Why did Valeria Novodvorskaya die? Novodvorskaya Valeria Ilyinichna Politician Valeria Novodvorskaya

It is difficult to argue that the death of Valeria Novodvorskaya, which was announced on July 12, significantly changed the balance of political forces in the Russian Federation. Novodvorskaya died in Moscow City Hospital No. 13, surrounded by doctors. They could not save her, the inflammation had gone too far, and her age and lifestyle did not contribute to the healing of the wound, which under other circumstances might not have been dangerous. No one began to speculate about the malicious elimination of a dangerous political opponent. There was no basis for such versions. The cause of death of Valeria Novodvorskaya was announced immediately. It was phlegmon of the foot.

Tender and brave

Yes, she did not pretend to be a guiding star; she, apparently, was quite satisfied with her position, which guaranteed the opportunity to freely declare her own views in the complete absence of any responsibility. However, the right to this had to be earned, won or suffered. Friends, among whom were Khakamada, Borovoy, Nemtsov, Ryzhkov and other representatives of the political elite of the Yeltsin era, called her a romantic with a childish soul, an unmercenary person, an infinitely gentle and very subtle person, not forgetting to dwell especially on her courage, which reached the point of recklessness. Other, less friendly people recalled her antics, full of shocking, often ridiculous and funny in a bad way. Novodvorskaya was a very controversial person. The cause of death, biography, political activities will be briefly described below. No judgments, just facts. And a few assumptions.

USSR late 60s

Moscow in the second half of the sixties. Half a century of history of the Land of Soviets is behind us. There is a relative abundance of goods in the capital, overshadowed by the raids of visitors who bought everything in a row, and sometimes found out what item they stood in a long line for only once they were at the counter. The Red Terror, the bloody war, Stalin’s mass repressions, and Nikita Sergeevich’s voluntarism have sunk into oblivion. The country is stable, it is divided into “categories of supply”, and in each of them people are accustomed to the degree of satisfaction of needs that is established from above. People live peacefully, and the notorious “confidence in the future” is not empty words, but reality. There is no unemployment, but there is a certain choice between the very small salary of an engineer or teacher and the higher tariff rates of builders or highly skilled workers. The daily program “Time” reports on the steady and progressive movement towards a bright future. Many believe, but skeptics remain silent. And among all this idyll, dissatisfied people suddenly appear. What do they want? Who are they? How did they come to live like this? What are they missing?

Dissidents

Soviet dissident, spent a lot of time in specialized hospitals. No, he was not tormented by sarcoma or any other serious illness. Doctors tried to make him “normal” (that is, happy with everything), so they subjected him to forced treatment in psychiatric clinics. It was believed that if a person does not like socialism, then there is something wrong with his head. To be fair, Bukovsky himself admitted that there were indeed many crazy people among the dissidents. At the turn of the seventies, the power of the CPSU seemed so strong and unshakable that a normal person, as a rule, did not dare to rebel against it. And why? The life of the Soviet people could not be called unbearable; most citizens of the USSR did not see other benefits, and if information about the “capitalist paradise” leaked under the “Iron Curtain”, then most often they did not particularly trust it, believing that, in addition to many varieties of sausage, there some costs. In this, by the way, they, as history has shown, turned out to be right.

But there were still dissidents. And they risked a lot.

"Westerners" in the USSR

Russian people tend to be categorical. It appears in the recognition of the extreme points of any phenomenon and the almost complete ignoring of intermediate states. If in our country something is not as we would like, then abroad it is certainly the other way around. In conditions of incomplete and one-sided information among the population about the lives of people in Western countries, at least two generations of Soviet people grew up convinced that if capitalism is criticized in our country, it means that it is an ideal social system. It focuses on care for people, fair wages, commodity abundance, and personal freedom. And this bright force is led by a locomotive in the person of the USA. The presence of any other opinion in a certain part of Soviet society meant belonging to the party nomenklatura, cooperation with the KGB, or simply stupidity. Those dissatisfied with life in the USSR considered everything American good and everything Soviet bad. In essence, this phenomenon was a mirror image of Soviet agitprop, exactly the opposite. Its victims most often were people with unstable psyches. Everyone else tried to somehow adapt, understanding some of the inconsistencies of the official political line, but putting up with them as a necessary evil.

Family tree

Valeria Novodvorskaya died at the age of sixty-four. And she was born in the late Stalin era, in 1950, in the city of Baranovichi (Belarus). The family was not just ordinary, it can be called exemplary. Both parents are communists. Dad worked as an engineer. Two or three decades later, no one would see anything special in this, but in 1950, having a living father in itself was a happiness that many Soviet children did not know. Five years ago, the bloodiest war in the entire history of the world ended. Valeria's mother was a doctor.

Revolutionary genes should have simply filled every cell of Valeria’s body. Great-grandfather was a Smolensk social worker, grandfather was a cavalryman in Budyonny’s First Army. There were other outstanding personalities in the family - a governor under Andrei Kurbsky and even a knight of Malta, at least Novodvorskaya herself said so.

The couple was visiting their grandparents when the birth occurred. History is silent about the reasons, but it turned out that the girl was raised mainly by her grandmother. The parents were apparently very busy.

Upbringing

Growing up as an individual in a country dominated by total collectivism was very difficult. Even when talking about an outstanding man, almost every journalist was especially touched by the fact that “he was like everyone else.” This was not always true, but the expression became a common literary cliche. The whole leitmotif of Valeria Novodvorskaya’s life and even the cause of death indicate that she did not want to be “like everyone else” since childhood. It became her will in her conscious years, and at the age of five her grandmother taught her to read. A silver medal in addition to a school certificate already testifies to one’s own efforts aimed at establishing one’s personality through the achievements that were available. Fluency in French and German and the ability to read several other languages ​​are also the result of hard work. Not every foreign language graduate is able to demonstrate such knowledge.

Start of the fight

Looking at photographs of Valeria Novodvorskaya taken in the nineties and the beginning of the third millennium, it is difficult to imagine that at nineteen she was a beautiful girl, but this is true. There are few high-quality photographs, but from those that have survived, one can judge that it is not just a pretty student looking into the lens, but an intelligent and courageous person. Personal charm, apparently, was to a large extent the reason that Valeria managed to attract young people to the underground circle she created, whose goal, no less, was an armed uprising with the aim of overthrowing the power of the Communists. If the case had taken place less than two decades earlier, Novodvorskaya's death would have occurred immediately, after a brief trial. In 1969, Soviet power turned out to be more humane.

First crazy act

A beautiful nineteen-year-old girl hands out handwritten copies of her own poems. "How lovely!" - they would say today. And even then, in 1969, when poets were idols, which are far from today’s pop and rock stars, there was nothing surprising in this fact itself. If not for two circumstances. Firstly, the poems were anti-Soviet and branded the party, mockingly thanking it for hatred, shame, denunciations and other phenomena accompanying it. Secondly, the distribution took place on the same day. Under these circumstances, Novodvorskaya simply could not help but be arrested. Immediately, assumptions arose that the girl was not entirely capable. After she told comrade KGB Colonel Duntz, the chief expert, that he actually worked for the Gestapo, the diagnosis was considered confirmed.

Treatment in Kazan

For two years the patient was treated at the Kazan psychiatric clinic for paranoia and schizophrenia (sluggish). The authorities had every opportunity to prevent her from being released, for example, by recognizing the patient as incurable. Or it was possible to simply bring her to complete exhaustion. Or treat in such a way that the date of Novodvorskaya’s death is no later than, for example, 1972. This is if we accept the dissident’s own version of the cruel nature of the communist regime. Facts, however, are stubborn things.

Fate did not want Novodvorskaya to die in a mental hospital. She survived. One can only guess how forced treatment affected her. What is certain is that the fighting spirit was not broken.

After leaving the psychiatric hospital (1972), twenty-two-year-old Valeria Ilyinichna immediately took up prohibited matters again. She distributed printed samizdat materials, and at the same time worked as a teacher in a sanatorium for children. One can only be surprised at the carelessness of the “executioners from the KGB” who allowed a recent mentally ill woman to be employed as a teacher. However, Novodvorskaya did not work there for long, only two years.

In the intertime

For the next fifteen years, V.I. Novodvorskaya fought against communism, using the methods of the Bolshevik underground. She graduated from the Moscow Pedagogical Institute. Krupskaya (1977), got a job as a translator at the Second Medical. And she did not give up attempts to overthrow the hated Soviet government through a conspiracy. She was repeatedly detained, arrested and treated. Three trials did not lead to imprisonment, demonstrations and rallies organized by her were dispersed. Perhaps the protesters were subjected to more serious repression, and Novodvorskaya got away with fines and medical procedures. During the Gorbachev Thaw, almost anything became possible, even direct insults to the head of state and the flag of the USSR. After the formation of an autocephalous church in Ukraine, which set the goal of a split with the Russian Orthodox Church, Novodvorskaya was baptized, becoming a parishioner of the UOC of the Kyiv Patriarchate. She did this, obviously, as a sign of protest against the Russian Orthodox Church.

