Nikolay Karlovich Svanidze (russian: Николай Карлович Сванидзе, born 2 April 1955 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 ...

) is a Russian TV and radio host and member of the

Public Chamber of Russia The Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation (russian: Общественная палата Российской Федерации), sometimes shortened to Civic Chamber (russian: Общественная палата), is a consultative civil s ...

Biography

Nikolai Karlovich Svanidze is named after his paternal grandfather Nikolai Samsonovich Svanidze. The grandfather, Nikolai Samsonovich Svanidze, was a distant relative of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet Union, Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as Ge ...

's first wife

Kato Svanidze Ekaterine "Kato" Svanidze, '; russian: Екатерина Семёновна Сванидзе, ' (2 April 1885 – 22 November 1907) was the first wife of Joseph Stalin and the mother of his eldest son, Yakov Dzhugashvili. Born in Racha, in we ...

— who took an active part in the

October revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mom ...

and served as a high-ranking official in the

Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic , conventional_long_name = Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic , common_name = Transcaucasian SFSR , p1 = Armenian Soviet Socialist RepublicArmenian SSR , flag_p1 = Flag of SSRA ...

under the protection of

Sergo Ordzhonikidze Sergo Konstantinovich Ordzhonikidze,, ; russian: Серго Константинович Орджоникидзе, Sergo Konstantinovich Ordzhonikidze) born Grigol Konstantines dze Orjonikidze, russian: Григорий Константино ...

. The grandfather was married to Zilya Isaakovna Luskina, also a

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

revolutionary of

Jew 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""T ...

ish origin who worked at the

Zhenotdel The Zhenotdel (), the women's department of the Central Committee of the All-Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks), was the section of the Russian Communist party devoted to women's affairs in the 1920s. It gave women in the Russian Revolution ...

structure. In 1937 he was arrested and executed among other Georgian officials who promoted exclusive rights for the

Georgian SSR The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (Georgian SSR; ka, საქართველოს საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა, tr; russian: Грузинская Советская Соц� ...

, including xenophobic laws for non-Georgian residents. The mother of Nikolay Karlovich was Adelaida (Ada) Anatolievna Svanidze (born Kryzanowskaya), a Soviet and Russian historian, professor and

doctor of sciences Doctor of Sciences ( rus, доктор наук, p=ˈdoktər nɐˈuk, abbreviated д-р наук or д. н.; uk, доктор наук; bg, доктор на науките; be, доктар навук) is a higher doctoral degree in the Russi ...

. Nikolai Karlovich Svanidze graduated from the History Department of

Moscow State University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

in 1977. In 1977-1990 he was a research fellow in the

Institute for US and Canadian Studies Institute for US and Canadian Studies (Russian: Институт США и Канады РАН, ''Institut SShA i Kanadi RAN'') is a Russian think tank which is part of the Russian Academy of Sciences, specializing on the comprehensive studies of ...

. Since 1991 he has worked for the All-Russia State Television and Radio Company and has been a host on its

Russia TV Russia-1 (russian: Россия-1) is a state-owned Russian television channel, first aired on 14 February 1956 as Programme Two in the Soviet Union. It was relaunched as RTR on 13 May 1991, and is known today as Russia-1. It is the flagship ch ...

channel, in 1996-2007 authoring and hosting the weekly analytical program "Zerkalo" ('Mirror'). Both of his grandfathers were executed under Stalin's regime in 1937. The rest of his family, during the repressions of 1939, was sent to the

Gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the State Political Directorate, GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= ...

. In February 1997 - May 1998 Svanidze was the chairman of the company, appointed by President

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 ...

. In an interview Svanidze himself confessed that as a TV host on the side of the government he was heavily involved in the 1999 parliamentary election campaign, attacking the

Communist Party of the Russian Federation The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF; russian: Коммунистическая Партия Российской Федерации; КПРФ, Kommunisticheskaya Partiya Rossiyskoy Federatsii; KPRF) is a left-wing nationalist and ...

and the

Fatherland – All Russia Fatherland – All Russia (russian: Отечество – Вся Россия; ОВР; ''Otečestvo – Vsä Rossija'', ''OVR'') was a political bloc that existed in Russia from 1998 to 2002. It was formed from the movement Fatherland, chair ...

block.Trud
/ref> In 2003 Svanidze started to make the TV documentary series ''Historical Chronicles'', highly critical of the

s and Joseph Stalin in particular, in each part telling about a personality from a single year of the 20th century history of Russia. In 2005 he became a member of the

. In 2008 together with his wife Marina Svanidze, he published the book ''Medvedev'' based on interviews with the Russian president Dmitry Medvedev.

References

External links

EJNS
{{DEFAULTSORT:Svanidze, Nikolai Members of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation Russian television presenters Russian male journalists 21st-century Russian historians Russian people of Georgian descent 1955 births Living people