Anton Krzyzanowski or Anton Kryzhanovsky (, born 3 March 1995) is a Russian
intersex
Intersex people are individuals born with any of several sex characteristics including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical bin ...
activist and
sound designer
In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid.
In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...
.
He is the founder of the intersex human rights initiative group Interseks.ru ()
and is known for speaking openly about living with
ovotestis
An ovotestis is a gonad with both testicular and ovarian aspects. In humans, ovotestes are an infrequent anatomical variation associated with gonadal dysgenesis. The only mammals where ovotestes are not symptomatic of an intersex variation are mole ...
.
Early life
Krzyzanowski was born in a small town in Ural, Russia. He was
assigned female at birth based on the appearance of his genitals but, when he was 13 years old, he went through puberty according to the male pattern. He showed
male secondary sex characteristics: his voice broke, he developed facial hair, and did not start
menstruating
The menstrual cycle is a series of natural changes in hormone production and the structures of the uterus and ovaries of the female reproductive system that make pregnancy possible. The ovarian cycle controls the production and release of eggs a ...
.
Because of his religious family, in 2010
Krzyzanowski was sent to a monastery as family members believed that "demons were sitting in him."
Krzyzanowski has stated that he was advised to pray in order to be "cured" and become a "normal" woman. When he was 15 years old, he was sent to the hospital due to intense stomach pains; the priests suspected that it was the result of not menstruating for a long time. However, the hospital found that Krzyzanowski did not have a uterus and consequently could not have periods.
Due to the discrimination and bullying he faced for being legally designated as female despite having a male body, Krzyzanowski changed his identification documents when he was 18.
Activism
Krzyzanowski is known for being the founder of the intersex human rights initiative group, "Интерсекс.ру" ("interseks.ru").
He engages in media work to promote awareness about the existence and needs of intersex people:
* Anton Krzyzanowski was one of the individuals featured in the Russian
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
documentary film about intersex people, in BBC article about Sredneuralsk Women's Monastery
legislation against trans and intersex rights for marriage.
* The Belarusian website
in her documentary movie about Sredneuralsk Women's Monastery.
* Krzyzanowski has been interviewed by various Russian media, such as ''
.