Is it bad without repression?

The lack of attention from the authorities insults the oppositionist. His political rating is not as important to him as the fact of his own danger to the ruling elite. This, on the one hand, brings a certain discomfort into life, but on the other hand, it gives a sense of self-worth. The struggle takes on meaning. The reason for the death of Valeria Novodvorskaya as a politician was not the small electorate, but the frivolous attitude of the authorities. In recent years, she has often complained on the radio station “Echo of Moscow” and other media about the lack of understanding among the broad masses of the bright ideals of democracy. In her opinion, the Russian people have not matured to understand real freedom. She herself dreamed that in Russia everything would be “like in the West.” Novodvorskaya died without living to see her cherished wish come true.

Russophobia and other funny things

Anti-Sovietism gradually developed into Russophobia. In all the conflicts that arose throughout the post-Soviet period, Novodvorskaya took a defeatist position, repeating the experience of the Bolsheviks she hated during the First World War.

Comic situations are also widely known. The female politician either stood with a poster on which it was written: “You are all fools and don’t get treatment, I’m the only one who is smart and beautiful,” or put on a T-shirt with the slogan “Don’t let the Russians.” By the way, it is not fools who need treatment, but the sick. Valeria Novodvorskaya certainly should have known this.

Cause of death - loneliness

Dissidents in the USSR could not complain about the lack of attention to their health from the state. They were sent to mental hospitals even when they didn’t want to.

Ironically, Novodvorskaya died due to improper treatment. No, we are not talking about mental illness. And the doctors had nothing to do with it; they didn’t turn to them for help until the very last moment. Why Novodvorskaya died is much more prosaic. Valeria Ilyinichna injured her leg about six months before her death. She tried to cure herself, did not go to the doctor, inflammation arose, which developed into sepsis, also called (formerly, before the era of isthmic diseases) blood poisoning. Novodvorskaya is all about this lack of attention to herself. The cause of death is absurd in the conditions of a modern metropolis. There are many medical institutions in Moscow that could provide qualified assistance. And in a simple district clinic, a surgeon would have treated the wound with all the attention, if only Novodvorskaya had gone there. The cause of death, however, lies not only in phlegmon, but also in simple human loneliness. There was not a person who would insist on going to the doctor, who would force an eccentric woman to spend several hours on herself, even at the expense of another rally in defense of Ukraine “offended” by Russia.

The “successful entrepreneur” and “famous politician” Konstantin Borovoy considered himself a friend. He told reporters about Novodvorskaya’s death and the events of the last days of her life, not forgetting to clarify that he prescribed his friend a diet that she could not stand. According to his version, she is guilty of her own death in much the same way as the Odessa residents who burned in the House of Trade Unions, which the two friends cheerfully discussed on air shortly after the tragedy.

Perhaps the cause of Valeria Novodvorskaya’s death is not a disregard for her health; in this case, it itself is a consequence. Most likely, the dissident was depressed by the awareness of her own uselessness and lack of demand. And at times it seemed that with her antics she did not propagate the liberal idea, but rather repelled potential adherents from it.

Many people in modern society are beginning to take an active interest in the political life of our country and the world as a whole. Valeria Novodvorskaya is of no small importance in this area.

For many years now, many minds have been concerned with a question that we will try to understand. So: Novodvorskaya - who is she and what is this woman like?

The youth of our heroine

Valeria Novodvorskaya is a political figure, an ardent human rights activist who holds liberal views. She was born on May 17, 1950 in Belarus, in Baranovichi. The blood of a rebel flows in the genes of this woman from birth, since there were many revolutionaries in her family. Novodvorskaya’s biography is fraught with many questions and mysteries, which Valeria Ilyinichna herself created in order to compare herself with American female revolutionaries in the future. Although everyone knows that in the Novodvorsky family both great-grandfather and grandfather were revolutionary-minded citizens, Valeria believes that she grew up in a family of intellectuals, and the past in no way influenced her views on life.

Her father was a scientist, and her mother worked as a doctor, that is, they held government positions. At the age of 17, Valeria Novodvorskaya (you can see the photo in her youth on the left) entered the Moscow Institute of Foreign Languages ​​to study French and immediately began to speak out against the Soviet regime and the USSR as a whole.

Novodvorskaya led a very active political life in her youth, for which she was punished more than once. Because of her actions, she was arrested in 1969 and was forced to undergo treatment in psychiatric clinics. Russian doctors diagnosed her with paranoia and schizophrenia. But she, naturally, did not stop there. In the seventies of the last century, she made an attempt to organize an underground party to fight the communist regime that existed at that time.

Valeria Novodvorskaya's first experience in politics

At the age of 27, she still manages to get an education at the evening faculty at the regional pedagogical university in Moscow. Having a good command of foreign languages, Valeria Ilyinichna Novodvorskaya worked for fifteen years as a translator, translating specialized literature at a medical institute. During this time, she was charged three times with anti-Soviet propaganda and her indefatigable activity in this direction. During her long work at the MOLGMI library, Novodvorskaya often demonstrated her attitude towards power. She constantly wrote various leaflets with propaganda slogans, made her way to the microphone and screamed with foam at the mouth about the wrong policies of the Soviet authorities. For these actions, Valeria Ilyinichna was immediately fired on numerous counts, and was also arrested.

Creation of a political party

But despite various obstacles and setbacks along the way, Valeria helps create a political party called the “Democratic Union”, many times holds various rallies that were not even authorized, and for this she was detained more than once by the authorities. Accusations were also brought against Novodvorskaya for publicly insulting Mikhail Gorbachev, the President of the USSR. After the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, she tried many times to run for the State Duma, but these attempts were unsuccessful. She actively participated in the creation of the Democratic Union of Russia party and was one of the first supporters of the new President of the Russian Federation, Boris Yeltsin. In 1994, endless checks of her activities began, since in her articles published in various newspapers, she openly promoted the outbreak of the civil war and tried to incite

And now an interesting perspective: who is Novodvorskaya from the point of view of the prosecutor’s office, which has brought criminal cases against this woman many times? This woman is truly lucky in life, since after the initiation of such cases they were closed very quickly, because no crime was found in her actions.

Political views of Valeria Ilyinichna

Novodvorskaya, whose biography contains many contradictions and inconsistencies, considers herself a convinced liberal and supports Western views on life. She is an absolute opponent of communism; in her youth she was even called a “young anti-Soviet.” Valeria Novodvorskaya has a very negative attitude towards both the modern government in the Russian Federation and the Soviet authorities, and calls our country a stopcock that slows down the rest of the world and everything good in it. Giving interviews to other publications, Valeria denies her attitude towards liberalism and democracy. At one time she supported Estonia and Latvia in bills that discriminated against the Russian-speaking population of these countries.

Also, an important role in Novodvorskaya’s political statements is played by the phrase that human rights, which are supposedly inherent to each of us, are in fact not due to everyone, but only to “decent people.” And she puts her own meaning into the concept of “democracy”, that is, she does not consider democracy to be the power of many people in the country, but is confident that power should be held by a small group of people who hold liberal views.

One gets the impression that this seemingly woman by nature has absolutely no sense of pity and compassion. Regarding the nuclear explosions in 1945 on the territory of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Novodvorskaya said that she was happy for Japan. Because as a result, this country has realized itself politically, that currently the main seven countries of the world meet in the capital, and has its own parliament of liberals. She admires America as the greatest power and argues that Japan should be grateful to the American planes that destroyed these two cities. This is due to the fact that American troops in this way tried to stop the destruction of Japan as a country, because it was sliding into the abyss of the Middle Ages, and in the end it turned out to be one of the leading powers in the world with an excellent economy and a high level of civilization.

Valeria Novodvorskaya and liberalism

And who is Novodvorskaya in relation to liberals? In some sources she claims that she is their ardent supporter, while in others, on the contrary, she renounces. At the beginning of 2009, Valeria Ilyinichna proposed her own plan for the development of liberalism in Russia.

The main point was to start not caring about your people and their common opinion, in order to supposedly do something in the future just for these same people. Secondly, there should be 100% learning from Western countries and imitation of their lives. Moreover, the scale of such training should extend over centuries. Novodvorskaya believes that apart from the right to freedom and human rights, the people do not need to give anything else. People must earn everything else, and not ask the state. Thirdly, changes have also affected democracy. Democracy, through the eyes of Valeria, implies the power of an enlightened group of people who firmly believe in liberalism.

