In the era of stagnation, Yuri Churbanov, whose biography is devoted to this article, was called the country's Chief Son-in-Law and the Kremlin Prince. He made a dizzying career through marriage with his only daughter Leonid Brezhnev. All the more painful was his fall, as a result of which he only lost everything he had, but also ended up in jail.
Childhood
Yuri Churbanov was born in 1936 in Moscow. His father for many years held various positions in party structures. In the family, besides Jura, there were two more children - sister Svetlana and younger brother Igor.
In 1953, Churbanov graduated from school N 706 of the capital and at the insistence of his father went to study at vocational school. After school, Yuri entered the Banner of Labor factory, where for some time he worked as a fitter-assembler of air nodes. Later, he, as an active and purposeful young man, was elected secretary of the Komsomol organization, and then sent to work in the Leningrad Republic of Komsomol.
Further Komsomol career
In 1964, Yuri Churbanov, whose biography in his youth was no different from the biography of hundreds of thousands of his peers, graduated in absentia from the Law Faculty of Moscow State University named after MV Lomonosov. Then, until 1967, he continued to engage in Komsomol work, occupying the post of department head of the Komsomol Central Committee.
Activities in the structures of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR
Yuri Churbanov (the biography, photos and personal life of this man in those years was not known to anyone) began working in 1961. At first, he held various positions in the political bodies of ITU. His track record includes the positions of an instructor for the Komsomol of the Political Department of the ITU of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the RSFSR;
Fateful meeting
In January 1971, Yuri Churbanov (a biography in his youth is presented above) celebrated the Old New Year with one of his colleagues in the restaurant of the capital's House of Architects. There he met 40-year-old Galina Brezhneva, the daughter of the Secretary General of the CPSU Central Committee, who came there with the son of the Minister of the Interior and his wife. Churbanov himself went to the table, as he was familiar with all members of the family of his boss. He was introduced to Galina, and she graciously accepted his invitation to dance. The handsome young handsome man immediately charmed the Secretary Generalâs daughter, spoiled by male attention.
The âKremlin Princessâ herself invited the young handsome Churbanov to a date that ended on a stormy night. A week later, during which the couple met daily, Galina brought the police lieutenant colonel home and introduced her father. Leonid Ilyich, by that time, was already tired of the antics of his windy daughter, who was constantly "drawn" to start novels with circus artists. Moreover, she already had two failed marriages with people from the artistic community. Moreover, the second marriage with the famous illusionist Igor Kio lasted only nine days and was canceled by order of Galina's father.
It is not surprising that the serious Churbanov, who held a solid position in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, immediately liked Leonid Ilyich, and he blessed their marriage.
âKremlin Weddingâ
At the time of the meeting with Galina Brezhneva, Yuri Mikhailovich Churbanov, whose biography we are describing, had already been married to Tamara Viktorovna Valceferova for 10 years. The marriage was not happy, although in it Churbanov had two children.
Nevertheless, it took Galina Brezhneva's groom about a year to file a divorce and get married with the only daughter of the omnipotent Secretary General. She was walking quietly, in the circle of her closest friends, and as a gift from Leonid Ilyich, the newlyweds were handed the keys to the apartment on Bolshaya Bronnaya.
Unhappy marriage
After the wedding, a career in the biography of Yuri Mikhailovich Churbanov began to envy even those who for many years had been at the very top of the political and economic Olympus of the USSR.
The only problem of "son-in-law N1" was the wife. Galina was incredibly windy and loved to flirt. According to their mutual friends, almost every evening, Yuri, who was a notorious workaholic, was forced to travel around the capital in search of his wife. Very often he found her in the company of cheerful gentlemen, but this did not bother Galya at all, who, moreover, was addicted to drinking and often lost control of herself.
Takeoff
Leonid Ilyich immediately fell in love with his son-in-law, and the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs did not need to tell how the further career of Churbanov should develop.
So, from 1971 to 1975 he worked as a deputy, and from 1975 to 1977 - the head of the Political Administration of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs. Further, in early 1980, Churbanov became the first deputy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Soviet Union. In the same year, he was awarded the State Prize for law enforcement during the Olympics-80, and a year later - the military rank of Colonel General.
As was customary in the Soviet period, Churbanovâs career growth was accompanied by an upward movement along the party line. In particular, in 1976 he was included in the Central Auditing Commission of the Communist Party, and in 1981 he became a candidate member of the Central Committee. In addition, he was elected to the Supreme Council of the RSFSR.
I must say that Churbanov was neither ignoramus nor mediocrity. True, he did not grab stars from the sky, but honestly and worked hard, trying to prove to others that he was a sensible leader, and not just a "son-in-law" of the Secretary General.
