Sergei Aleksandrovich Vinogradov (April 16, 1958 – December 16, 2010) was a Russian journalist, translator and writer. He worked for the UN from 1986 until his death. Sergei Vinogradov was born in

Kurgan, Kurgan Oblast Kurgan ( rus, Курган, p=kʊrˈgan) is the largest city and the administrative center of Kurgan Oblast in the south of the Urals Federal District of Russia. Population: . Until 1782 Kurgan bore the name ''Tsaryovo Gorodishche''. History ...

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

in 1958. In 1960, however, he moved to Moscow with his family as his father was promoted to a new position there. He attended school from 1965 to 1975 and was involved in school bands during his senior years (playing the guitar). From 1975 to 1980, Sergey Vinogradov studied international journalism at the

Moscow State Institute of International Relations Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) (russian: Московский государственный институт международных отношений (МГИМО), also known as MGIMO University) is an institute of ...

. Upon graduation, he received a job at the International Life (Mezhdunarodnaya Zhizn) magazine. Apart from writing articles for the magazine, Vinogradov also wrote short stories which remained unpublished, however (partially due to their critical tone towards the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

authorities). In 1985, he was able to get enrolled in the UN

translation Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

courses. Upon completion, he passed the final exams and became a UN translator in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Soon after his arrival to

, he was nearly killed in a car accident (as a passenger). However, upon his recovery, he resumed his work as a translator. In 1990, he was transferred to the Department of Political and Security Council Affairs as a Political Affairs Officer and in 1991 began writing for the

UN Chronicle The ''UN Chronicle'' is the digital magazine of the United Nations that furnishes a forum for exchange between experts and politicians working outside the Organization and United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental ...

(as a member of the Department of Public Information). In 1997, he briefly returned to Moscow to work for the local United Nations Information Center. In December 1997, he came back to New York. In 1999, he became an Information Officer for the

UNMIK The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) is the officially mandated mission of the United Nations in Kosovo. The UNMIK describes its mandate as being to "help the United Nations Security Council achieve an overall ...

and lived in

Pristina Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians and ...

for three years. In 2002, he moved to the

UN Office at Geneva The United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG, french: Office des Nations Unies à Genève) in Geneva, Switzerland, is one of the four major offices of the United Nations where numerous different UN agencies have a joint presence. The main UNOG ...

, where he once again became a translator (translating from English to Russian). During his tenure at the UN, Sergey Vinogradov continued writing short stories and also started writing longer novels. One of the novels, ''Sealed-up Hell (Запломбированный Ад)'', along with several short stories, was published in 2006. He wrote another novel, ''Heavenly Seedlings (Райская Рассада)'', but it remained unpublished. He began working on a third novel, provisionally titled ''A History of Time Travel'', but it remained unfinished. Sergey Vinogradov was married twice; his first marriage ended with divorce, while his second marriage ended with his death. He had a son from his first marriage. In June 2010, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and began a course of chemotherapy, which was ultimately unsuccessful as the cancer had metastasized to his liver. He died on December 16, 2010, in

Carouge Carouge () is a municipality in the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. History Carouge is first mentioned in the Early Middle Ages as ''Quadruvium'' and ''Quatruvio''. In 1248 it was mentioned as ''Carrogium'' while in the 14th Century it was kn ...

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

External links

"They Now Have to Return"
''UN Chronicle'' article, Vol. 37, No. 2.

"The End of a Rigmarole" (Конец Канители), short story, under the pen name "Kurganov" (in Russian)

Obituary in the UN Special magazine. {{DEFAULTSORT:Vinogradov, Sergei Russian journalists Russian officials of the United Nations 1958 births 2010 deaths Deaths from pancreatic cancer Deaths from cancer in Switzerland People from Kurgan, Kurgan Oblast 20th-century Russian translators Soviet officials of the United Nations Soviet expatriates in the United States