About Russia

Who is Novodvorskaya for Russia? An eternal thorn that prevents you from living in peace? Valeria has a very negative attitude towards Russia and the Russian government. In her statements one can feel contempt and bitterness, which is not even inherent in a normal person.

Expressing her thoughts that all people of the Russian nation should be in prison (and not just in prison, but in a “bowl”), she is not afraid of anything or anyone. She considers Russia a cancer of the Earth, and Russian-speaking people as metastases spreading throughout the world and corrupting other countries. This is what Novodvorskaya thinks about Russia - the country in which she lives.

However, there are a number of statements about her belonging to the Russians. She, oddly enough, considers herself a true Russian, one of the five percent who never give up. These are people who carry Scandinavian traditions within themselves and in their memory. She considers the rest, living on the territory of the Russian Federation, to be creatures, simple creatures worse than ciliates. She compares the Russian population with dinosaurs, pterodactyls and crocodiles in her statements, where Novodvorskaya does not skimp on expressions and demonstrations of her attitude towards Russians. In addition, she simply longs for a war between Russia and America and dreams that the latter would attack Russia and put the Russians in the place they deserve, like worms. One of whose biography has many dark spots, hates the Russian people and everything connected with them, it indicates the past of our country. And he cites as an example the events that took place in the First World War, when officers of the White Army were deliberately drowned at sea. After World War II, the NKVD massacred the entire Soviet intelligentsia, and the Jews they adored were sent into exile to the North. All these actions instilled in the soul an inexhaustible hatred of the Soviet regime. However, she admires other countries, turning a blind eye to their wars and attacks, and even supports them in her speeches.

Novodvorskaya about other states

An ambitious and shocking politician supports everything that could poison the lives of Russian citizens and wipe the Russian Federation off the face of the Earth. She confidently defended and supported Chechen terrorists and separatists who carried out entire raids to capture the Russian population. When the threat of war with Georgia loomed in August 2008, Novodvorskaya admired Saakashvili with hysterical fanaticism. Russia currently has a rocky relationship with Ukraine, and Novodvorskaya is furiously urging the Ukrainian government to stand up to occupying Russia. If she had such an opportunity and strength, then Valeria Ilyinichna, according to her, would have long ago joined the ranks of the Ukrainian army next to the militias.

Novodvorskaya about nationality and religion of a person

There is no exact information about the nationality of Valeria Ilyinichna Novodvorskaya anywhere. She does not particularly advertise her affiliation with one religion or another. Valeria claims that she is Russian, although she was born in Belarus. She positions herself as a true Christian. Having read the Gospel in the sixties, Valeria understood her destiny, and accepted the Christian faith only in the nineties of the last century. From other sources one can see how she idolizes Jews and does not hide the fact that her last name is a pseudonym. Presumably, her father was a Jew and deliberately changed his last name and forged documents so that he could easily enter America, New York, using a Jewish immigration card. However, this woman has no desire to move to Israel. She claims that the holy law on the return of Jews to their native land does not apply to grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and therefore does not apply to her either. In the nineties, Valeria Ilyinichna accepted Georgian citizenship and actively supported the Georgian government. Speaking about a person’s nationality, Novodvorskaya does not consider one individual as a representative of the nation. Nationality must be looked at in concentration, and one person, torn from society, cannot give an accurate idea of ​​​​the identity of his people. Without hiding this, Valeria Ilyinichna admires only the United States of America, the only drawback in whose policy she sees is the provision of assistance to the unemployed and handicapped in larger amounts than it should be.

Personal life of Novodvorskaya

Over the years of her political activity, Valeria Ilyinichna was able to turn all of Russia against herself; one might say that the entire nation hates her. But she takes this very calmly and, when participating in any political debate, is absolutely indifferent, since she does not care about the opinions of others. According to many psychologists, the main reason for her such aggression is dissatisfaction in her personal life. Novodvorskaya, whose personal life has no secrets, because there simply is none, claims that throughout her entire life she has never been in bed with a man, that is, she remains a virgin at 64 years old. Valeria is trying to prove to everyone that she is absolutely indifferent to worldly joys, normal human relationships and the sex life common to society. Absolutely calmly and judiciously accusing Russian politics and the Russian government, she imparts undisguised irony and malice to her speech. According to many people around her, Novodvorskaya’s personal life consists of provoking others not to love themselves, that is, deliberately turning others against them. She gets great true pleasure from this and is completely satisfied with her life.

However, there is still one person who showed sympathy for this unapproachable, frankly speaking, not a beauty - this is her comrade, friend in political affairs, Borovaya’s assistant Konstantin Natanovich (on the left in the photo - Novodvorskaya and Borovoy). But there was no intimate connection between them. Borovoy has a wife, two daughters and three grandchildren, and Novodvorskaya, according to her, would never allow herself to destroy their family happiness. Therefore, no one dares to challenge the authenticity of the words about the virgin purity of Novodvorskaya. Moreover, again, according to Valeria herself, having sex is a rather boring activity, but who knows the whole truth? In her interviews, Valeria Ilyinichna curses the KGB and claims that it was the Soviet authorities who deprived her of the opportunity to get married, give birth to a bunch of children and be a happy mother and wife. Novodvorskaya’s husband has never been found in all these years. As Valeria says, not a single man has ever liked her in her life, and that she is even glad of this, since she could not get along with anyone.

Novodvorskaya currently

• At the moment, Valeria Novodvorskaya leads a calmer political life than in her youth. However, in the last years of her political activity, assurances have been heard from her that her early struggle for democracy was only a cunning plan, a deceptive, roundabout way to achieve her goal.
• She is an excellent journalist and at the same time is engaged in education and writes books. Together with his friend, he makes regular videos where they discuss world politics, but only from the point of view of the opposition and in a pro-Western direction.
• Nowadays, Novodvorskaya can be seen very rarely on television, since she is no longer invited everywhere.
• Valeria Ilyinichna communicates fluently and easily in English and French, and also knows Latin, Italian and German.
• Not everyone knows where Novodvorskaya lives. But it is believed that she lives quietly in a small town near Moscow called Kratovo, which does not make the local residents very happy.

Valeria Ilyinichna Novodvorskaya, a Russian activist and writer who died in Moscow on July 12, 2014 at the age of 64, virtually unknown abroad, was notorious in Russia. Her enemies ridiculed her, often using crude misogynistic terminology, calling her a Russophobic witch. Even many of her allies considered her a funny old woman, prone to saying things that made the already fringe liberal opposition look crazy. After her death, she was literally canonized by the same opposition. According to many, only after her departure they realized what a great soul lived among them. Former oil tycoon and political prisoner Mikhail Khodorkovsky noted that she said loudly what others were whispering, and did not put up with what everyone else put up with.

Enemy ratings

The cause of death of Valeria Novodvorskaya was phlegmon of the left foot, complicated by sepsis. Some rejoiced that “Baba Lera” was burning in hell, while others expressed respect for her courage and convictions. Vladimir Putin, whom she compared to Hitler long before he became popular, unexpectedly expressed his condolences. Prime Minister and former President Dmitry Medvedev praised not only her talent and courage, but also her contribution to Russian democracy. The pro-government newspaper Izvestia published an article about her, partly laudatory and partly mocking, in which she was called a “walking joke”, which after her death forced everyone, as if on cue, to take her seriously.

Unbending fighter

To say that Valeria Ilyinichna Novodvorskaya was an extraordinary woman would be an understatement. She was a fighter as tireless as she was fearless, unbowed by either state repression or the burden of health problems. She was also an influential publicist with a keen mind and extensive knowledge, writing on topics of history, literature and politics.

Her passion for freedom and justice, her strong hatred of communism sometimes put her in quite an awkward position. Her fellow dissident Social Democrat Alexander Skobov, whose views differed significantly from Novodvorskaya's market radicalism, was right when he wrote that only those who had the same courage to fight tyranny had the right to judge her.

Early biography

Valeria Novodvorskaya was born on May 17, 1950 in Baranovichi (Belarus) in the family of engineer Ilya Borisovich Burshtyn and pediatrician Nina Fedorovna Novodvorskaya.

Courage was a quality she never lacked. In her 1993 memoir, “Beyond Despair,” Novodvorskaya recalled that at age 15 she went to a local recruiting office demanding to be sent to Vietnam. She admired Joan of Arc and Spartacus, and watched Stanley Kubrick's film of the same name more than a dozen times. The authorities of the Soviet Union widely showed the film "Spartacus" as a film glorifying the revolutionary struggle, but few suspected that it would help raise a rebel who would fight against As a young woman, Valeria Novodvorskaya read Solzhenitsyn's account of Stalin's Gulag, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, and quickly came to the conclusion that the Soviet regime was as evil as the slavery against which Spartacus rebelled.

