Well-known economist, director of the Institute for the Economy in Transition (1990-1991, 1992-1993, 1995-2009). Former co-chairman of the pre-election bloc and the SPS party (2001-2004), co-head of the Right Cause public bloc (1997-2001), chairman of the Democratic Choice of Russia party (1994-2001), deputy of the State Duma of the first and third convocations. From 1992 to 1993 he was an adviser to the President of the Russian Federation on economic policy issues. Former deputy chairman of the government of the RSFSR (1991-1992) and acting chairman of the government of the Russian Federation (1992), head of the "government of reformers", author of "shock therapy" and price liberalization. Died December 16, 2009.

Yegor Timurovich Gaidar was born on March 19, 1956 in Moscow into the family of a military correspondent for the Pravda newspaper, Rear Admiral Timur Gaidar. Both grandfathers of Yegor Gaidar - Arkady Gaidar and Pavel Bazhov - are famous writers.

In 1978, Gaidar graduated from the Faculty of Economics of Lomonosov Moscow State University, in November 1980 he completed his postgraduate studies at Moscow State University. In graduate school at Moscow State University, Gaidar studied under the guidance of Academician Stanislav Shatalin, who is considered not only his teacher, but also an ideological associate. After graduating from graduate school, Gaidar defended his Ph.D. thesis on estimated indicators in the economic accounting system of enterprises.

In 1980-1986, Gaidar worked at the All-Union Research Institute for System Research of the State Committee for Science and Technology and the USSR Academy of Sciences. In 1986-1987, he was a leading researcher at the Institute of Economics and Forecasting Scientific and Technological Progress of the USSR Academy of Sciences, where he worked under the guidance of Academician Lev Abalkin, who later became Deputy Union Prime Minister Nikolai Ryzhkov.

In 1982, Gaidar met Anatoly Chubais (later the main ideologist of privatization) while invited to St. Petersburg to speak at "Chubais" economic seminars. According to other sources, Gaidar met Chubais and Pyotr Aven (in the future - a big businessman) in 1983-1984, when he participated in the work of a state commission that studied the possibilities of economic transformations in the USSR.

In the summer of 1986, in Zmeina Gorka near Leningrad, Gaidar, Aven and Chubais organized their first open conference.

In 1987-1990, Gaidar served as editor of the economic department, and a member of the editorial board of the Kommunist magazine. In 1990, Gaidar was the editor of the economics department of the Pravda newspaper.

In 1990-1991, Gaidar headed the Institute for Economic Policy at the USSR Academy of National Economy, where he defended his doctoral dissertation.

On August 19, 1991, after the start of the GKChP coup, Gaidar announced his withdrawal from the CPSU and joined the defenders of the White House. During the August events, Gaidar met with the State Secretary of the Russian Federation Gennady Burbulis.

In September, Gaidar headed the working group of economists created by Burbulis and Alexei Golovkov at the State Council of the Russian Federation. In October 1991, Gaidar was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Government of the RSFSR for Economic Policy, Minister of Economy and Finance of the RSFSR. Gaidar's name is associated with such events in Russian history as the famous "shock therapy" and price liberalization. He took this post during the collapse of the Soviet Union, when the laws ceased to operate, instructions - to be executed, power structures - to function. The Soviet system of control over foreign economic activity did not work, customs ceased to function. According to Gaidar himself, in a situation where there were no reserves left - neither budgetary nor foreign exchange, the only way out was to unfreeze prices.

In 1992, Gaidar became acting chairman of the government of the Russian Federation. As head of the "government of reformers," Gaidar took an active part in creating the privatization program and putting it into practice.

In 1992-1993, Gaidar served as director of the Institute for Economic Problems in Transition and was an adviser to the President of the Russian Federation on economic policy issues. In September 1993, Gaidar became the first deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers - the government of the Russian Federation.

On October 3-4, 1993, during the constitutional crisis in Moscow, Gaidar called on the people to take to the streets and fight for the new regime to the end.

From 1994 to December 1995, Gaidar was a deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, chairman of the Russia's Choice faction.

In June 1994, Gaidar became chairman of the Democratic Choice of Russia party (he remained the leader of the party until May 2001). Colleagues in the FER gave him a playful nickname - "Iron Winnie the Pooh" - for his characteristic appearance, unbending character and increased efficiency.

