Maria Yegorovna Gaidar (russian: Мари́я Его́ровна Гайда́р, uk, Марія Єгорівна Гайдар; 1990–2004 Smirnova (russian: Смирно́ва); born 21 October 1982) is a Russian and
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
state and public figure and politician.
She has been
Deputy
Deputy or depute may refer to:
* Steward (office)
* Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy"
* Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including:
** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spai ...
of the
Odessa
Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...
regional council since 30 May 2015, and external adviser to the
President of Ukraine
The president of Ukraine ( uk, Президент України, Prezydent Ukrainy) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, condu ...
since 28 March 2017 to 17 May 2019.
In the past, Advisor to the Chairman of the Odessa regional state administration in
social protection and
health
Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...
(2015
[Maria Gaidar became Vice-Governor of the Odessa region](_blank)
// VEDOMOSTI–2016), then the Deputy head of administration of Odessa region on social issues (January–May 2016). The founder of the Fund of social support of population, "Social demand"
[Moscow Police thwarted a rally for free Parking.]
// Rosbizneskonsalting, on 19 October 2014. on 16 July 2015a – head of the Fund,.
[Maria Gaidar left the Fund "Social demand"](_blank)
// RBC, 20 July 2015. The Deputy Prime Minister of the
Kirov region of Russia (2009—2011).
Personal life
Maria Gaidar was born in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
to a prominent political and literary Russian family. She is the daughter of former Russian Prime Minister,
Yegor Gaidar
Yegor Timurovich Gaidar (russian: link=no, Его́р Тиму́рович Гайда́р; ; 19 March 1956 – 16 December 2009) was a Soviet and Russian economist, politician, and author, and was the Acting Prime Minister of Russia from 15 Jun ...
. On her paternal side, she is a granddaughter of Soviet admiral
Timur Gaidar
Timur Arkadyevich Gaidar (russian: Тиму́р Арка́дьевич Гайда́р; December 8, 1926 – December 23, 1999) was a Soviet/Russian rear admiral, writer and journalist. He was supposed to be the prototype for Timur from Arkady ...
, daughter of
Leah Lazarevna Solomyanskaya and a great-granddaughter of famous Soviet writers
Arkady Gaidar
Arkady Petrovich Gaidar (russian: link=no, Арка́дий Петро́вич Гайда́р, born Golikov, russian: link=no, Го́ликов; – 26 October 1941) was a Russian Soviet writer, whose stories were very popular among Soviet chil ...
and
Pavel Bazhov
Pavel Petrovich Bazhov (russian: Па́вел Петро́вич Бажо́в; 27 January 1879 – 3 December 1950) was a Russian writer and publicist.
Bazhov is best known for his collection of fairy tales ''The Malachite Box'', based on Ural ...
. Through Arkady Gaidar, she is a descendant of Russian aristocratic Salkova family. Through the Salkova family, she is a descendant of
Mikhail Lermontov
Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov (; russian: Михаи́л Ю́рьевич Ле́рмонтов, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ˈjurʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈlʲɛrməntəf; – ) was a Russian Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes called "the poet of the Caucas ...
. She is step-daughter of the daughter of writer
Arkady Strugatsky
The brothers Arkady Natanovich Strugatsky (russian: Аркадий Натанович Стругацкий; 28 August 1925 – 12 October 1991) and Boris Natanovich Strugatsky ( ru , Борис Натанович Стругацкий; 14 A ...
. Maria's parents divorced in 1985, three years after she was born. Gaidar stayed with her mother,
Irina Smirnova. In 1991 the family moved to
Cochabamba,
Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
, where they lived for five years. In 1996 she returned to Moscow.
In 2000 she entered and in 2005 graduated
summa cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...
from
the Academy of National Economy under the Government of the Russian Federation.
Gaidar is fluent in English, German, Spanish and her native Russian. In 2011, she was admitted to
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
for a Mid-Career Masters in Public Administration, where she studied for 8 months.
In 2014 she graduated from
Kutafin Moscow State Law University
Kutafin Moscow State Law University (MSAL) (russian: Московский государственный юридический университет имени О. Е. Кутафина) is a Mixed-sex education, coeducational and public unive ...
.
[
]
Career
In Russia
Gaidar was one of the leaders of The Other Russia organization and Union of Right Forces
)"Liberty, Property, Legality"(russian: "Свобода, Собственность, Законность")
, headquarters = Moscow
, newspaper = Just Cause
, membership_year = 2007
, membership = 57,410
, ideology ...
party. She has been a fierce critic of Putin's government and has been briefly detained for involvement in dissenters' marches and for placing a propaganda poster under a bridge using mountaineering gear. During the 2008 Russian presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Russia on 2 March 2008, and resulted in the election of Dmitry Medvedev as the third President of Russia. Medvedev was elected for a four-year term, whose candidacy was supported by incumbent president Vladimir ...
, Gaidar produced numerous video materials in which Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
was depicted as the anti-Christ leading the world to a nuclear apocalypse
Apocalypse () is a literary genre in which a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a human intermediary. The means of mediation include dreams, visions and heavenly journeys, and they typically feature symbolic imager ...
.
In February 2009, Gaidar became an advisor to the new governor of Kirov Oblast
Kirov Oblast (russian: Ки́ровская о́бласть, ''Kirovskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast) in Eastern Europe. Its administrative center is the city of Kirov. Population: 1,341,312 ( 2010 Census).
Geography
Na ...