Radicalization

While still in school, she called for a riot in class and wrote anti-Soviet essays, narrowly avoiding trouble thanks to several friendly teachers. Having entered the Moscow Institute of Foreign Languages ​​after graduating from school in 1968, she wasted no time in organizing an underground student group. The shock of the Prague Spring of 1968 and its suppression by Soviet tanks further radicalized Novodvorskaya. In December 1969, at the age of 19, she threw a stack of leaflets with proclamations and a sarcastic poem of gratitude to the Communist Party from the balcony of the Kremlin Palace of Congresses. A sympathetic usher urged her to run, but she did not. Novodvorskaya's carefully thought out plan was to have her arrested. She intended to frighten the KGB with tales of a large secret network of saboteurs, give a fiery speech at a public trial, and with her martyrdom destroy social apathy, giving rise to the ranks of imaginary revolutionaries. As Valeria Novodvorskaya later recalled in her book, this plan did not take into account any practical reality. Otherwise he was flawless.

Years of Persecution

Instead of an open trial and execution, the future Joan of Arc was quietly sent to prison and, ultimately, after refusing to repent, she was placed in a psychiatric hospital with a diagnosis of “flaccid schizophrenia.” Punitive psychiatry was the standard measure of punishment for dissidents. This was much worse than a prison or a labor camp. Prisoners were given psychotropic drugs with unpleasant side effects and excruciatingly painful injections. When Novodvorskaya was released in 1972, she was a sick person. At 22, her head was full of gray hair, but her spirit remained unbroken : She returned to underground dissident activities, distributed illegal samizdat literature, tried to organize a political party, participated in an attempt to create an independent trade union.More arrests, prison sentences and another forced “treatment” in a psychiatric hospital followed.

“Heil, Gorbachev!”

At the end of the 80s, glasnost and Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika came, and Valeria Novodvorskaya rushed into politics with renewed vigor. Her radical message, which went beyond reform, was to call for the dismantling of the Soviet system and the abandonment of state socialism. She was arrested again. This happened a total of 17 times between 1987 and 1991. The last time she was detained was for publishing the article “Heil, Gorbachev!” in the newsletter of her new party, the Democratic Union. The hated regime fell, but Novodvorskaya’s happiness was short-lived. The reign of Boris Yeltsin, during which she made her only unsuccessful attempt to compete for power, caused her increasing disappointment, especially after the outbreak of the war with Chechnya. Valeria Novodvorskaya never became a deputy. Then former KGB officer Putin came to power, brought back the Soviet anthem, crushed Chechnya and launched an open fight against civil liberties in Russia.

Disappointment

The dissident lost faith in the Russian people. In her youth, Valeria Novodvorskaya believed in people. She was sincerely convinced that the Communist Party oppressed the population and they acted under coercion. She believed that as soon as people stopped being raped, they would immediately take advantage of their freedoms and rights with joy and enthusiasm and begin building capitalism. This belief was borne out for some time by the massive anti-Soviet protests of the late 1980s and the crowds that came to defend the White House after the failed coup in August 1991. By the mid-1990s, this illusion had dissipated. Novodvorskaya admitted that if the masses rebelled, then the Western-style liberal democracy that she idolized would not be established, and all this would result in some kind of disgusting “red-brown” hybrid of communism and fascism.

Hopes for Georgia and Ukraine

Disappointed, Novodvorskaya shifted her hopes to the neighboring former Soviet republics, where she saw the spirit of freedom flourishing, which “Putin’s” Russia was doing its best to suppress. These countries were Georgia and Ukraine. In the last months of her life, the columns she wrote for an independent website were full of passion for the Maidan revolution, as well as disappointment and bitterness at the West’s lack of resolve to support Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression. Although Novodvorskaya's economic and social views were close to libertarian, from an American point of view she was a neocon, a staunch supporter of US leadership as the main pillar of freedom throughout the world. Its political icons included Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, as well as the Czech dissident-turned-president Vaclav Havel.

Quotes from Valeria Novodvorskaya

Her statements surprised and sometimes horrified. For example, Novodvorskaya welcomed the United States attack on Russia. In her opinion, it would be better if the Russian Federation became one of the states within the United States, although Americans do not need Russians for nothing. She also said that the Russian character was so corrupted by centuries of slavery that a sense of freedom and dignity remained in only 5-10% of the population, and only this part is truly important, and the rest are “reptiles”, “amoebas” or "dinosaurs". At the end of Beyond Despair she wrote:

Russia will become a charred wasteland, a dense forest or a mass grave, but at least there will never be a new Gulag archipelago.

"Married to Putin"

Such comments forced many to call Valeria Novodvorskaya not only a fanatical Russophobe, but also a “reverse Bolshevik”, ready to sacrifice millions for the sake of a liberal capitalist utopia. But to a large extent such words were the result of pain and anger, and partly a deliberate provocation. There was a time when she wrote about Russia with tender, unrequited, strange love. In a 2009 article sarcastically titled “I’m Married to Putin,” Novodvorskaya caustically described her relationship with the country’s then-former president as classic Russian family life. Associating them with a married couple who cannot stand each other but live under the same roof. She prophetically concluded the post by saying that the president would outlive her - he was young and athletic, and she was old, sick and feeling scared, and their common child fell on his head in the maternity hospital, suffering from cerebral palsy and mental disorders. And the child (Russia) will remain in the hands of the father, and no one will take pity on the poor orphan.

Praise for Pinochet

At times, Novodvorskaya had a difficult relationship with human rights activists, who were usually her allies, as she argued that absolutist notions of political freedom for all aided the enemies of freedom, from communists to Islamist fanatics. However, when a Ukrainian online magazine asked her in a 2008 interview whether there would be "hangings" if she somehow came to power in Russia, Novodvorskaya reiterated her strong opposition to the death penalty. She said she would do nothing more than ban communist and fascist parties or allow their supporters to hold public office. In her praise of Pinochet, she insisted that the Chilean dictator deserves credit for preventing a likely communist takeover. But she also readily admitted that if she had lived in Chile, she would not have survived his regime because she would have been forced to defy him. From someone else, these words would have been empty boasting, but in the case of Novodvorskaya, no one doubted that this is exactly what she meant.

The Last Don Quixote

Novodvorskaya was a lone heroine. During the Putin years, she was sometimes invited to appear on talk shows on government TV channels, which have long blacklisted more moderate liberals such as world chess champion Gary Kasparov or former governor Boris Nemtsov. Some suspected that this was a deliberate strategy to discredit the opposition, not only because of Novodvorskaya's reputation, but also because she was considered strange.

Object of ridicule

In a society where traditional sexism is still strong and visible, Novodvorskaya's gender and appearance made her even more vulnerable to ridicule. A plump woman with thick glasses, short-cropped hair, a deep voice and rude manners, she was often the target of bullying and was called masculine and sexless. She responded by wearing provocatively feminine, almost teenage clothing and jewelry, and freely admitting that she was a virgin. The mission of her life, she explained, left no room for family or romance, and Valeria Novodvorskaya considered her personal life a waste of time. She fell into sexism, although in 2011, after years of dismissing feminism as stupidity, she wrote a sympathetic piece about women's struggle for equality. The cause of Valeria Novodvorskaya's death was sepsis - a disease of people who take little care of themselves. But, oddly enough, she managed to gain respect. The Russian edition of the men's magazine FHM, which interviewed only men who could become role models for its readers, made an exception for Novodvorskaya as the only real man left in Russian politics.

Uncompromising fight against totalitarianism

Valeria Novodvorskaya was often criticized for her black-and-white worldview (although this extended only to institutions and actions, not to individuals: she was flexible enough to soften her attitude towards former opponents such as Gorbachev). An avid fan of Tolkien, she sometimes imagined the battle against an authoritarian state as the clash between good and evil in The Lord of the Rings. And yet, under the most brutally repressive system, such moral clarity, no matter how absolutist and simplistic, could be the only thing that could give a person the strength to fight and persist against all odds. After her death, the writer Dmitry Bykov, who once called Valeria Novodvorskaya a pyromaniac eager to burn the world in a cleansing fire, dedicated an emotional monument to her indestructible honor and concluded that people of this breed are rare, but they are in demand and will never run out in Russia. Otherwise, what's the point of all this?

Heroes don't die

Some mourned the passing of the last dissident, calling her death the end of an era. Others saw her life as the epitome of invincible freedom and hoped that her death would inspire other fighters. The funeral of Valeria Novodvorskaya was attended by hundreds of people who stood for hours in the scorching sun, saying goodbye to this courageous woman. When the coffin with the body left the Sakharov Center, where the funeral took place, the crowd began chanting: “Heroes do not die.”

Valeria Novodvorskaya's grave is located at the Donskoye Cemetery in Moscow.