In 1995, Gaidar again headed the institute he created in 1990, which became known as the Institute for the Economy in Transition.

In December 1998, the Russian liberal democrats united in the Right Cause public bloc, whose leadership included Gaidar, Chubais, Boris Nemtsov, Boris Fedorov, and Irina Khakamada. On August 24, Sergei Kiriyenko, Nemtsov and Khakamada announced the creation of an electoral bloc called the Union of Right Forces (SPS). In the 1999 parliamentary elections, Gaidar, on the list of the Union of Right Forces, became a member of the State Duma of the third convocation. The founding congress of the SPS party took place on May 26, 2001, and Gaidar became one of its co-chairs. After the defeat of the Union of Right Forces in the elections in December 2003, Gaidar left the leadership of the party and was no longer included in the new composition of the presidium of the political council of the Union of Right Forces, elected in February 2004 - according to Leonid Gozman, the party's curator for ideology, "Gaidar and Nemtsov remain leaders, not holding formal posts.

Gaidar an honorary professor at the University of California, a member of the editorial board of the journal "Herald of Europe", a member of the advisory board of the journal "Acta Oeconomica".

On November 24, 2006, while attending a conference in Ireland, Gaidar suddenly felt unwell and was taken to the hospital with signs of acute poisoning. Journalists noted that this happened the day after Alexander Litvinenko, a former FSB officer, a sharp critic of the Kremlin's policy and personally President Vladimir Putin, died in a London hospital from poisoning with radioactive polonium. However, Gaidar managed to recover and the next day he flew to Moscow, where he continued his treatment. Gaidar declined to comment on suggestions that he was deliberately poisoned.

In September 2008, SPS leader Nikita Belykh resigned as chairman of the party. The reasons for this act of the politician were soon explained: it was reported that the Union of Right Forces would become part of a new right-wing party created by the Kremlin within a few months. Gaidar refused to participate in the creation of a new structure and filed an application for withdrawal from the party. At the same time, according to the politician, he is "not ready to say a word in condemnation" of the position of those who believe that "political structures loyal to the regime, but formally not part of the ruling party" can play a positive role. However, soon he, together with Chubais and Leonid Gozman, who temporarily headed the Union of Right Forces, called on party members to cooperate with the authorities to create a right-wing liberal party. Insisting on the need for such a step, the authors of the statement admitted that "a democratic regime does not function in Russia." They expressed doubt that the right would in the future "succeed in defending our values ​​in full." "But we certainly will not be forced to defend strangers," the leaders of the Union of Right Forces argued.

December 16, 2009 Gaidar died at the age of 54. According to RIA Novosti, the cause of death was a detached blood clot, the next day Gaidar's daughter said that he died of pulmonary edema caused by myocardial ischemia.

The media wrote that Gaidar is a man of radical right-wing views in politics and economics. He was the author of the monographs "Economic Reforms and Hierarchical Structures", "State and Evolution", "Anomalies of Economic Growth", "Days of Defeats and Victories", Long Time".

Gaidar spoke English, Serbo-Croatian and Spanish. He was a good chess player and played football.

Gaidar was married for the second time to the daughter of the writer Arkady Natanovich Strugatsky, Marianna, whom he met at school. He left three sons - Peter from his first marriage with Irina Smirnova and Ivan and Pavel from the second (Ivan is Marianna's son from her first marriage), and daughter Maria, who was born in 1982, when Gaidar and Smirnova were going to get divorced. After the divorce, Peter began to live with his father and his parents, while Maria stayed with her mother and bore her surname for a long time. Only in 2004 did Gaidar acknowledge his paternity, and she took his last name. It is known that Maria Gaidar was an employee of the Institute for the Economy in Transition and the leader of the youth movement "Democratic Alternative" - ​​"Yes!".

Biography and episodes of life Yegor Gaidar. When born and died Yegor Gaidar, memorable places and dates of important events in his life. Quotes from a politician and an economist, Photo and video.

