Dorofei (or Dorotheus russian: Дорофей) (2004–2014) was a rare

Neva Masquerade The Siberian is a centuries-old landrace (natural variety) of domestic cat in Russia and recently developed as a formal Cat breed, breed with standards promulgated the world over since the late 1980s. Siberians vary from medium to medium-large i ...

( Siberian breed) cat with blue eyes belonging to former

Russian President The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federal ...

Dmitry Medvedev Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev ( rus, links=no, Дмитрий Анатольевич Медведев, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ mʲɪdˈvʲedʲɪf; born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician who has been serving as the dep ...

and his wife

Svetlana Medvedeva Svetlana Vladimirovna Medvedeva (russian: Светлана Владимировна Медведева, ; née Linnik, ; born 15 March 1965) is a Russian economist who was the First Lady of Russia from 2008 to 2012. She is married to the forme ...

. Dorofei took over the title of ''First Pet'' from Vladimir Putin's black labrador Koni, when Medvedev was inaugurated on 7 May 2008.

Early life

Dorofei was born in 2004. The Neva Masquerade breed comes from

Saint Petersburg 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 ...

, however Dorofei was bred by the ''Great Hunter'' breeding company in Moscow.

bought Dorofei from the breeders as a kitten, and took him back to Saint Petersburg. Neva Masquerades with a good pedigree can cost up to twenty thousand

Russian ruble ''hum''; cv, тенкĕ ''tenke''; kv, шайт ''shayt''; Lak: къуруш ''k'urush''; Mari: теҥге ''tenge''; os, сом ''som''; tt-Cyrl, сум ''sum''; udm, манет ''manet''; sah, солкуобай ''solkuobay'' , name_ab ...

s. ''

Noviye Izvestiya ''Novye Izvestia'' (russian: Новые Известия) is an daily newspaper, published in Moscow, Russia. History It was founded in 1997 by a group of journalists who left ''Izvestia'' newspaper, with the financial backing of Boris Berezovsk ...

'' reported that Dorofei once got into a fight with a cat belonging to

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

, who was Medvedev's neighbour. Dorofei lost the fight, and was put onto antibiotics for a month to help heal the injuries he sustained in the fight, and was also

castrated Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which an individual loses use of the testicles: the male gonad. Surgical castration is bilateral orchiectomy (excision of both testicles), while chemical castration uses pharmaceut ...

to prevent a repeat incident. It was reported by Reuters that in the lead up to Medvedev's inauguration, the

Russian media Television, magazines, and newspapers have all been operated by both state-owned and for-profit corporations which depend on advertising, subscription, and other sales-related revenues. Even though the Constitution of Russia guarantees freedom ...

shied away from investigating his history, so they focused on Dorofei instead.

In Kremlin

Russian media reported that Dorofei was a rather tough character, being independent and not following protocol. In June 2008, Russia issued a new non-currency banknote to delegates at the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, featuring Dorofei on one side and a famous local cat on the other side. In November 2008, when Medvedev met with

Taro Aso Taro () (''Colocasia esculenta)'' is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in Africa ...

at the APEC meeting in Peru, Medvedev gave the

Japanese Prime Minister The prime minister of Japan ( Japanese: 内閣総理大臣, Hepburn: ''Naikaku Sōri-Daijin'') is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of Stat ...

a radio-controlled flying

Doraemon ''Doraemon'' ( ja, ドラえもん ) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Fujiko F. Fujio. The manga was first serialized in December 1969, with List of Doraemon chapters, its 1,345 individual chapters compiled into 45 ' ...

toy for his son. It was reported at the same time that in Tokyo the idea of a cartoon film featuring the joint adventures of Doraemon and Dorofei were being discussed, in what the Japanese called an important step of

rapprochement In international relations, a rapprochement, which comes from the French word ''rapprocher'' ("to bring together"), is a re-establishment of cordial relations between two countries. This may be done due to a mutual enemy, as was the case with Germ ...

between Japan and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. In July 2009, the US president

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

and his wife met with Dorofei in

Gorki Gorki may refer to: * Gorki Águila (b. 1968), Cuban rock musician *Gorki (band), a Belgian band of Luc De Vos * Gorki (Kazan Metro), a station of the Kazan Metro, Kazan, Russia * Gorki Ridge, a ridge in Antarctica * Gorki, Russia, several inha ...

during their visit to Russia.

Death

On 4 February 2015, it was reported by Russian news source Sobesednik.ru that Dorofei had died along with President

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 ...

's dog,

Konni Konni may refer to: * Konni (dog), Russian President Vladimir Putin's dog (1999-2014) *Konni, Kerala, a town in Kerala state in India * Konni (Hausa state), a traditional Hausa state in south central Niger * Birni-N'Konni (shortened to Konni), a to ...

References

{{Dmitry Medvedev 2004 animal births Dmitry Medvedev Individual cats in politics Russian culture