Family

Valeria Novodvorskaya's great-grandfather was a professional revolutionary who organized the first Social Democratic printing house in Smolensk. Grandfather was born in Tobolsk prison, where his revolutionary parents were serving time, he fought in the First Cavalry Army of Semyon Budyonny.

Mother is a doctor, father is an engineer. Both were members CPSU. On November 3, 2009, in an interview, she denied the information that she was abandoning her father or bearing his last name. Moreover, she added that it was her father who abandoned her, suggesting that he left the family and went to America on an immigration card, which he could falsify by changing his real name.

According to V. Novodvorskaya, her ancestor, Mikhail Novodvorsky, was a governor in Dorpat. After he learned that the prince Andrey Kurbsky took his army to Lithuania so that the Lithuanians could defeat him, M. Novodvorsky wanted to dissuade him from treason, but A. Kurbsky did not listen to him. Then Mikhail challenged him to a duel, where he died. Another of the ancestors, according to V. Novodvorskaya, was a Knight of Malta and served Poland. He came with an embassy from King Sigismund III to the Russian Kingdom during the Time of Troubles to ask for a crown for Prince Vladislav IV.

Biography

Valeria Novodvorskaya was raised by her grandmother in " individualistic spirit". The girl learned to read at the age of 5. At the age of 9 she moved to Moscow. As a teenager, she learned about the existence Gulag, process Sinyavsky And Daniel and the entry of Soviet troops into Czechoslovakia, which developed in her a rejection of Soviet power.

In 1968 she graduated from high school with a silver medal. Entered Institute of Foreign Languages ​​named after. Maurice Thorez, French department with a degree in translator and teacher.

In 1973-1975 she worked as a teacher in a children's sanatorium.

In 1977, Valeria Novodvorskaya graduated from the evening faculty of foreign languages. Moscow Regional Pedagogical Institute named after. Krupskaya.

In 1975-1990 she worked as a translator of medical literature of the 2nd Moscow Medical Institute.

Currently engaged in journalistic and educational activities. Author of the books “Above the Chasm of Lies”, “My Carthage Must Be Destroyed” (a course of lectures given several times at the Russian State University for the Humanities by Yuri Afanasyev), “Beyond Despair”, “Farewell of a Slav”.

Fluent in English and French. Reads Latin, German, Ancient Greek, Italian.

In recent decades she lived in Moscow.

She calls herself a liberal and is known for her pro-Western views. A staunch anti-communist (" young anti-Soviet of the Soviet Union" - cit.). He has a negative attitude towards Soviet and modern Russian power structures and Russia as a whole, considering it “the very country that is a brake on everything reasonable, good, eternal.” He wishes Russia to “perish in its arrogance.” In other speeches denies that she belongs to the liberal democratic movement and states that “our camp is the white camp”; she also supported apartheid in South Africa and discrimination against the Russian-speaking population in Latvia and Estonia.

On April 11, 2008, for defending the interests of Lithuania, she was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas. By democracy, Valeria Ilyinishna does not mean the power of the majority, but the power of a group of people adhering to a liberal position.

"Democracy is not the judgment of a simple arithmetic majority. This is ochlocracy. Democracy is the judgment of people who have made a liberal, humane, reasonable European, Western choice. So, in fact, in the West. Because if you asked the crowd, then perhaps the scaffolds would have stood there long ago".

Valeria Novodvorskaya - was a fan of the series "Babylon 5". Her favorite characters, according to her, are " Delen - Minbari ambassador and captain of Babylon, who later marries her". Favorite series: series of Babylon's opposition to the "authoritarian" Earth, series concerning Minbari and civilizations more ancient than humanity.

In 1998, Valeria Novodvorskaya, together with Konstantin Borov starred in a cameo role in the film "Diva Mary".

Policy

In 1969, 19-year-old Novodvorskaya organized an underground student group that discussed the need to overthrow the communist regime through an armed uprising.

On December 5, 1969, in the Kremlin Palace of Congresses, Valeria Novodvorskaya distributed leaflets with an anti-Soviet poem of her own composition. "Thank you, party!". She was immediately arrested by the KGB on charges of anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda (Article 70 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR) for distributing leaflets criticizing the entry of Soviet troops into Czechoslovakia, but was not convicted.

From June 1970 to February 1972, Valeria Novodvorskaya was treated in special hospitals with a diagnosis of " schizophrenia, paranoid personality development".

Since 1972, she has been involved in the circulation and distribution of samizdat.

In 1977-1978, Novodvorskaya attempted to create an underground political party to fight the CPSU.

On October 28, 1978, she became one of the founders "Free interprofessional association of workers"(SMOT).

Throughout her life, Valeria Novodvorskaya was repeatedly persecuted by the authorities: she was placed in psychiatric hospitals, systematically summoned for interrogation on the affairs of SMOT members, and her apartment was searched.

In 1978, 1985, 1986, Novodvorskaya was tried for dissident activities.

In 1984-1986, she became close to members of a pacifist group "Confidence". In 1987-1988 she participated in the seminar "Democracy and Humanism", who prepared the creation of the Democratic Union.

In May 1988, Valeria Novodvorskaya participated in the creation of the party "Democratic Union"(DS). Member of the Moscow Coordination Council of the Democratic Union.

She was the organizer of a number of unauthorized rallies, for participation in which she was subjected to police detention and administrative arrests a total of 17 times from 1987 to May 1991.

In September 1990, after publication in the party newspaper "Free speech" articles entitled "Heil, Gorbachev!" and speeches at rallies where she tore up portraits Mikhail Gorbachev, was accused of publicly insulting the honor and dignity of the President of the USSR and insulting the state flag.

In 1990 she was baptized. Belongs to Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, speaking out with sharp criticism of the Russian Orthodox Church. In May 1991, January and August 1995, criminal cases were initiated against Novodvorskaya, but were dismissed for lack of evidence of a crime.

Summer 1992 - President of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia granted Novodvorskaya Georgian citizenship (at the same time appointing her as his human rights adviser).

At the end of 1992, Novodvorskaya and some members of the DS created an organization "Democratic Union of Russia"(DSR).

In September 1993 - After the Presidential decree Boris Yeltsin on the dissolution of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation was one of the first to support this decree. Organized rallies in support of the President.

In October 1993 - Participated in the founding congress of the bloc "Russia's Choice". I was going to run for office in Ivanovo, but was unable to collect the required number of signatures.

March 19, 1994 - The Krasnopresnenskaya prosecutor's office began checking the activities of Valeria Novodvorskaya under Articles 71 and 74 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (propaganda of civil war and incitement of ethnic hatred) due to a number of articles published in the newspaper of Evgeniy Dodolev "A New Look".

In June 1994 - Participated in the founding congress of the Democratic Choice of Russia party.

January 27, 1995 - The Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation opened a criminal case due to Novodvorskaya's articles published in the newspaper "Novy Vzglyad". On August 8, 1995, the prosecutor's office of the Central District of Moscow dismissed the case due to the lack of corpus delicti in her actions.

August 14, 1995 - The Moscow city prosecutor's office opened another criminal case against Novodvorskaya. The reason was a leaflet written by Novodvorskaya for the DSR picket on April 8. The case was transferred to the Ostankino prosecutor's office, which did not find any corpus delicti in the leaflet.

In December 1995, in the elections to the State Duma of the 2nd convocation, Novodvorskaya entered the electoral list of the Economic Freedom Party. In addition, Novodvorskaya registered in single-mandate district No. 192 of Moscow. Lost the elections.

On April 10, 1996, Valeria Novodvorskaya was charged under Article 74, Part 1 (deliberate actions aimed at inciting national hatred).

Before the presidential elections in the Russian Federation, she supported the candidacy. After the first round of elections, together with the Democratic Union of Russia, it invited the leader to “immediately and without any conditions give the votes of his supporters to Boris Yeltsin.”

Deputy Assistant Konstantin Borovoy in the State Duma of the 2nd convocation (1995-1999), expert of the Party of Economic Freedom.

In March 2010, she signed the appeal of the Russian opposition "Putin must go".

In 2013, together with Konstantin Borov, she began creating a party "Western Choice".

In the last six months of her life, Valeria Novodvorskaya supported Euromaidan, Ukraine’s course towards joining the European Union and the overthrow of the President of Ukraine and the ruling "Party of Regions".

On March 15, 2014, she took part in "Peace March" in Moscow against the armed intervention of the Russian authorities in the internal affairs of Ukraine. Novodvorskaya came out with a poster " Putin's gang - Get to Nuremberg". In March 2014, she recorded a video message to activists of the Ukrainian "Right Sector", which calls on them to more actively influence the new Ukrainian government in order to confront Russia.

