This man is well-known to The Day’s readers. Russian scholar, doctor of history, professor, long-time rector of the Moscow State Institute for History and Archives, politician, people’s deputy of the USSR (1989-91), one of the founders and co-chairman of the Democratic Russia movement (in the times of perestroika), Yurii Afanasiev gave multiple extended interviews to our newspaper; in January 2012, a roundtable with his participation was held at The Day’s office (“Ukraine and Russia: 20 Years without the Empire. Lessons of History”). Many basic statements of the discussion were later (and sometimes terribly) proven irrefutably true by life itself.
And now, the sad news: scholar and politician Afanasiev, who for long years had been an embodiment of intellectually free Russia (despite his withdrawal from politics back in June 1993), passed away in Moscow at the age of 80. This loss shows again how tragically (and the more so against the backdrop of great power hysteria) decimated are the ranks of true Russian democrats, those who sincerely sought to “unspell” Russia, using Afanasiev’s own words, to free it from the totalitarian imperialist fumes which literally choke that huge country. Afanasiev was busy “unspelling” Russia for decades on end, ever since the First Congress of the People’s Deputies of the USSR in 1989, when millions heard his words about the “aggressively-obedient majority,” and till his last day. His demise (just like the death of Valeria Novodvorskaya and the murder of Boris Nemtsov) gives rise to a deep, terrible fear for the future of the democratic thought (now, obviously, again a dissident property, like in those notorious past times) in a Russia which is swiftly slipping into totalitarianism.
Photo by Ruslan KANIUKA, The Day
The best way to commemorate Afanasiev would be to remember and develop the thoughts he cherished and expressed in dozens of books and in numerous media, including The Day’s pages. We would like to adduce some of them.
1. “If I tried to identify the fundamental principle of the main developments of the recent 20 years in Russia and define their formative element, I would mention first of all the total elimination of the majority of Russia’s population from free access, on competitive principles, to the country’s basic resources.” (Said in January 2012; is this not (alongside with brainwashing by television) the reason for Putin’s approval rating at 86 percent?)
2. “This is the construction, into which Russia’s political space was forced in the 1990s: the population was effectively eliminated from it. At the same time, ‘awkward’ parties were purged, while the ‘useful’ ones were cherished.”
3. “Thus, a private, unpublished consensus was gradually reached: some would get unlimitedly open access to Russia’s resources, others would get an access sufficient enough for comfortable well-being, and the rest of the popular masses, just enough for survival, and nothing more.”
This analysis, made by Afanasiev more than three and a half years ago at The Day’s office, is valuable as it shows how Putin’s regime was able to gain absolute power over Russia. So great that it could afford aggression against Ukraine, and society swallowed it. We are grateful to Afanasiev, Ukraine’s sincere friend, for his in-depth research into the Soviet totalitarian system, for standing up for basic democratic values under harsh circumstances. And we would like to believe that the death of this great person will not mean that his topical ideas would sink into oblivion.
“ONE OF RUSSIA’S MOST BRILLIANT FIGURES”
Yurii SHCHERBAK, writer, publicist, diplomat:
“Yurii Afanasiev was a true patriot who understood the cardinal interests both of Russia and the Russian people. They are a radical transformation of ‘the evil empire’ into a democratic, European country. He consistently advocated the idea of cleansing Russia of chauvinistic, imperialist hubris, of the sediment that has distorted the nation’s soul. I will never forget our meeting at The Day’s office, when Afanasiev stated his creed with absolute clarity. It turned out that he had not deviated from those democratic ideals, which he confessed in 1989-91. He was probably somewhat warier, but he remained the same Yurii Afanasiev, who always spoke the truth. From the height of his knowledge of history, sociology, economy he said things which will perhaps fall out of grace with today’s Russian society, but which are crucial now and will be in demand in the future. People like Afanasiev do not just disappear. His star will shine eternally on the firmament of Russian philosophy and history. R.I.P., Dr. Afanasiev.”
Interviewed by Ihor SAMOKYSH, The Day