Years of life of Yegor Gaidar:

born March 19, 1956, died December 16, 2009

Epitaph

And suddenly you see - everything is irreparable,
Transience is a lonely plus
And gives you relentlessly
Taste yourself death."
From a poem by Valery Kachurin dedicated to the memory of Yegor Gaidar

Biography

Yegor Gaidar is known to the general public as an economist, author of hundreds of articles on economics, and talented director of the Institute for the Economy in Transition. The father of the future economist was a war correspondent, and both of his grandfathers, Pavel Bazhov and Arkady Gaidar, were famous writers. Yegor Gaidar spent the early years of his life in Cuba. Often among the guests who came to the parental home, one could see Ernesto Che Guevara, Raul Castro and other influential people in the political and economic scene of that time. A few years later, Gaidar moved with his father and mother to Yugoslavia. It was here that he first became interested in the patterns of economic reforms.

Over time, Yegor Timurovich begins to study the writings of Engels, Plekhanov, Marx and comes to the conclusion that the bureaucracy has become a kind of class whose roots of power lie in the banal appropriation of state property. Gaidar found the only way out of this situation in the transition to market socialism and the creation of healthy competition between enterprises. However, soon under the influence of the works of Friedman and Ricardo, he came to understand that market socialism is not capable of being effective to the required degree. With this theme, Gaidar brilliantly defends his Ph.D. thesis at Moscow State University.

During his short life, Yegor Gaidar held a number of high-ranking positions. He was Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy and Finance of the RSFSR, Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation. For a long time, he actually headed the economic sector of the country. During their political career, Gaidar and his like-minded people managed to launch a number of economic reforms. In addition, Yegor Timurovich is known as the author of many books on the problems of the transition economy.

Yegor Gaidar died in December 2009 at his home in the village of Uspenskoye, Moscow Region. Gaidar's cause of death was pulmonary edema, which developed as a result of a heart attack. More than 10,000 people attended the farewell ceremony for the outstanding economist, including many leading leaders in the political arena. The date of Gaidar's funeral was deliberately kept secret by members of his family, but it is known that Yegor Gaidar's funeral took place at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow after cremation. A monument to Gaidar was erected on his grave a year later.

life line

March 19, 1956 Date of birth of Yegor Timurovich Gaidar.
1971 Moving to Moscow with family.
1978 Graduated from Moscow State University with a PhD.
1984 Beginning of work in the Politburo Commission for the Improvement of Management of the National Economy.
1986 Occupation of the position of a leading employee of the Institute of Economics and Forecasting of Scientific and Technological Progress of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
1987 Beginning of membership in the editorial board of the journal of the Central Committee of the CPSU "Communist".
1991 Appointment to the post of Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy and Finance.
1993 Occupation of the post of First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers.
1994 Appointment to the post of chairman of the Democratic Choice of Russia party.
December 16, 2009 Date of death of Yegor Gaidar.

Memorable places

1. The city of Moscow, where Yegor Gaidar was born.
2. Moscow State University, where Gaidar studied.
3. Institute for Economic Policy named after Gaidar, created by him.
4. Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow, where Yegor Gaidar is buried.
5. Higher School of Economics, where a monument to Gaidar was erected.
6. Library of Foreign Literature, where a monument to Yegor Gaidar is erected.

Episodes of life

Despite the fact that Gaidar was extremely persistent in his economic and political positions, in life he was known as an absolute phlegmatic. Of the favorite activities of Yegor Timurovich, fishing, picking mushrooms, and chess are noted. Gaidar was also a connoisseur of whiskey. “Whisky is a drink that I love and know a lot about,” remarked Yegor Timurovich.

Yegor Gaidar was married twice: the first marriage was with Irina Smirnova while still a student, and the second chosen one was Maria Strugatskaya, the daughter of the writer Arkady Strugatsky. From two marriages, Gaidar had three children: Peter, Maria and Pavel. It is known that Maria Gaidar in her choice of life path followed in the footsteps of her father.

Covenant

"The realization has come that politics is almost always not a choice between good and evil, but a choice between greater and lesser evil."

