Mikhail Grigoryevich Shats (Russian: Михаил Григорьевич Шац, born 7 June 1965,

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

RSFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

) is a Russian TV host, actor, YouTuber, and opposition activist. He is also known as a former member of the Coordinating Council of the Russian Opposition.

Biography

Mikhail Shats was born on 7 June 1965 in Leningrad. Upon graduating from School No. 185 in 1982, he entered the medical faculty of the

First Leningrad Medical Institute The First Pavlov State Medical University of St. Petersburg (russian: Первый Санкт-Петербургский государственный медицинский университет имени академика И. П. Павл� ...

. He graduated with a specialisation in

anesthesiology Anesthesiology, anaesthesiology, or anaesthesia is the medical specialty concerned with the total perioperative care of patients before, during and after surgery. It encompasses anesthesia, intensive care medicine, critical emergency medicine, ...

and resuscitology and later completed his

residency Residency may refer to: * Domicile (law), the act of establishing or maintaining a residence in a given place ** Permanent residency, indefinite residence within a country despite not having citizenship * Residency (medicine), a stage of postgrad ...

at the same institute. From 1987 to 1994, Shats competed on the KVN TV show as a member of the First Medical Institute and UNECON teams. He also played for the Russian team at the

CIS Cis or cis- may refer to: Places * Cis, Trentino, in Italy * In Poland: ** Cis, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, south-central ** Cis, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, north Math, science and biology * cis (mathematics) (cis(''θ'')), a trigonome ...

KVN competition. From 1995 to 2001, he worked at the TV-6 Moscow channel. In 1996, with , , , and , he launched the comedy program . The program was in the air up to 2004. From 2004 to 2012, Shats hosted the program with Lazareva and on the STS TV channel. From 2006 to 2010, he was the host of the humorous improv show on the same channel (the show was later aired on DTV as well). In 2007, Shats was made a member of the . Since 2018, he has been performing as a

stand-up Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...

comedian both solo and with , Alexei Kvashonkin, and . Shats left Russia in March 2022 due to the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

. He resided in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

as he had previously obtained Israeli citizenship in 2016. On 2 September 2022, the

Russian Ministry of Justice The Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation (russian: Министе́рство юсти́ции Росси́йской Федера́ции, Миню́ст Росси́и) is a ministry of the Government of Russia responsible for the lega ...

included Shats in the list of " foreign agents".

Political activity

Together with Tatiana Lazareva, Shats supported the Sozidaniye Charitable Foundation, which assisted orphanages, children's homes, boarding schools, hospitals, and children undergoing treatment in clinics. They also supported the Downside Up Charitable Foundation and actively participated in the foundation's events dedicated to changing society's attitude towards children with

Down syndrome Down syndrome or Down's syndrome, also known as trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is usually associated with physical growth delays, mild to moderate intellectual dis ...

. Shats joined the Russian

protest movement A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooper ...

(also known as the Bolotnaya revolution) in December 2011. Later, he took part in the elections to the Coordinating Council of the Russian Opposition and was ranked eighth on the candidates' list. Due to his participation in the protests, Shats was fired from the STS TV channel in 2012. In March 2013, Shats recorded a video appeal in support of the

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

community and spoke out against the

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

banning the so-called "propaganda of homosexuality". He was also a member of the public council of the

Russian Jewish Congress The Russian Jewish Congress is a non-profit charitable fund and Russian Jewish organization. It was established in 1996 by a group of Jewish businessmen, workers and religious figures with the goal of reviving Jewish life in Russia. It unites som ...

. In February 2022, Shats signed an anti-war letter condemning the Russian government for waging war against Ukraine.

Awards

TEFI TEFI (russian: ТЭФИ) is an annual award given in the Russian television industry, presented by the Russian Academy of Television. It has been awarded since 1994. TEFI is presented in various sectors (up to 50 nominations in 2008), such as tele ...

"Best Entertainment Program" (2003) * TEFI "Best Entertainment Program Host" (2006)

Family

Shats is of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

origin. He is married to Tatiana Lazareva. She is a TV presenter, actress, singer, and opposition activist. The couple has four children. In 2021, Shats and Lazareva announced that they had separated. However, as of October 2022, they were not officially divorced.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shats, Mikhail Living people 1965 births People listed in Russia as media foreign agents Russian YouTubers Russian television actors Russian male actors Russian television presenters