A historian of the 1950s-60s USSR and the Russian church schism
Pyzhikov noted that the Twenty-Second Congress resolution gave almost four times as much space to the Anti-Party Group as to criticism of Stalin's personality cult.
Aleksandr Vladimirovich Pyzhikov (27 November 1965, Ramenskoye, Moscow Oblast - night of 16-17 September 2019, Moscow) was a Russian historian and state official who died of a pulmonary embolism. He defended his candidate dissertation in 1998 and his doctoral dissertation in 1999, and was Deputy Minister of Education of the Russian Federation in 2003-2004. In his final years he became widely known for research on the 17th-century schism of the Russian Church and the Old Believers; his argument that the Old Believers played an important role in the revolutionary events of the early 20th century and in the formation of the Soviet order divided Old Believer circles. He also provoked controversy with conspiratorial civilizational claims such as denying the reality of the Tatar-Mongol yoke.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1989Graduated from the history faculty of the Moscow Regional Pedagogical Institute
- 1989년부터Junior researcher in the CPSU-history department of the Institute of Marxism-Leninism under the CPSU Central Committee
- 1998Earned a Candidate of Historical Sciences degree for research on Soviet society in 1953–1964
- 1999Earned a Doctor of Historical Sciences degree for research on political reform in the Soviet Union in the 1950s–1960s
- 2000Aide to the Russian minister for communications and informatization
- 2000–2003Aide to the Chairman of the Russian Government
- 2003.6.5–2004.6.18Deputy Minister of Education of the Russian Federation, handling quality control of education and state certification of institutions
- 2000년대 이후Professor of contemporary Russian history at the Institute of History and Politics of Moscow State Pedagogical University
- 2001Awarded the academic title of professor
- 2013Received the Yegor Gaidar Prize in history for the monograph 'Грани русского раскола'
Related historical events
Life and research: Soviet history of the 1950s–60s and the church schism
Russian historian and state official. Doctor of Historical Sciences, professor. He specialized in the history of Russia in the 1950s-60s and in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church schism.
Biography
He was born on 27 November 1965 in Ramenskoye, Moscow Oblast. In 1989 he graduated from the history faculty of the Moscow Regional Pedagogical Institute named for Krupskaya, and he worked as a junior researcher in the CPSU-history department of the Institute of Marxism-Leninism under the CPSU Central Committee. He later served as deputy director of the Institute of Social-Political Studies (ISPRAN). He was a member of the CPSU from 1987. He defended his candidate dissertation in 1998 (the social-political development of Soviet society in 1953-1964) and his doctoral dissertation in 1999 (the historical experience of political reform of Soviet society in the 1950s-60s), and was awarded the title of professor in 2001. He was a professor at the Institute of History and Politics of Moscow State Pedagogical University and authored more than 100 scholarly works.
State and public activity
In 1993 he directed the Center for Social-Political Programs of the 'Youth for Russia' fund in Ramenskoye. That same year he stood for the State Duma on the 'Future of Russia - New Names' list, receiving 1.25% of the vote, and in 1995 he ran again in Kurgan Oblast on Ivan Rybkin's bloc list without being elected. From 1994 he directed the information-analytical center of the Russian Youth Union. In 2000 he was aide to the minister for communications and informatization, in 2000-2003 aide to Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, and from 5 June 2003 to 18 June 2004 Deputy Minister of Education of the Russian Federation, handling quality control of education and state certification of institutions.
Research on the 1950s-60s USSR
His research concentrated on Soviet political processes after Stalin. Among his documented findings, he noted that the resolution of the 22nd CPSU Congress dealt with the Anti-Party Group almost four times as much as with the criticized personality cult of Stalin, and that in Khrushchev's reports and delegates' speeches the most criticism was directed at Vyacheslav Molotov. The latter finding appears in his book 'Khrushchev's Thaw' (2002).
Old Believers and the Russian Church schism
In his final years he became widely known for his studies of the 17th-century schism of the Russian Church and the history of the Old Believers. He argued that the Russian Old Believers played an important role in the revolutionary events of the early 20th century and in the formation of the Soviet order. That conception drew sharply divided assessments within Old Believer circles: many said it was tendentious and not confirmed by the full body of historical sources, while others held that, although excessively categorical, it contained a valid kernel allowing a different view of the history of the Old Believers and the Russian state. His books in this area include 'Грани русского раскола', 'Корни сталинского большевизма' and 'Взлет над пропастью'. In a March 2017 broadcast meeting with the head of the Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church, Metropolitan Korniliy (Titov), he said Old Belief had always existed as 'the main spiritual path of our country' and located its center of gravity 'in the people', arguing the split could only be overcome on terms of equality.
His conception also extended into a conspiratorial civilizational view of Russian history. He rejected the reality of the Tatar-Mongol yoke, and, calling his opponents 'historians of the ROC', asserted that the concept 'Moscow - Third Rome' was created by the Vatican to set Ivan III against the Turks. In his last years he advanced the idea of a centuries-long 'Ukrainian-Polish yoke' over Russia and drew a direct analogy between the Old Believers and the Bolsheviks. These are positions he advanced, recorded here as attributed claims rather than established fact. This conception and the 'Ukrainian-Polish yoke' idea drew public criticism, and in 2018 he was a candidate for the anti-prize 'Почётный академик ВРАЛ' for contribution to pseudoscience. That anti-prize was founded in 2016 by Anthropogenesis.ru and the Evolution Foundation.
Publicistic activity
He was an author of publications in the magazine 'Профиль' and in Aleksandr Prokhanov's newspaper 'Завтра', and was one of the authors of Prokhanov's weekly online outlet 'День-ТВ'.
Death and memory
He died on the night of 16-17 September 2019. The cause of death was a detached blood clot (pulmonary embolism). He was 53. A farewell ceremony was held in the hall of City Clinical Hospital No. 31, and he was buried in Ramenskoye. Annual 'Pyzhikov Readings' and a historical-publicism competition are held in his memory. In 2013 he received the Yegor Gaidar Prize in history for 'Грани русского раскола'.