The story about Yegor Gaidar from the series of programs "Historical Chronicles"

condolences

“Please accept my most sincere condolences in connection with the great grief that has befallen you. An outstanding scientist-economist, statesman, whose name is associated with decisive steps to form the foundations of a free market and the transition of our country to a fundamentally new path of development, has passed away. Yegor Timurovich Gaidar was a brave, honest and resolute person. And in a period of radical change, he took responsibility for unpopular but necessary measures. He always firmly followed his convictions, which aroused the respect of his like-minded people and opponents. The memory of Yegor Gaidar will forever remain in our hearts.”
Dmitry Medvedev, ex-president of the Russian Federation

“The death of Yegor Timurovich Gaidar is a heavy loss for Russia, for all of us. There was no real citizen and patriot, a strong-willed person, a talented scientist, writer and practitioner.”
Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation

“For me, he was and will forever remain the highest example of honesty, courage and reliability. I will feel this loss for the rest of my life.”
Anatoly Chubais, politician

Childhood and family of Yegor Gaidar

In 1956, a son, Yegor Gaidar, was born in the family of war correspondent Timur Gaidar and his wife Ariadna Bazhova. Yegor's grandfathers on both the paternal and maternal lines were the famous Soviet writers Arkady Gaidar and Pavel Bazhov.

Since 1962, the boy lived with his parents in Cuba. Raul Castro and Ernesto Che Guevara visited their Cuban house.

Since 1966, for some time, Yegor lived with his parents in Yugoslavia. It was in Yugoslavia that a ten-year-old boy became interested in economic problems.

In his school years, Yegor was seriously fond of chess, took part in youth competitions.

After graduating from high school with a gold medal, Yegor Gaidar enters Moscow State University at the Faculty of Economics. This happened in 1973, and five years later Gaidar graduated from the university, received a red diploma and continued his studies in graduate school.

The beginning of the career of Yegor Gaidar

Having defended his Ph.D. thesis in 1980, Yegor Gaidar began working at the All-Union Research Institute for System Research. Gaidar and his colleagues are developing projects for economic reforms in the country. Three years later, Gaidar met Anatoly Chubais, an economist from Leningrad, who also wanted to reform the economy of the USSR.

Gaidar's projects at that time were not destined to come true. The construction of a market economy under socialism did not fit into the framework of existing realities.

In 1986, the group in which Gaidar works prepares analytical materials for the leadership of the USSR.

Yegop Gaidar - Last interview

The following year, Gaidar goes to work for the Kommunist magazine and heads the economics department.

In 1990, Gaidar created the Institute for Economic Policy, began working for the Pravda newspaper and defended his doctoral dissertation.

Yegor Gaidar in big politics

During the putsch of 1991, Gaidar met Gennady Burbulis. It was Burbulis who recommended Gaidar to Yeltsin as a knowledgeable economist capable of developing a plan for economic reforms.

At the Fifth Congress of People's Deputies of Russia, Yeltsin delivers a keynote speech, the economic part of which was developed by the Gaidar group.

November 11, 1991 Gaidar becomes Deputy Prime Minister in charge of the country's economic policy. For a year of work, he managed to launch market mechanisms, eradicate the deficit, privatize housing and carry out currency reform. No less significant is the fact that with the participation of Gaidar, the Ossetian-Ingush conflict was brought to a halt.

The irritation of the people and part of the leadership of the Russian government forced Gaidar to resign on December 15, 1992.

Yegor Gaidar passed away

During the struggle between the Supreme Soviet of Russia and Yeltsin, Gaidar sided with the latter and called on Muscovites to come out in defense of democracy. Party activities

In 1993, Gaidar headed the electoral bloc "Russia's Choice". In elections to the State Duma, the bloc takes second place on party lists, and together with the deputies who won in single-mandate districts, it becomes the largest faction in the Duma.

Gaidar becomes Minister of Economy and pursues a policy of reducing inflation. In January 1994, as a sign of disagreement with the line of Prime Minister Chernomyrdin, Gaidar resigned. After his resignation, Gaidar became chairman of the Democratic Choice of Russia party, but in the 1995 elections the party did not overcome the five percent barrier.

Personal life of Yegor Gaidar

Yegor's first wife was Irina Smirnova. Gaidar married at the age of 22 while still a fifth-year student at Moscow State University. Acquaintance with the future wife took place a long time ago - in the village of Dunino, where grandmothers took their grandchildren for summer holidays. The marriage produced two children, Petya and Masha. Shortly after the birth of the girl, the parents separated. The children were "divided": the son stayed with his father, and the daughter with her mother.

