Gennady Eduardovich Burbulis (russian: Генна́дий Эдуа́рдович Бу́рбулис; 4 August 1945 – 19 June 2022) was a Russian politician. A close associate of
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
, he held several high positions in the first Russian government, including Secretary of State, and was one of the drafters and signers of the
Belavezha Accords
The Belovezh Accords ( be, Белавежскае пагадненне, link=no, russian: Беловежские соглашения, link=no, uk, Біловезькі угоди, link=no) are accords forming the agreement declaring that the ...
on behalf of Russia. He was one of the most influential Russian political figures in the late 1980s and early 1990s and one of the main architects of Russian political and economic reform.
[Rossiya 2000: Sovremennaya politicheskaya istoriya 1985-2000, Tom 2, Litsa Rossii, Moskva 2000, VOLD Dukhovnoe nasledie, ZAO NIR, RAU Universitet, p. 139]
Early life and education
Burbulis was born in the
Urals
The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through European ...
city of Pervouralsk on 4 August 1945, the grandson of a
Lithuanian deportee during that country’s occupation and
Russification
Russification (russian: русификация, rusifikatsiya), or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians, whether involuntarily or voluntarily, give up their culture and language in favor of the Russian cultur ...
by the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
(1915). He described how his decision to keep a Lithuanian surname against the urging of his Russian mother cost him the position of the first and only
Vice President of Russia
The vice president of the Russian Federation (before 25 December 1991 – vice president of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic) was the first in the presidential line of succession, becoming the new president of Russia upon the death ...
in 1991, a position that went to
Alexander Rutskoy
Alexander Vladimirovich Rutskoy (russian: Александр Владимирович Руцкой; born 16 September 1947) is a Russian politician and a former Soviet military officer, Major General of Aviation (1991). He served as the only vic ...
; according to Burbulis
Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
told him that his surname was "questionable for the Russian electorate".
He graduated from the philosophy department of
Ural State University
The Ural State University (russian: Урáльский госудáрственный университéт и́мени А.М. Гóрького, , often shortened to USU, УрГУ) is a public university located in the city of Yekaterinburg, Sv ...
and later was awarded a Candidate of Science (Philosophy) degree. He taught in several institutions of higher education in and around Sverdlovsk (now
Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg ( ; rus, Екатеринбург, p=jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( rus, Свердло́вск, , svʲɪrˈdlofsk, 1924–1991), is a city and the administra ...
).
Career
In 1987, during the
perestroika
''Perestroika'' (; russian: links=no, перестройка, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg) was a political movement for reform within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s widely associated wit ...
period, Burbulis organized the Sverdlovsk Podium, an open forum for discussing local and later national social, political, and economic problems. In 1989 he was elected to the
Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union
The Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union (russian: Съезд народных депутатов СССР, ''Sʺezd narodnykh deputatov SSSR'') was the highest body of state authority of the Soviet Union from 1989 to 1991.
Backg ...
. He was one of the initiators of the
Inter-regional Deputies’ Group, the first legally organized opposition in the Soviet Union, which was later credited by some with being one of the prime catalysts for democratic reform.
In 1989, Burbulis became acquainted with
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
, who had been elected to the Congress of People’s Deputies with 90 percent of the vote. Burbulis nominated him to the post of Chairman of the Supreme Soviet (the Congress’s standing body), which he was elected to on 29 May 1990. Yeltsin appointed Burbulis his authorized representative and deputy chairman of his Higher Consultation and Coordination Council.
On 12 June 1990, the Congress of People’s Deputies of the RSFSR passed a law on the sovereignty of Russia within the framework of the Soviet Union. Yeltsin declared his candidacy for the newly established post of president and Burbulis organized
his election campaign. On 12 June 1991, Yeltsin won the presidency with 57 percent of the popular vote. On 19 July 1991, Yeltsin appointed Burbulis Secretary of State, a position he held until 8 May 1992, when the post was renamed State Secretary to the President of the Russian Federation (which Burbulis held until 26 November 1992). From 6 November 1991, until 14 April 1992, Burbulis was also First Deputy to the Chairman of the Government (Cabinet).
Effectively the second leader in the Russian government after Yeltsin, Burbulis was responsible for developing the strategy and overseeing the implementation of political and economic reforms. He also made significant contributions to the shaping of foreign policy and domestic security issues.
Burbulis was one of the drafters and signers of the
Belavezha Accords
The Belovezh Accords ( be, Белавежскае пагадненне, link=no, russian: Беловежские соглашения, link=no, uk, Біловезькі угоди, link=no) are accords forming the agreement declaring that the ...
that effectively ended the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
and founded the
Commonwealth of Independent States
The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an area of and has an estimated population of 239,796,010. ...
.
By the end of 1992, Burbulis had become a lightning rod for criticism directed against the government’s reform policies. He served briefly (26 November 1992–14 December 1992) as the head of a group of advisors to the president and then left the federal administration.
Later work
In 1993, Burbulis founded the Strategy Center for Humanitarian and Political Science.
He was elected to the
State Duma
The State Duma (russian: Госуда́рственная ду́ма, r=Gosudárstvennaja dúma), commonly abbreviated in Russian as Gosduma ( rus, Госду́ма), is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, while the upper house ...
(the lower house of the Russian parliament) twice and served as a deputy from 14 January 1994, to 18 January 2000. He served as deputy to the governor of
Novgorod Oblast
Novgorod Oblast (russian: Новгоро́дская о́бласть, ''Novgorodskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Veliky Novgorod. Some of the oldest Russian cities, including ...
from 5 June 2000 to 14 November 2001, after which he represented Novgorod in the
Federal Assembly (upper house of the Russian parliament) from 14 November 2001, to 5 September 2007. As Advisor to the Chairman of the
Federation Council
The Federation Council (russian: Сове́т Федера́ции – ''Soviet Federatsii'', common abbreviation: Совфед – ''Sovfed''), or Senate (officially, starting from July 1, 2020) ( ru , Сенат , translit = Senat), is th ...
he was the initiator and first deputy to the Chairman of the Center for Legislation Monitoring and headed the group producing the annual Review of Legislation in the Russian Federation.
In August 2009, he founded the School of Politosophy and was president of the Youth Forum of Modernizers, “My Russia.” He was also the president of the
Short Track Speed Skating
Short-track speed skating is a form of competitive ice skating, ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters (typically between four and six) skate on an oval ice track with a length of . The rink itself is long by wide, which is the s ...
organizational body of the Russian Federation.
Death
Gennady Burbulis died on 19 June 2022 in
Baku
Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...
,
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
at the age of 76.
Honours and awards
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See also
*
Popular Patriotic Party
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burbulsi, Gennady
1945 births
2022 deaths
Deputy heads of government of the Russian Federation
People from Pervouralsk
Russian people of Lithuanian descent
Ural State University alumni
First convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation)
Second convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation)
Members of the Federation Council of Russia (after 2000)