The philosopher who proposed the one sentence that declared the Soviet Union dead at Belovezh
At the Belavezha hunting lodge, turning to Shushkevich and Kravchuk: 'Would you guys agree to sign a sentence which would state that the Soviet Union as the subject of international law is ceasing to exist?'
Yeltsin's closest aide and the intellectual architect of the Soviet dissolution. A Marxist philosophy teacher from the Urals, he rose through perestroika to become Yeltsin's right hand, and in September 1991 delivered the 'Burbulis Memorandum' (Gaidar's group's strategy document) to Yeltsin at his Black Sea retreat, setting Russia on a course of economic independence. That December in the Belavezha forest, he turned to Shushkevich and Kravchuk and asked, 'Would you agree to a sentence stating the USSR as a subject of international law is ceasing to exist?', and co-signed the accords that opened with those words. He became a lightning rod for criticism of the reforms and was removed by spring 1992, spending his later decades quietly as a Duma deputy and senator.
Career Timeline
- 1973–83Taught Marxist philosophy at Ural Polytechnic Institute
- 1987–89Founded Sverdlovsk 'Discussion Podium' political club
- 1989–90USSR People's Deputy; Inter-regional Deputies' Group
- 1990–91Headed Yeltsin's presidential election campaign
- 1991.7–92.5RSFSR State Secretary; First Deputy Prime Minister
- 1991.12Co-signed the Belavezha Accords for Russia
- 1993–99State Duma deputy (two convocations)
- 2000–07Deputy Governor of Novgorod; Federation Council senator