The second wife of Yegor Gaidar was Maria Strugatskaya, the daughter of the famous Soviet science fiction writer Arkady Strugatsky. For Mary, this was also the second marriage. Her son Ivan was growing up. In the marriage of Yegor and Maria, a son, Pavel, was born.

Yegor Gaidar in recent years, causes of death

In the last years of his life, Gaidar mainly wrote books and articles on economic problems. His literary and economic heritage includes more than a dozen monographs and publications. Gaidar spoke out against the Yukos case, believing that the government, having dealt with the company, was causing economic harm to the country.

In 2007, he tried to dissuade US officials from deploying a missile defense system in Europe.

Being in Dublin in 2006 at an international conference, Gaidar was hospitalized. He was severely poisoned. Gaidar himself believed that people who wanted to discredit the Russian authorities were clearly behind this poisoning.

On the day of his death, Gaidar met with A. Chubais and E. Yasin and discussed with them the development of advanced technologies in the country. Then he worked late at night on his book.

At 9 am on December 16, 2009, in the village of Uspensky, Moscow Region, doctors pronounced the death of the reformer from a heart attack.

Reviews on the economic activity of Gaidar

The attitude towards any reformer is always ambiguous. How Gaidar's legacy was treated and is being treated can be judged by the nicknames given to him by friends and enemies.

Like-minded people nicknamed Yegor Timurovich "Iron Winnie the Pooh." He received this nickname in his own party, the Democratic Choice of Russia. The followers of his economic views called him the No. 1 reformer.

National patriots compared Gaidar with the hero of the work of his grandfather, who sold his Motherland for a jar of jam and cookies, and called him the Bad Boy.

The deputies of the State Duma among themselves called Gaidar Chmoker and Ghoul, alluding to the evil spirit that had taken root in reformer No. 1 in Russia. The popular nickname was simpler - the Russians called Gaidar Piggy.

Having found an error in the text, select it and press Ctrl + Enter

In Moscow, in the family of a military journalist, Rear Admiral Timur Gaidar. Both of his grandfathers - Arkady Gaidar and Pavel Bazhov - are famous writers. As a child, Gaidar lived with his parents in Cuba (from 1962, during the Caribbean crisis, until the autumn of 1964). Raul Castro and Ernesto Che Guevara visited their house. In 1966, his father, Pravda correspondent Timur Gaidar, went to Yugoslavia with his family. In 1971 the family returned to Moscow.

In 1973, Yegor Gaidar graduated from high school with a gold medal.

In 1978 he graduated with honors from the Faculty of Economics of Moscow State University (MSU).

From 1978 to 1980 he was a post-graduate student at Moscow State University. He defended his dissertation for the degree of candidate of economic sciences on the topic "Estimated indicators in the mechanism of cost accounting of production associations (enterprises)".

In 1980-1986 he worked at the All-Union Research Institute for System Research of the USSR State Committee for Science and Technology of the USSR Academy of Sciences. He was a member of a group of young scientists led by academician Stanislav Shatalin, which was engaged in a comparative analysis of the results of economic reforms in the countries of the socialist camp.

Starting in 1984, Gaidar and his colleagues began to be involved in the work on the documents of the Politburo Commission for the Improvement of Management of the National Economy, which was supposed to prepare a moderate program of economic reforms along the lines of the Hungarian reforms of the late 1960s. The proposals of young scientists were not implemented.

In 1986-1987, Yegor Gaidar was a leading researcher at the Institute of Economics and Forecasting Scientific and Technological Progress of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

In 1987-1990, he was the editor of the economic department and the head of the economic policy department, a member of the editorial board of the Kommunist magazine of the Central Committee of the CPSU, which became one of the platforms for discussions on reform issues in the USSR. Also in 1990 - head of the economics department of the Pravda newspaper.

The Institute for the Economy in Transition received a new name - the Institute for Economic Policy named after E.T. Gaidar (The Gaidar Institute).
The Government of the Russian Federation has established ten scholarships named after Yegor Gaidar for the best students of economic specialties of state universities.

Institute of Economic Policy named after E.T. Gaidar and Maria Strugatskaya established the Yegor Gaidar Foundation. The Foundation runs many independent and joint projects, offers a variety of training programs and grants, organizes conferences and discussions on important social and economic issues.