On March 18, 2014, in a statement by the Democratic Union Central Congress, Novodvorskaya sharply criticized Russia for its foreign policy towards Ukraine. The DS did not recognize the referendum taking place in Crimea and the subsequent annexation of the peninsula to Russia. According to Novodvorskaya, the Crimeans committed treason against Ukraine. Valeria Ilyinichna also announced the beginning of a war between Russia and Ukraine, and in this confrontation she took the side of Ukraine.

In April 2014, Novodvorskaya announced that she had taken the military oath of allegiance to Ukraine. In June 2014, when asked to comment on the death of Russian journalists in Ukraine, Novodvorskaya said the following: " No one tried to kill them on purpose. They didn’t shoot at journalists, they shot at enemies, at “Colorados.” They stood among them, they did not shout: “Don’t shoot, we are journalists!”<…>Anyone reporting from the front must be prepared for such an ending. No one dances on their grave.<…>Nobody wanted to kill them. I won't pretend to shed tears for them. These were very bad people. But this does not mean that they had to be killed. It's a shame they died"

On July 12, 2014, Valeria Novodvorskaya was hospitalized in the intensive care unit of the purulent surgery department of Moscow City Clinical Hospital No. 13, where, as a number of media reported, died from phlegmon of the left foot, complicated by sepsis. As her relatives said, she received an injury to her left leg six months ago and tried to cure it on her own. According to reports, death was caused by infectious-toxic shock.

Income

In accordance with the Charter of the Regional public organization (political party) "Democratic Union", a member of the Party is obliged to regularly pay membership fees. The minimum entry fee is 5% of the minimum wage. The minimum monthly membership fee is 1% of income; the size of the membership fee can be reduced for pensioners, students and the unemployed. As of 2009, Novodvorskaya holds the position of Chairman of the Central Committee of the DS.

Valeria Novodvorskaya invites interested parties to sponsor, especially highlighting businessmen and oligarchs, motivating them:

"Dear oligarchs! Keep your money offshore! Don’t be like Pinocchio, don’t bury your coins in Russian soil and don’t say “kreks, fex, pex!” A tree with dollars will not grow in the Land of Fools, but Alice the fox from the Prosecutor General’s Office and Basilio the cat from the FSB will simply come and steal your money. And you will be hanged on a branch. And don’t be shy, join the DS and Solidarity, donate funds for the Orange Revolution, support the democratic opposition, draw caricatures of Putin, and don’t buy his still lifes. It’s all the same, so be opponents of the authorities. At least you will get the status of prisoners of conscience".

Scandals (incidents)

Valeria Novodvorskaya positions herself as a libertarian, nonconformist, freethinker, individualist, anti-communist and anti-fascist, and is a supporter of capitalism. She holds pro-American views, calling the United States “the only superpower” and “the beacon of democracy.”

Many call Novodvorskaya an eternal oppositionist. Valeria Novodvorskaya advocates independence Chechnya, previously opposed the entry of the Russian army into Chechnya. She also opposed the armed conflict in South Ossetia in 2008, and in this war she supported the Georgian side.

Novodvorskaya about the Russian nation: " The Russian people belong in prison, and not just anywhere, but in the prison bucket...", "The Russian nation is a cancer of humanity!"

In August 1993, Novodvorskaya stated: " ...I am not at all horrified by the trouble that happened to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But look how candy it turned out to be from Japan. The G7 meets in Tokyo and there is a liberal parliament. The game was worth the candle".

In August 2008, V. Novodvorskaya stated: " Never, with the exception of August 1991 and October 1993, have I seen a reason to be proud of my country. I just blushed and was ashamed of her".

In December of the same year, Novodvorskaya stated: " Russia is us. The Russians do not give up, unlike the scoops who raise their paws. In Russia, 5 percent are Russians, Varangians, Vikings, Europeans, bearers of the Scandinavian tradition. The rest are reptiles, amoebas and slipper ciliates. Dinosaurs from the CPSU or AKM and NBP. Pterodactyls from the Chekists".

Novodvorskaya’s attitude towards the “real mentally ill” with whom she communicated while undergoing compulsory treatment in a psychiatric hospital:

"In this department, the “psychics” broke two pairs of glasses and doused me with boiling tea once. By God, I was close to understanding Hitler’s measures to exterminate the crazy. I wouldn’t do this myself, but... I didn’t feel sorry"The ship is the work of a St. Petersburg artist Tigran Malkhasyan bears the name "Valeria Novodvorskaya".

Valeria Ilyinichna Novodvorskaya(May 17, 1950, Baranovichi, Belarusian SSR, USSR - July 12, 2014, Moscow, Russia) - Russian political figure, dissident, human rights activist, independent journalist, founder of the liberal parties “Democratic Union” (Chairman of the Central Committee of the DS) and “Western Choice”.

Author of the books “Above the Chasm of Lies”, “My Carthage Must Be Destroyed” (a course of lectures given several times at the Russian State University for the Humanities by Yuri Afanasyev), “Beyond Despair”, “Farewell of a Slavic Woman”, “Poets and Tsars”. Published in Grani.ru, Ekho Moskvy, and The New Times. Since 2011, together with Konstantin Borov, she has produced videos with comments on the current political situation.

Mother - Nina Fedorovna Novodvorskaya (b. 1928) - a pediatrician, was in charge of clinics, and then held a management position in the Moscow Department of Health. Father - Ilya Burshtyn (b. 1923) - engineer, graduated from Moscow Power Engineering Institute, participated in the creation of air defense systems. When her parents divorced in 1967, Valeria Novodvorskaya was 17 years old; at the insistence of her father, she remained to live with her mother, but maintained good relations with her father. Fyodor Novodvorsky, Valeria Novodvorskaya’s maternal grandfather, was a leading nobleman, a descendant of the Usatin merchants. The parents of Valeria Novodvorskaya's father, Borukh and Sofia Burshtyn, moved to Soviet Russia from Warsaw in 1918. Valeria Novodvorskaya's great-grandfather was a revolutionary who organized the first Social Democratic printing house in Smolensk. My grandfather was born in a Siberian prison and fought in the 1st Cavalry Army of Semyon Budyonny. According to Valeria Novodvorskaya, her ancestor, Mikhail Novodvorsky, was a governor in Dorpat in the 16th century. When he learned that Prince Andrei Kurbsky had taken his army to Lithuania so that the Lithuanians could defeat him, Mikhail Novodvorsky wanted to dissuade him from treason, but Kurbsky did not listen to him. Then Mikhail challenged him to a duel, in which he died. Publicist Elena Chudinova calls this version into question. Another of the ancestors, according to Valeria Novodvorskaya, was a Knight of Malta and served Poland. He came with an embassy from King Sigismund III to the Russian Kingdom during the Time of Troubles to ask for a crown for Prince Vladislav IV.

Biography

early years

She was born on May 17, 1950 in the city of Baranovichi, Belarusian SSR, when, according to Novodvorskaya, her parents were on vacation with her grandparents.

Valeria Novodvorskaya was raised by her grandmother in an “individualistic spirit.” She learned to read at the age of 5. At the age of 9 she moved to Moscow. In 1968 she graduated from high school with a silver medal. Then she studied at the Maurice Thorez Moscow Institute of Foreign Languages ​​(French department) with a degree in translator and teacher. In 1969, she organized an underground student group, which discussed the need to overthrow the communist regime through an armed uprising.

Dissidence

At a young age, she learned about the existence of the Gulag, the trial of Sinyavsky and Daniel, and the entry of Warsaw Pact troops into Czechoslovakia, which developed in her a rejection of Soviet power. On December 5, 1969, at the Kremlin Palace of Congresses, Valeria Novodvorskaya distributed leaflets with an anti-Soviet poem of her own composition, “Thank you, party, to you!” She was immediately arrested by the KGB on charges of anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda (Article 70 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR) for distributing leaflets criticizing the entry of troops into Czechoslovakia. She was placed in solitary confinement in Lefortovo prison. When she was visited there by the head of the diagnostic department of the Institute of Forensic Medicine named after. Serbsky, KGB Colonel Daniil Lunts, she told him that he was “an inquisitor, a sadist and a collaborator collaborating with the Gestapo.”

In the summer of 1970, Novodvorskaya was transferred to Kazan. From June 1970 to February 1972, she was subject to compulsory treatment in a special psychiatric hospital in Kazan with a diagnosis of “sluggish schizophrenia, paranoid personality development.” The dissident, who turned gray at the age of 22, was released in February 1972 and immediately began printing and distributing samizdat. From 1973 to 1975 she worked as a teacher in a children's sanatorium.

From 1975 to 1990 - translator of medical literature at the 2nd Moscow Medical Institute. In 1977 she graduated from the evening department of foreign languages ​​at the Krupskaya Moscow Regional Pedagogical Institute.

