Vladimir Rostislavovich Medinsky (Russian: Владимир Ростиславович Мединский; born July 18, 1970) is a Russian political figure, academic and publicist who served as the Minister of Culture from May 2012 to January 2020.[1] He has the federal state civilian service rank of 1st class Active State Councillor of the Russian Federation.[2] He is a member of the General Council of the United Russia party.

Vladimir Medinsky
Владимир Мединский
Medinsky in 2020
Minister of Culture
In office
21 May 2012 – 15 January 2020
Prime MinisterDmitry Medvedev
Preceded byAleksandr Avdeyev
Succeeded byOlga Lyubimova
Personal details
Born
Vladimir Rostislavovich Medinsky

(1970-07-18) July 18, 1970 (age 53)
Smila, Cherkasy Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, USSR (Today Ukraine)
Political partyCommunist Party of the Soviet Union (Before 1991)
Independent (1991–1995)
Our Home-Russia (1995–2000)
Unity (1999–2001)
United Russia (2001–present)
Alma materMoscow State Institute of International Relations
ProfessionProfessor
Doctor of Sciences in political and historical studies
Websitehttp://www.medinskiy.ru/

Biography edit

 
Golden Mask award in 2015
 
Medinsky and Greece's Deputy Foreign Minister Ioannis Amanatidis at the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, 24 June 2016
 
Medinsky and Sergey Naryshkin at Memorial park of World War I victims in August 2018

Medinsky was born in the city of Smila in the Cherkasy Oblast of the Ukrainian SSR.[3]

Education edit

Career edit

Dissertations and accusation of plagiarism edit

  • 1997 – defended Doctoral dissertation in political science
  • 1999 – defended Higher Doctoral dissertation in political science[8]
  • June 2011 – defended Higher Doctoral dissertation in history in the Russian State Social University: "Problems of objectivity in the coverage of Russian history from the second half of the 15th to 17th centuries".

The third thesis of 2011 has been widely debated in the Russian media and a large number of fragments have been shown to bear a significant resemblance to existing academic works, which caused numerous accusations of plagiarism.[9][10]

On 23 May 2014, the Dissernet community, an informal group of academics and journalists concerned with dissertation plagiarism, declared to have found plagiarism in two previous dissertations by Medinsky, of 1997[11] and 1999.[12] According to Dissernet's expertise, in the first thesis 87 pages out of 120 have been borrowed from the thesis of Medinsky's scientific advisor S. A. Proskurin. In the second thesis, 21 pages textually coincide with other people's works.[8][13]

On 3 October 2017 the top Russian academic council recommended revoking Medinsky's 2011 doctorate.[14] However, on 20 October 2017 a committee of a government agency that oversees the awarding of higher academic degrees ruled in the minister's favour by 16 to 6.[15]

Views edit

Vladimir Medinsky has been described as a "nationalist enamoured of classicism and traditional values".[16]

Medinsky supports the removal of Vladimir Lenin's body from Lenin's Mausoleum to bury it.[17][18]

Medinsky believes that statues of Joseph Stalin should be erected in places where the majority of local people are in favour.[19]

In 2013, Medinsky's Culture Ministry proposed an updated cultural policy blueprint. Calling for "a rejection of the principles of tolerance and multiculturalism", it emphasizes Russian "traditional values" and cautions against "pseudo-art" that may be at variance with those values.[20]

In 2015, Medinsky called for the creation of a Russian "patriotic Internet" to combat Western ideas, adding that those who are against Russia are against the truth.[21]

In 2019, Medinsky called the Chernobyl series “masterfully made” and “filmed with great respect for ordinary people”.[22] Medinsky's father was one of the Chernobyl liquidators.[23]

During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Medinsky stated that “We stand for peace”.[24]

Honours edit

Bibliography edit

 
Medinskiy presents his books in Ryazan, 2009
  • The Wall (Стена), 2012, ISBN 978-5-373-04522-3
  • Myths about Russia (Мифы о России), Series of books by Vladimir Medinskiy
  • Legal basis for commercial advertising by Vladimir Medinskiy and Kirill Vsevolozhskiy, ISBN 5-901084-01-2
  • Scoundrels and geniuses PR. From Rurik to Ivan the Terrible by V. Medinskiy, 2011, ISBN 978-5-388-00487-1

References edit

  1. ^ Состав нового Правительства РФ, New government's structure, Ekho Moskvy radio (Russian)
  2. ^ "О присвоении классных чинов государственной гражданской службы Российской Федерации федеральным государственным гражданским служащим Администрации Президента Российской Федерации". Decree No. 163 of 5 March 2020 (in Russian). President of Russia.
  3. ^ "Why ethnopolitics doesn't work in Ukraine". al-Jazeera. 9 April 2019.
  4. ^ Мединский противостоит фальсификации истории, Medinsky become as a member of Presidential Commission, ER.RU
  5. ^ Carroll, Oliver (January 15, 2020). "Russian PM resigns in shock move as Putin announces dramatic constitutional shake-up". The Independent. Retrieved January 17, 2020.
  6. ^ "Vladimir Medinsky". www.medinskiy.ru (in Russian). Retrieved February 28, 2022.
  7. ^ "Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty". wwww.rferl.org. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  8. ^ a b "Dissernet's" Experts found plagiarism
  9. ^ Balmforth, Tom (4 June 2012). "Profile: Vladimir Medinsky, Russia's Controversial New Culture Minister". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
  10. ^ "Vladimir Medinsky".
  11. ^ "Мединский Владимир Ростиславович".
  12. ^ "Мединский Владимир Ростиславович".
  13. ^ Lipman, Maria (24 May 2014). "Meet the Second-Rate Academic Who is Vladimir Putin's Culture Cop". The New Republic.
  14. ^ Balmforth, Tom (10 August 2018). "Russia's 'Myth'-Busting Culture Minister Embroiled In Doctoral Thesis Scandal". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
  15. ^ "Russian minister keeps doctorate despite plagiarism claims". 20 October 2017.
  16. ^ https://www.economist.com/news/europe/21726700-outbreak-competitive-cultural-toadying-moscow-charlemagne-russian-culture-wars Charlemagne: Russian culture wars
  17. ^ Министр культуры предлагает торжественно похоронить Ленина,Minister of Culture has offer to solemnly bury LeninRussian source
  18. ^ Мединский: Тело Ленина пора выносить из мавзолея, Medinskiy: The Time as come to remove Lenin's body from the Mausoleum, er.ru
  19. ^ "A battle for truth and glory as Russia marks Victory Day". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
  20. ^ "Минкультуры изложило "Основы государственной культурной политики"" [Culture Ministry lays out "Basis of national cultural policy"]. Izvestia (in Russian). 2014-04-10. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  21. ^ "Russia's culture minister calls for new 'patriotic Internet' to combat Western spin". Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
  22. ^ "Мединский назвал сериал "Чернобыль" "мастерски сделанным фильмом"". RBC. 6 June 2019. Retrieved June 14, 2019.
  23. ^ Светлана Рейтер, Иван Голунов (2015-07-13). "Расследование РБК: зачем Мединскому Военно-историческое общество". РБК. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
  24. ^ "There are now 368,000 Ukraine refugees, UN estimates", CNN, 27 February 2022
  25. ^ Ordonnance Souveraine n° 5.660 du 17 décembre 2015

External links edit

Political offices
Preceded by Russian Minister of Culture
2012–2020
Succeeded by