Yegor Gaidar was born on March 19, 1956, one of the main ideologists and leaders of the economic reforms of the early 1990s.

Private bussiness

Yegor Timurovich Gaidar (1956-2009) Born in Moscow in the family of a military correspondent for the newspaper Pravda, Rear Admiral Timur Gaidar. Both of his grandfathers - Arkady Gaidar and Pavel Bazhov - were famous writers.

With the onset of the Caribbean crisis in 1962-1964, he lived in Cuba, where his father wrote materials for Pravda. Raul Castro and Ernesto Che Guevara visited their house. In 1966, my father and his family went to Yugoslavia. In 1971 the family returned to Moscow.

In 1978, Yegor graduated from the Faculty of Economics of Moscow State University, in 1980 he defended his Ph.D. thesis, the topic of which was estimated indicators in the self-supporting system of enterprises. Gaidar's supervisor was Academician Stanislav Shatalin, who was considered not only his teacher, but also an ideological associate.

In 1980-1986 he worked at the All-Union Research Institute for System Research. For the next two years, he was a senior researcher at the Institute for Economics and Forecasting Scientific and Technological Progress, worked under the guidance of Academician Lev Abalkin, later - Deputy Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers.

In the early 1980s, he met Anatoly Chubais and his colleagues. A Moscow-Petersburg group of economists and sociologists is emerging, which analyzes the real state of the Soviet economy and society, the international experience of reforms and the prospects for reforms in the USSR. Egor Aidar becomes the leader of the Moscow part of the group.

In 1983-1984, he participated in the work of the commission that studied the possibilities of economic reforms in the USSR. By his own admission, while still working at the Research Institute for System Research, he realized that the USSR economy was in a difficult state, and gradual market reforms were needed to solve its problems, otherwise "the socialist economy would enter a phase of self-destruction."

In 1986, Gaidar, Aven and Chubais organized an economic conference at the Snake Hill boarding house in the Leningrad Region, at which the expanded Moscow-Petersburg group discussed the real situation in the Soviet national economy and talked about the prospects for transformation.

In 1987-1990 he was the editor of the economics section of the Kommunist magazine, in 1990 he worked in a similar position in the Pravda newspaper.

In 1990, he headed the Institute for Economic Policy at the USSR Academy of National Economy (now the Yegor Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy).

In August 1991, after the start of the coup, the GKChP announced its withdrawal from the CPSU and joined the defenders of the White House. In those days, he met with the State Secretary of the RSFSR Gennady Burbulis. Subsequently, Burbulis persuaded President Boris Yeltsin to entrust Gaidar's team with the development of economic reforms. In October, Yeltsin met with Gaidar and decided to form a new government based on his team.

In 1991-1992 - Minister of Economy and Finance of the RSFSR, Minister of Finance of Russia, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation and, finally, Acting Head of Government. Under the leadership of Gaidar, market reforms were carried out - retail prices were released, freedom of foreign trade was introduced, privatization and restructuring of the fuel and energy complex began.

After the Congress of People's Deputies approved Viktor Chernomyrdin as head of government, Gaidar was dismissed, but retained his influence on the country's economic course, and was an economic adviser to the president. In September 1993, he was again appointed First Deputy Prime Minister. During the constitutional crisis of September-October 1993 (deputies against the president), he called on Muscovites to take to the streets to defend democracy. “Today we cannot shift responsibility for the fate of democracy, for the fate of Russia, for the fate of our freedom only to the police, internal troops, and law enforcement agencies. Today, the people, the Muscovites, must have their say,” Gaidar said.

In 1993, he was one of the founders of the Russia's Choice movement, then the Democratic Choice of Russia party. In 1994-1995 - Deputy of the State Duma, from 1994 to 2001 - Party Chairman.

In 1998, together with Anatoly Chubais, Boris Nemtsov, Boris Fedorov and Irina Khakamada, he entered the leadership of the Right Cause bloc. The following year, he passed to the State Duma from the SPS party, created by Khakamada and Sergei Kiriyenko. In 2001, he became one of the co-chairs of the party, after its defeat in the elections in December 2003, he left the leadership, but remained in the Union of Right Forces until 2008.

