The historian Yury Nikolaevich Afanasyev , whose biography was known to any viewer during the years of perestroika, became one of the symbols of those years. The doctor of sciences and professor became a people's deputy of the USSR and in the last months of the existence of the socialist system was noted by numerous vivid public speeches.
Youth
Yuri Nikolaevich was born on September 5, 1934 in the Ulyanovsk Region. His mother was a rural teacher. Father with the outbreak of war went to the front, and after the onset of peace ended up in camps. He was in the Krasnoyarsk Territory and was never rehabilitated by a Soviet court.
He was educated in Moscow by graduating from the History Department at Moscow State University. It was this circumstance that played the most important role in his mature life.
In those years, specialists with higher education went on a routine to different regions of the country (among them was Yury Nikolaevich Afanasyev), the biography of the young man includes several years of work at the Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric station, as well as internships in Paris. In the capital of France, he improved his education at the Sorbonne. In the 70s, few Soviet citizens smiled luck to visit Western countries. Afanasyev Yuri Nikolaevich was able to personally see the life of European residents and compare them with the reality of their own country. The Parisian impressions forever convinced the historian that the USSR was noticeably behind the capitalist countries in terms of living standards.
Work in the Komsomol
Free life in Europe also opened up new literature for young specialists, including those written in Russian. As Yury Nikolayevich Afanasyev admitted, his student years passed under the sign of a condo program, where many works were banned. The books of Anna Akhmatova had a great influence on the historian’s worldview. If Soviet dissidents had to risk their own security in order to get Samizdat literature, then in the west there were no problems with access to Russian classics.
One of such foreign readers was Yury Nikolaevich Afanasyev. The biography of this man in his youth did not differ otherwise from the biography of any Komsomol activist. Any discrepancy in the general line of the party was punishable by deprivation of a membership card and dismissal. Therefore, in the 70s, the historian did not conflict with the system, at the same time enriching his knowledge of the difficult fate of our country in the 20th century. Of particular interest to him was the Great Patriotic War, about which he would write a big book in democratic Russia.
Editor of the "Communist"
Afanasyev reached the peak of his career on the nomenclature ladder in 1983, when he became editor of the historical section of the journal “Communist”. It was a political publication of the CPSU. It was an extremely conservative magazine, in which even hints of pluralism of opinions were never traced.
At the same time, Afanasyev successfully worked at the USSR Academy of Sciences (at the Institute of World History). Scientific activity allowed him to become a doctor of historical sciences.
Politician
The real fame for Yuri Afanasyev came during perestroika. When the media began to publish materials that did not necessarily correspond to the course of the Communist Party, the historian began to publish, sharing with the audience his rich materials about unpleasant pages of the history of the USSR. This made Afanasyev popular first among the intelligentsia, and then among the general reader.
In the late 80s, the doctor of sciences ran for the people's deputies of the USSR. Thanks to his recognition and charisma, Yury Nikolaevich Afanasyev won the election by a large margin. The biography of the professor is a vivid example of how a researcher was able to begin a successful political career.
The most famous speech of the historian was the speech delivered in 1989 at the I Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR. At this point, he, among other things, also became the rector of one of the Moscow institutes. On May 27, the deputy delivered a crushing speech directed against the political nomenclature, which impeded reform and development of the country. Afanasyev called these communists an "aggressively obedient majority." The phrase became a journalistic cliche and soon successfully migrated to television and newspapers. The congress was attended by Mikhail Gorbachev, who, as chairman, had to reassure the audience, dumbfounded by a bold statement.
Afanasyev Yuri Nikolaevich - historian and doctor of sciences - remained a people's deputy until 1993. He himself decided to stop political activity and finally focus on science. Back in 1990, Yuri Afanasyev left the CPSU, in the ranks of which he had been from the 50s.
After the collapse of the USSR, the politician participated in the Democratic Congress for some time. He also collaborated with several new liberal bias movements. All his activities in those years were aimed at carrying out the reforms necessary for the new country so that the change in the political system was not marked by massive upheavals. For some time, Yuri Afanasyev was considered Yeltsin's main rival in terms of popularity among voters. Nevertheless, the doctor of historical sciences not only did not put the wheel of the wheel into the wheels of the first president of the Russian Federation, but soon became completely involved with politics.
His decision coincided with the October events of 1993, when a conflict broke out in Moscow between the executive branch and the Congress of People’s Deputies.
Scientific activity
Leaving the political Olympus, the historian founded the Russian State University for the Humanities. Afanasyev, Yuri Nikolaevich, whose photo can still be seen in different buildings of the university, was his rector from 1991 to 2003. After that, for several years he remained the president of the educational institution.
Also, the historian was engaged in theoretical activities and wrote books. He was engaged in studies of France, World War II. His name has become famous in the international scientific community.
Death
September 14, 2015 died Afanasyev Yuri Nikolaevich. The family and friends of the deceased organized a funeral service and farewell to the historian in the Sakharov Center. This place today is one of the symbols of perestroika and the dissident movement. Yuri Afanasyev was buried in the Moscow region at the Ostashkovsky cemetery.