From 1977 to 1978, she attempted to create an underground political party to fight the CPSU. On October 28, 1978, she became one of the founders of the Free Interprofessional Association of Workers (SFOT). She was subjected to repeated and systematic persecution by the authorities: she was placed in psychiatric hospitals (psychiatric hospital No. 15, Moscow), systematically summoned for interrogation on the affairs of members of the SMOT, and searches were carried out in her apartment. In 1978, 1985, 1986, Novodvorskaya was tried for dissident activities. From 1984 to 1986, she was close to members of the pacifist group Trust. From 1987 to May 1991, she organized anti-Soviet rallies and demonstrations in Moscow that were not authorized by the authorities, for which she was detained by the police and subjected to administrative arrests a total of 17 times.

On May 8, 1988, she became one of the participants in the creation of the first opposition party in the USSR, the Democratic Union. Since 1988, she regularly spoke in the illegal newspaper of the Moscow organization DS “Free Word”; in 1990, the newspaper publishing house of the same name published a collection of her articles.

In September 1990, after the publication in the party newspaper Svobodnoe Slovo of an article entitled “Heil, Gorbachev!” and speaking at rallies, where she tore up portraits of Mikhail Gorbachev, was accused of publicly insulting the honor and dignity of the President of the USSR and insulting the national flag.

Participation in politics after the collapse of the USSR

In May 1991, January and August 1995, criminal cases were initiated against Novodvorskaya, but were dismissed for lack of evidence of a crime.

At the end of 1992, Novodvorskaya and some members of the DS created the organization “Democratic Union of Russia” (DUR). In September 1993, after the publication of President Boris Yeltsin's anti-constitutional decree on the dissolution of the Congress of People's Deputies and the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation, she was one of the first to support this decree. Organized rallies in support of the president. After the storming of the Supreme Soviet building by troops loyal to Yeltsin, Novodvorskaya treated passersby on the street with champagne in honor of Yeltsin’s victory over the Congress and Parliament.

In October 1993, she participated in the founding congress of the Russia's Choice bloc. I was going to run for office in Ivanovo, but I couldn’t collect the required number of signatures.

On March 19, 1994, the Krasnopresnenskaya prosecutor’s office began checking the activities of Valeria Novodvorskaya under Articles 71 and 74 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (propaganda of civil war and incitement of ethnic hatred) due to a number of articles published in the newspaper “New Look”. On January 27, 1995, because of them, the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation opened a criminal case. On August 8, 1995, the prosecutor's office of the Central District of Moscow dismissed the case due to the lack of corpus delicti in her actions.

In June 1994, she participated in the founding congress of the Democratic Choice of Russia party.

On August 14, 1995, the Moscow City Prosecutor's Office opened another criminal case against Novodvorskaya. The reason was a leaflet written by Novodvorskaya for the DSR picket on April 8. The case was transferred to the Ostankino prosecutor's office, which did not find any corpus delicti in the leaflet.

In December 1995, during the elections to the State Duma of the 2nd convocation, Novodvorskaya entered the electoral list of the Economic Freedom Party. In addition, Novodvorskaya registered in single-mandate district No. 192 of Moscow, but lost the elections and in the State Duma of the 2nd convocation (1995-1999) she was an assistant to deputy Konstantin Borovoy.

On March 11, 1996, the Moscow City Prosecutor's Office overturned the decision of the Prosecutor's Office of the Central District of Moscow dated August 8, 1995 to terminate the case (No. 229120) against Novodvorskaya. The case was sent for re-investigation to the prosecutor's office of the North-Eastern District of Moscow.

On April 10, 1996, Valeria Novodvorskaya was charged again under Article 74, Part 1 (deliberate actions aimed at inciting national hatred). Before the presidential elections in the Russian Federation, she supported the candidacy of Grigory Yavlinsky. After the first round of elections, together with the Democratic Union of Russia, it invited the leader of Yabloko to “immediately and without any conditions give the votes of his supporters to Boris Yeltsin.”

On October 22, 1996, the Moscow City Court sent case No. 229120 against Valeria Novodvorskaya for further investigation.

In March 2001, she took part in a rally in defense of the NTV channel. On February 23, 2005, she took part in a rally dedicated to the 61st anniversary of the deportation of Chechens and Ingush, which took place at the Solovetsky Stone on Lubyanka Square.

On February 16, 2008, for defending the interests of Lithuania, she was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas.

At the end of August 2008, she was temporarily excommunicated from the radio station “Echo of Moscow” for words about Shamil Basayev, which the radio station’s editor-in-chief Alexei Venediktov considered a justification for terrorism. When, a little later, Valeria Novodvorskaya called Basayev a “non-human” in her blog, the problem was settled.

In February 2010, together with Andrei Illarionov, Konstantin Borov and Vladimir Bukovsky, she visited Georgia, met with President Mikheil Saakashvili and expressed her support for him and the path chosen by Georgia. In March 2010, she signed the appeal of the Russian opposition “Putin must leave.” In May of the same year, Novodvorskaya, together with Borov, visited Estonia, where she met with the President of Estonia Toomas Ilves, the Estonian dissident and member of the Tartu City Assembly Enn Tarto, the former political prisoner and member of the Estonian Parliament Mart Niklus, the former Minister of the Interior of Estonia Lagle Parek and the director of the Museum of Occupations in Tallinn by Heiki Ahonen. Novodvorskaya gave several lectures in Estonia.

On October 9, 2010, she spoke at the first rally of the coalition “For Russia without arbitrariness and corruption.”

On February 4, 2012, Novodvorskaya and Borovoy held a rally “For fair elections and democracy.” The main demands of the protest action were: the release of political prisoners, the cancellation of the results of the State Duma elections and the cancellation of the presidential elections. The rally was organized in opposition to the rally “For Fair Elections” that took place on Bolotnaya Square on the same day. Novodvorskaya stated that she was not going to unite with the fascists and communists. In 2013, together with Konstantin Borov, she began creating the Western Choice party.

Illness, death and funeral

On July 12, 2014, Valeria Novodvorskaya was hospitalized in the intensive care unit of the purulent surgery department of Moscow City Clinical Hospital No. 13, where, as a number of media reported, she died from phlegmon of the left foot, complicated by sepsis. As her relatives said, she received an injury to her left leg six months ago and tried to cure it on her own. According to reports, death was caused by infectious-toxic shock.

Condolences to family and friends in connection with the death of Novodvorskaya were expressed by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev, the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, the former President of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev, the 3rd President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, the former Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation Alexey Kudrin, as well as the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people.

On July 16, thousands of people came to say goodbye to Valeria Novodvorskaya in the Sakharov center of Moscow. Yuri Ryzhov, Boris Nemtsov, Yuliy Rybakov, Marietta Chudakova, Zoya Svetova, Evgenia Albats, Alexey Venediktov and others gave funeral speeches. At the request of those gathered, Putin’s telegram was not read out. The coffin with Novodvorskaya’s body was escorted with chants of “Heroes do not die” and “Russia will be free.” Then a funeral service took place at the Nikolo-Arkhangelsk Crematorium, which was conducted by Gleb Yakunin, Roman Yuzhakov and Roman Zaitsev from the non-canonical Apostolic Orthodox Church, as well as Yakov Krotov from the non-canonical Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (renewed). The ashes of Valeria Novodvorskaya were buried at the Donskoye Cemetery. On the same day in Kharkov on Poetry Square, about 40 people paid tribute to the memory of Novodvorskaya, and a memorial service also took place in Kyiv.

Views

Valeria Novodvorskaya adhered to liberal views all her life. She was a consistent opponent of communism and fascism, a staunch supporter of democratic values, not only for Russia, but for the whole world. In particular, she advocated a boycott of the 2008 Summer Olympics in communist China, explaining that democratic states have no right to support a totalitarian country. In many ways, her views were close to libertarian ones, although she calls libertarian ideals frivolous and, if someone tries to seriously implement them, even dangerous.

She considered Mikhail Khodorkovsky a prisoner of conscience.

Modern Russian regime

Valeria Novodvorskaya constantly criticized the political system built in Russia by Vladimir Putin. She believed that the political regime in Russia practically did not change throughout her life, only the people who led the regime changed. In her opinion, only from the beginning of Boris Yeltsin’s presidency and before the start of the First Chechen War, attempts were made to change the regime, but they did not bring results.

At the end of 2007, she stated that the situation this year reminded her of Italy on the eve of Benito Mussolini’s rise to power. She notes populism, fascism and leaderism in Russia.

Armed conflicts involving the Russian military

Valeria Ilyinichna advocated for the independence of Chechnya and opposed the entry of the Russian army into Chechnya during the Chechen wars. Novodvorskaya opposed the armed conflict in South Ossetia in 2008, and in this war she stood on the side of Georgia.