On November 24, 2006, during a seminar in Dublin, Yegor Gaidar was hospitalized with symptoms of severe poisoning. This story remains unclear to this day. It is only obvious that the consequences of the poisoning hastened his departure.

What is famous

Yegor Gaidar

Economist, under whose leadership the market reforms of the early 1990s were carried out, which made it possible to move to a new socio-economic structure in Russia. At the same time, millions of people were forced to experience all the hardships of the transition period from socialism to capitalism.

Gaidar's critics blame him for the negative consequences of the reforms: the depreciation of the population's savings, hyperinflation, a sharp decline in the average standard of living, and an increase in income differentiation.

Gaidar himself explained that such tough and swift reforms were the only way out after the collapse of the Soviet economy. “We saw: another two or three months of passivity, and we will get an economic and political catastrophe, the collapse of the country and a civil war,” he said.

What you need to know

One of the most famous components of Gaidar's activity during the last fifteen years is his books and articles. In 1996-1997, his memoirs and a fresh analysis of his own activities and the situation in the country were published (“Days of defeats and victories” and “State and evolution”). In the future, the scientist prepared a whole series of works with an analysis of the political and economic patterns of transition processes in different societies: “The Death of an Empire” (primarily, about the patterns of the collapse of the USSR), “A Long Time” (about Russia’s place in the process of world transformations), “Troubles and institutions ”(about the patterns of the passage of “troubled” periods and the formation of new institutions as a result), “Anomalies of economic growth” (about the specifics of growth in the modern economy), etc.

Direct speech:

Anatoly Chubais, Chairman of the Board of Rosnano JSC:“Whatever subsystem of the current economy of the country you take - the Tax Code, the Customs Code, the Budget Code, technical regulation, etc. - each of them is either written from beginning to end by Gaidar and his institute, or to a large extent he participated in their development" .

Yegor Gaidar in the book "Death of the Empire" about the collapse of the USSR:“In order to make the economy and politics of the world superpower dependent on the decisions of potential adversaries (the United States) and the main competitor in the oil market (Saudi Arabia) and wait for them to agree, it takes a long time to recruit especially incompetent people to the leadership of the country.”

Yegor Gaidar in the book "Days of defeats and victories" about the causes of painful reforms:“From an adviser, I turned into a decision maker. Discourses about "soft", "socially painless" reforms, in which it is possible to solve problems overnight so that everyone will feel good, and it will cost no one anything, reproaches addressed to us, which soon filled the pages of newspapers and sounded from scientific stands, even did not offend. We saw: two or three more months of passivity, and we will get an economic and political catastrophe, the collapse of the country and a civil war.

8 facts about Yegor Gaidar:

• Fluent in English, Serbo-Croatian and Spanish. He was a good chess player and also played football.
• Colleagues in the "Democratic Choice of Russia" jokingly called him Iron Winnie the Pooh - the nickname was given for his characteristic appearance, unbending character and great capacity for work.
• Gaidar was married twice. The first time he married in the fifth year of Moscow State University. Married to Irina Smirnova, two children were born - Peter and (just before the divorce) Maria. In 2004, Gaidar admitted that he was the father of Maria, and she took his last name. Subsequently, Maria Gaidar worked at the Institute for the Economy in Transition and actively participated in political life. The second time Yegor Gaidar married the daughter of the writer Arkady Strugatsky - Marianne, the couple had a son, Pavel.
• According to human rights activists Yuli Rybakov and Sergei Kovalev, Gaidar played an important role in rescuing hostages during Shamil Basayev's seizure of a hospital in Budyonnovsk in 1995. Sergei Kovalev was able to get through to Gaidar, who had already contacted the prime minister. According to Kovalyov, it was only from Gaidar that Viktor Chernomyrdin learned that there were not 100 people in the hospital, but 2,000 hostages. Gaidar convinced the prime minister to entrust Sergei Kovalev with the formation of a commission of negotiators, thanks to which the hostages were saved.
• For a long time, Gaidar was credited with the phrase "there is nothing wrong with the fact that some pensioners will die out, but society will become more mobile." In 2000, the Kuntsevsky Intermunicipal Court of Moscow admitted that politician Viktor Ilyukhin deliberately spread the quote in order to denigrate Gaidar.
• The Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy and Maria Strugatskaya established