, Nikita Belykh
Nikita Yuryevich Belykh (russian: Ники́та Ю́рьевич Белы́х, born June 13, 1975) is a Russian politician and former leader of the Union of Rightist Forces party. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Perm Krai until 20 ...
, and on 23 July she was confirmed as a deputy governor in Kirov Oblast. In June 2011, Gaidar announced that she would resign as adviser due to her admission to Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
.[ In December 2012, she became an adviser to Moscow Vice-Major for Social Problems . In November 2013, she left the ]Government of Moscow
The Government of Moscow (russian: Правительство Москвы) is the highest executive body of state authority of Moscow. The Government of Moscow is headed by the highest official of the city of Moscow, i.e. the Mayor of Moscow.
T ...
to work for the charity ''Sotsialny Zapros'' (social query) created by her. In 2015, she threatened to renounce her Russian citizenship, planning to become an Israeli citizen under the Law of Return and to move to 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 ...
. However, she subsequently said that she wished to retain her Russian citizenship, and to keep three citizenships – Russian, Ukrainian and Israeli.
In Ukraine
On 17 July 2015, Gaidar accepted an offer from Mikheil Saakashvili
Mikheil Saakashvili ( ka, მიხეილ სააკაშვილი ; uk, Міхеіл Саакашвілі ; born 21 December 1967) is a Georgian and Ukrainian politician and jurist. and became a vice-governor of Odessa Oblast
Odesa Oblast ( uk, Оде́ська о́бласть, translit=Odeska oblast), also referred to as Odeshchyna ( uk, Оде́щина) is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of southwestern Ukraine, located along the northern ...
in Ukraine. Her practical work has been as a fixer combating fraud and ensuring that vital social functions run smoothly. She received Ukrainian citizenship on 4 August 2015. This she described in September 2015 as "It didn't feel good at all....But for me to be here, now, and to be here completely, it's important."[ A few days after her appointment Gaidar stated she wants to retain her Russian citizenship, adding "In the future I hope that Russia will be a democratic country and it will be possible to go back and work there."][ Ukrainian law prohibits dual citizenship and only Ukrainian citizens can serve as appointed public officials.][ Gaidar has indicated she would be willing to serve on Saakashvili's team as an adviser or volunteer (functions open to foreigners).][
Various Russian public figures criticized Gaidar's decision: Russian politician ]Vitaly Milonov
Vitaly Valentinovich Milonov (russian: Виталий Валентинович Милонов; born 23 January 1974) is a Russian politician, deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation since 2016. A member of United Russia, he has served ...
requested an investigation of Maria Gaidar for high treason, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia
)
, abbreviation = LDPR (English)ЛДПР (Russian)
, native_name =
, newspaper = ''For the Russian People''
, youth_wing =
, seats1_title = Seats in the Federation Council
, seats1 =
, seats2_title ...
, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, proposed forbidding Gaidar from returning to Russia, while Russia's Commissioner for Human Rights Ella Pamfilova
Ella Aleksandrovna Pamfilova (; born 12 September 1953) is a Russian politician, former deputy of the State Duma, candidate for president in 2000 and former chairman (2004 - 2010) of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights. On ...
announced that the Russian government would freeze grants to Gaidar's charity ''Sotsialny Zapros''.[Divisions Revealed as Kremlin Critic Moves to Work for Ukraine Government]
The Moscow Times
''The Moscow Times'' is an independent English-language and Russian-language online newspaper. It was in print in Russia from 1992 until 2017 and was distributed free of charge at places frequented by English-speaking tourists and expatriates s ...
(20 July 2015) ''Sotsialny Zapros'' itself stated that Gaidar had already stepped down as the organization's head the previous week and that the NGO had voluntarily and formally already refused all government grants.[
In the October 2015 Odessa regional election Gaidar was elected into the ]Odessa Oblast
Odesa Oblast ( uk, Оде́ська о́бласть, translit=Odeska oblast), also referred to as Odeshchyna ( uk, Оде́щина) is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of southwestern Ukraine, located along the northern ...
parliament for Petro Poroshenko Bloc
European Solidarity ( uk, Європейська солідарність, Yevropeis'ka solidarnist', YeS) is a political party in Ukraine. It has its roots in a parliamentary group called Solidarity dating from 2000 and has existed since in vario ...
. Gaidar resigned as deputy governor after a new law barring a regional lawmaker being simultaneously a civil servant took effect on 1 May 2016. Gaidar resigned her seat in Odessa Oblast's legislature on 10 June 2018, the assembly unannounced on June 12 that it had relieved Gaidar of her duties as a lawmaker at her request.
On 5 April 2017 Gaidar was appointed an adviser of Ukrainian President
The president of Ukraine ( uk, Президент України, Prezydent Ukrainy) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, condu ...
Petro Poroshenko
Petro Oleksiyovych Poroshenko ( uk, Петро́ Олексі́йович Пороше́нко, ; born 26 September 1965) is a Ukrainian businessman and politician who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. Poroshenko ser ...
.
References
External links
Russians Must Shed Fear (Her interview)
'' Demokratizatsiya'', 2007 by Arias-King
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaidar, Maria
1982 births
Living people
Politicians from Moscow
Union of Right Forces politicians
Echo of Moscow radio presenters
Russian political activists
Russian women in politics
Russian dissidents
Harvard Kennedy School alumni
21st-century Ukrainian politicians
21st-century Ukrainian women politicians
Russian emigrants to Ukraine
Naturalized citizens of Ukraine
Local politicians in Ukraine
Petro Poroshenko Bloc politicians
Kutafin Moscow State Law University alumni
Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration alumni
21st-century Russian women politicians