Russian pro-government media

She condemned journalists working for Russian government media, but was sorry if they died. In June 2014, when asked to comment on the death of Russian journalists in Ukraine, Novodvorskaya said the following:

“No one tried to kill them on purpose. They didn’t shoot at journalists, they shot at enemies, at “Colorados.” They stood among them, they did not shout: “Don’t shoot, we are journalists!” Anyone who reports from the front must be prepared for such an ending. No one dances on their grave. Nobody wanted to kill them. I won't pretend to shed tears for them. These were very bad people. But this does not mean that they had to be killed. It's a shame they died."

The situation in Ukraine 2013-2014

Valeria Novodvorskaya supported Euromaidan and Ukraine’s course towards joining the European Union.

On March 15, 2014, she took part in the “Peace March” in Moscow against the armed intervention of the Russian authorities in the internal affairs of Ukraine. Novodvorskaya came out with a poster “Putin’s gang - Get to Nuremberg.” On March 17, 2014, she released a video message to activists of the Ukrainian Right Sector, in which she called on them to more actively influence the new Ukrainian government in order to resist the Russian occupation.

On March 18, 2014, in a statement by the Democratic Union Central Congress, Novodvorskaya sharply criticized Russia for its foreign policy towards Ukraine. The DS did not recognize the referendum taking place in Crimea and the subsequent annexation of the peninsula to Russia. According to Novodvorskaya, the Crimeans committed treason against Ukraine. Valeria Ilyinichna also announced the beginning of a war between Russia and Ukraine, and in this confrontation she took the side of Ukraine.

In April 2014, Novodvorskaya announced that she had taken the military oath of allegiance to Ukraine.

Russian history

Valeria Novodvorskaya called the February revolution a normal democratic bourgeois revolution. She recalled that patriotism, as understood by the Bolsheviks, was the defeat of one’s state in the First World War, which ultimately led to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Novodvorskaya called the October Revolution a catastrophe, a coup, a stop in development and the beginning of totalitarianism. Valeria Ilyinichna believed that if not for the October Revolution, Russia would have been a constitutional monarchy.

Novodvorskaya called Vladimir Lenin a talented monster. Valeria Ilyinichna had a negative attitude towards the USSR and advocated the destruction of everything reminiscent of the Soviet era. In particular, she proposed removing the body of Vladimir Lenin from the Mausoleum and demolishing the building of the state security agencies on Lubyanka.

Novodvorskaya called Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler guilty of starting World War II. She also had a negative attitude towards the Munich Agreement. Novodvorskaya stated: “the contribution of the Soviet Union to the victory is insignificant, since by signing pacts with the fascists, it itself caused this war.” Valeria Ilyinichna called the “Victory Day” holiday celebrated on May 9 a fictitious Stalin, since the first time Germany’s surrender was signed on May 8.

In May 2011, in her video message, Novodvorskaya stated that the commander-in-chief of the Russian Liberation Army, Andrei Vlasov, was hanged for no reason, and the West should have stood up for him.

Human rights

In 1993, Valeria Novodvorskaya stated that she never believed in the need to fight for human rights.

Over the past 7 years, humanity has lost, with our help, such a golden standard as the fundamental criterion of “human rights”. I personally have never indulged myself with such a rattle. I'm an adult. I always knew that decent people should have rights, but indecent people (like Kryuchkov, Khomeini or Kim Il Sung) should not. Law is an elitist concept. So either you are a trembling creature, or you have the right. One out of two. I personally have eaten my fill of human rights. Once upon a time, we, the CIA, and the United States used this idea as a battering ram to destroy the communist regime and the collapse of the USSR. This idea has served its purpose, and stop lying about human rights and human rights defenders. Otherwise, how not to cut down the branch on which we are all sitting...

Capitalism gives rights very selectively, and not all of them. The right to socialism is not for sale. After my experience in defending the rights of communists and GKAC members, who successfully sat on our heads, I have nothing against the ban on communist propaganda and commissions to investigate Soviet activities.

The statement that led to accusations of Russophobia and criminal cases

Very often, Russian speakers and publicists quote Valeria Ilyinichna: “Russians in Estonia and Latvia have proven with their whining, their linguistic mediocrity, their desire to return to the USSR, their addiction to red flags that they cannot be allowed into European civilization with rights. They were placed near the bucket and they did it right. And when Narva demands autonomy for itself, for me this is tantamount to the demand of the camp “roosters” to give them self-government.” as an illustration of Novodvorskaya’s Russophobia, although this is a quote from the same article “We will not give up our right to the left!” in the newspaper “New Look” No. 46 dated August 28, 1993, another quote from which is given above and which is devoted primarily to the need to fight for one’s rights.

In fact, Valeria Novodvorskaya devoted her entire life to the fight for the rights of the Russian people: from the age of 19 she fought against the communist regime, never emigrated from Russia, preferring prison to escape, and she met Gorbachev’s perestroika and the August 1991 putsch in prison. Valeria Ilyinichna has always expressed her readiness to endure the suffering that will fall on Russia for the criminal (in her opinion) actions of its leadership. At the same time, Novodvorskaya treated the United States with reverence, calling it “the only superpower” and “the beacon of democracy.”

Ratings

Many call Valeria Novodvorskaya the “grandmother of Russian democracy” and the “eternal oppositionist.” Boris Nemtsov called Novodvorskaya “a pure and bright person, naive and trusting.” Konstantin Borovoy said that she had a prophetic gift, since she predicted much of what happened in advance. Borovoy described Valeria Ilyinichna as principled and uncompromising. Vladimir Ryzhkov perceived Novodvorskaya as a continuer of the traditions of Chaadaev, Belinsky and Herzen, who criticized Russian reality. Irina Khakamada called Valeria Novodvorskaya a great woman, a romantic, a subtle and educated person with the soul of a child. Nikolai Svanidze described Valeria Ilyinichna as an unmercenary person, a person who had courage, bravery, tenderness and gullibility. Svanidze said that she was uncompromising in matters of honor. Natella Boltyanskaya called her an interesting person.

Journalist Leonid Radzikhovsky is confident in Novodvorskaya’s impeccable reputation:

And there are several public figures who really have a reputation as “honest eccentrics” - for example, Novodvorskaya, about whom it is known that she does not take money. She doesn’t post custom materials, doesn’t participate in custom campaigns - that’s why she is perceived as out of this world, as some kind of unusual phenomenon. Maybe, if you scrape hard, you can find another half-dead politician who is not compromised to the same extent as everyone else.

Live radio broadcast “Minority Opinion” from 03/20/2009, “Echo of Moscow”

Journalist Maxim Shevchenko called Novodvorskaya a harmless critic of the authorities, saying that she discredited the opposition movement with her extravagant behavior. Shevchenko also added that he liked Valeria Ilyinichna only because she went against the system of bureaucratic, soulless oppression.

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation called Novodvorskaya a Russophobe.

Influence

According to opponents and supporters of Valeria Novodvorskaya, she did not have much influence on political life in Russia. Novodvorskaya’s ideas, to one degree or another, influenced: State Duma deputy Ilya Ponomarev, member of the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation Natalya Evdokimova, journalist Arkady Mahler, geographer Boris Rodoman, Estonian public figure Evgeniy Kristafovich.

In 1998, Novodvorskaya and Konstantin Borovoy appeared as a cameo in Anatoly Eyramdzhan’s film “Diva Mary.” The design vessel of St. Petersburg artist Tigran Malkhasyan is named “Valeria Novodvorskaya”.

In 2013, Novodvorskaya received the PolitProsvet award in the special category “For loyalty to principles.” At the end of July 2014, fundraising began for the installation of a monument to Novodvorskaya in Odessa. As of July 22, 50 thousand hryvnia had already been collected. An organizing committee is being created that will continue raising funds, select an architect and sculptor, and also coordinate the initiative with the city authorities. In July 2014, civil activist Dmitry Kalinin approached the Yekaterinburg administration with a proposal to name one of the new streets in the city in honor of Novodvorskaya.

Family and personal life

Valeria Ilyinichna lived in the same apartment with her mother and cat Stasik. We rented a dacha in Kratovo.

Valeria Novodvorskaya did not get married or start a family, because, according to her, “the KGB deprived her of such an opportunity back in 1969.” “A person who condemns himself to fight the KGB cannot be responsible for children, cannot vouch for their fate. He makes them hostages... Mother in one camp, father in another. What should the child do in this situation? In my opinion, complete irresponsibility."

In 1990 she was baptized. She belonged to the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, speaking out with sharp criticism of the Russian Orthodox Church. In recent years, Valeria Ilyinichna was a parishioner of the priest of the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (renewed) Yakov Krotov.

Hobbies: swimming, science fiction, theater, cats. Fluent in English and French. I read German, Italian, and understood Belarusian.

Awards

• Knight's Cross of the Order of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gyadaminas (2008)

Valeria Novodvorskaya - photo