The death of Brezhnev
A sharp rise in career turned the head of Yuri Churbanov, whose biography became a parable in the languages. He was so sure that he was allowed everything that he stopped monitoring his behavior in public. In particular, they say that once, while in a state of intoxication, he informed the audience that his father-in-law promised to write a will in his favor, so he would soon become Secretary General.
However, everything went wrong as Churbanov dreamed. November 10, 1982 the country was shocked by the news of the death of L. Brezhnev. Secretary General of the CPSU Central Committee elected Yu. Andropov. He was a native of the KGB and, being the chairman of this structure, had extremely strained relations with the direct chief of Yuri Churbanov, the head of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs N. Shchelokov. Andropov immediately initiated a series of âanti-corruption cases,â which involved people from Brezhnevâs inner circle.
A fall
In the fall of 1982, Yuri Andropov invited Y. Churbanov and assured that during his life no one would touch him, nor members of the Brezhnev family. He kept his promise. However, some time after the death of Andropov, Y. Churbanov was removed from the post of first deputy minister and appointed deputy chief of the GU of the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Soviet Union. Two years later, he was completely dismissed "after years of service."
Criminal prosecution
After Churbanov was âremovedâ from all posts, external surveillance was set up for him, since he became one of the suspects in a high-profile âcotton caseâ. It was led by investigators Karakozov, Gdlyan and Ivanov. In the course of their work, facts of mass corruption in the southern republics were revealed.
At the same time, no one hid that the former âKremlin son-in-lawâ should be held criminally liable, since it was necessary to denigrate the memory of the former Secretary General.
The arrest was made in mid-January 1987, and Yuri was immediately expelled from the Communist Party. During a search of Yuri Churbanovâs dacha, his marble bust and about 40 gold jewelry were seized.
Court
During the investigation, Churbanov initially denied his guilt, but after meeting in the pre-trial detention center with the then head of the KGB V. Chebrikov and threats to bring him under the âtowerâ, he admitted that he took bribes, including a gold embroidered skullcap and dressing gown, a coffee service and a bribe to 90 000 rubles. At the trial, the former chief son-in-law of the country refused his testimony. However, in December 1988 he was sentenced to 12 years in prison with confiscation of property.
At the same time, Churbanov was deprived of the rank of colonel general and several high state awards of the Soviet Union.
Churbanov Yuri Mikhailovich: biography, personal life after arrest
The husband of the Secretary Generalâs daughter Galina Brezhneva spent four years behind bars. He was serving his sentence thousands of kilometers from the capital, in the city of Nizhny Tagil. Three years after arriving at USCH 349/13, he was informed that his wife had filed for divorce and division of property, which she managed to return through the court. So the disgraced general was left without a family and without a livelihood.
In the summer of 1993, he was pardoned by decree of the President of the Russian Federation B. Yeltsin, and a month later he was released on parole, canceling the probationary period of three years.
After leaving prison, Yuri Churbanov (biography, personal life during the peak of his career are presented above) lived for some time in his sister's house, which helped him improve his health, which was upset during his stay in the correctional facility.
In 1994, the demoted general entered into his third marriage. His wife was Lyudmila Kuznetsova, who at that time worked in the administration of Moscow State University. Churbanov had known her since the time when he was engaged in Komsomol work. However, they did not have a romance then, especially since the man was already in his first marriage and had two children. After an accidental meeting 40 years later, Yuri and Lyudmila realized that they wanted to spend the last years of their life together. After some time, Churbanov converted to Orthodoxy and the couple got married.
last years of life
Since 1997, Yu. Churbanov served as vice president of the Rossstern cement company. In parallel with this, since 1999 he was vice president of the city hockey club Spartak. In addition, he did not forget about the situation of those with whom he spent several of the most difficult years of his life and regularly provided financial assistance to persons in custody.
Churbanov repeatedly appealed to various authorities with requests for his rehabilitation, since he considered his business politically engaged. However, despite the support of a number of deputies, he was refused.
Death
Yuri Churbanov, whose personal biography is replete with unexpected twists, died in 2013 at the 77th year of his life. In recent years, he was seriously ill.
In 2005, Yuri Mikhailovich had his first stroke, and in 2008 - followed by the second. After that, he was bedridden for 5 years. All this time, his third wife Lyudmila faithfully looked after him.
After the death of Yuri Churbanov, most media wrote about his biography, family and his personal life. True, almost all obituaries were published with a significant delay. The former general was buried at the Mitinsky cemetery.
Now you know who Yuri Churbanov is. Biography, personal life, family and the history of meeting Galina Brezhneva are also known to you. His sharp career rise and fall are another confirmation that you canât renounce sumy and prison, even if you have reached the very heights of power and wealth.