees, that is, participates in the process indirectly. The urgent need for a word that elevates direct work to the basis of the name forces, following the example of the Franconism “analysant” that is well-established in psychoanalysis (where the suffix “ant” is intended to announce activity), to offer terrifying constructions like “spectator” or “copilant”.

Sergey Kurginyan is a very versatile person - geophysicist, political scientist, politician, artistic director of the theater, founder of the left-wing movement called “The Essence of Time.” Representatives of the latter are supporters of the restoration of the Soviet Union. He also heads the Kurginyan Center Foundation.

General information

Today Sergei Kurginyan’s age is 68 years old. He writes articles devoted to the analysis of world political processes, current events in public life, problems of the theory of disasters and the strategy of decision-making. He is the author of more than ten books, including “Political Tsunami”, “Lessons of October”, and participates in various political programs as a co-host.

Some media portray him as a representative of the “sixth column” operating inside the Kremlin. Initially, he advocated for the so-called European values, for integration with the West, whose representatives he saw not as enemies, but only as competitors, for the non-interference of the Russian Federation in events in the Donbass.

The beginning of the biography of Sergei Kurginyan

His nationality is Armenian. Although he was born in Moscow in 1949, his father came from a small Armenian village. Sergei Kurginyan's family was intelligent. Father is a professor, historian, researcher of the Middle East. Mother is a philologist, researcher. Maternal grandfather and grandmother are hereditary nobles.

Since childhood, Sergei dreamed of becoming an artist; he took an active part in amateur performances, participated in the school drama club, and received roles in plays. He was unable to enter theater school immediately after school. But he began studying at the Geological Exploration Institute, where in his second year he created and directed an amateur theater.

Youth

After graduating from high school in 1972, the young man worked at the Institute of Oceanology, eventually becoming a researcher and then a candidate of science. Since 1980, he worked at the geological exploration institute, from which he graduated.

Sergei combined scientific activities and creative hobbies, remaining the director of the studio theater he organized during his student years. In 1983, he graduated from the Shchukin School in absentia.

Later they wrote about Kurginyan that today’s adherent of the Soviet Union was not a supporter of the socialist system at that time. Moreover, he repeatedly spoke about the horrors of the Stalinist regime. He also emphasized that, as a descendant of a noble family, he had no reason to show respect for Soviet power.

Education ETC

In 1986, the theater, which was Kurginyan’s favorite brainchild, was recognized as a state theater and was named “On the Boards.” Sergei left work in the first of his specialties, completely devoting himself to creative activity. However, his directorial path was not successful then. The only performance called “The Shepherd,” which he staged based on Bulgakov’s play of the same name, was a failure. But Kurginyan succeeded as a business executive.

In 1987, on the basis of the theater-studio, the ETC was established - the “Experimental Creative Center”. He was supported by the secretary of the executive committee of the Moscow City Council, Yu. Prokofiev, and the center was provided with several premises in the center of Moscow, as well as funds. In 1990, the ETC was renamed the International Public Fund, or “Kurginyan Center”. Since 2004, the center began to be part of an association with the UN Department.

Continuing to consider the biography of Sergei Kurginyan, one cannot help but talk about him as a politician.

Career politician

During the period of perestroika, Sergei Ervandovich supported the initiatives of Mikhail Gorbachev. However, he did not want the collapse of the USSR, only advocating the modernization of the existing system, which was administrative-command. He became a member of the Communist Party in order to introduce his ideas, which consisted in improving and strengthening statehood, and opposed the democrats who wanted the death of the empire.

Through the mediation of M. Prokofiev, head of the Moscow City Executive Committee, Sergei Kurginyan visited Baku as a member of a group of political experts with the aim of resolving the conflict between Armenians and Azerbaijanis. The report he presented on the results of his trip to the Politburo of the Communist Party Central Committee included accurate forecasts regarding the further development of the situation. In this regard, he was subsequently invited as an expert. He was also heading to Lithuania, Karabakh, Dushanbe.

In 1991, Kurginyan became an unofficial adviser to M. Gorbachev and proposed to the latter a plan for the country’s exit from the crisis situation. As Sergei Ervandovich later claimed, there were disagreements between him and the head of state regarding ways to break the deadlock of the USSR and the party.

Support for the coup and the “Letter of Thirteen”

In the biography of Sergei Kurginyan, contradictory political positions are sometimes visible. Thus, during the August putsch, the politician supported the State Emergency Committee, announcing this in one of the publications, where he called himself its ideologist. The head of the KGB, V. Kryuchkov, one of the conspirators, was subsequently accepted by him into the ETC. During the period of internal political conflict, in 1993, he was present in the premises of the Supreme Council, but was kicked out from there by supporters of the campaign against Ostankino, since he was against it. He immediately provided information about this to the public.

In 1996, the politician invited large entrepreneurs to take the side of the state, initiating the appearance of an appeal called the “Letter of Thirteen.” Among those who signed it were Boris Berezovsky, Viktor Gordilov, Mikhail Fridman, Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Subsequently, the result of the alliance between the head of state and big business was the establishment of an oligarchic system.

Sergey Kurginyan: personal life

His wife is Maria Mamikonyan, whom he met during his student years. They got married at the same time. Today she is an artist of the “On the Boards” theater, works at the ETC and heads the RVS - “Parental All-Russian Resistance”. This organization works in the areas of family protection and education issues. It denies the Western model of education and promotes a ban on sex education for children.

In 2015, the RVS held an event in St. Petersburg related to the distribution of its newspaper in schools across the country, which caused a public outcry. Many of the Legislative Assembly deputies were indignant at the fact that children were in fact chosen as targets of political propaganda. In addition, according to deputies, the publication presented a view of the country’s history that distorts reality.

The couple has a daughter born in 1977, whose name is Irina. She is also an employee of the Kurginyan Center, has a history education and a Ph.D. degree, and is raising a daughter.

Kurginyan today

In 2011, he founded the left-patriotic “Essence of Time” movement, for which he received the nickname of an aggressive patriot. The emergence of this movement is associated with a talk show called “The Court of Time” and further lectures posted on the Global Network. In them, Sergei Kurginyan revealed his political views.

As the leader of the structure he created, he organized rallies and carried out various actions. So, he burned a white ribbon in front of the public, symbolizing purity and protest. In 2012, the politician was among the initiators of actions that were aimed at preventing the so-called Orange Revolution in Russia, similar to the Ukrainian one.

In particular, he established the “Anti-Orange Committee”, aimed against the collapse of the Soviet Union. At that time, opposition figures began to accuse him of working for V.V. Putin. In 2013, the politician initiated a parent congress, where the RVS was established, the chairman of which was his wife Maria Rachievna Mamikonyan. President Putin attended the event for some time and made a brief speech.

In 2014, Kurginyan traveled to Donetsk, where he attempted to accuse Igor Strelkov of treason. Thus, he caused a flurry of outrage and controversy on Internet forums. As noted by the media, Kurginyan is a politician who has the unique ability, while in the position of an oppositionist, to simultaneously remain loyal to the current authorities.