Mikhail Leontyev is a Russian journalist and publicist, the permanent presenter of the television program “Odnako”. Today he runs his own program “ main topic"on the radio "Komsomolskaya Pravda", holds the position of press secretary and vice president of the Rosneft corporation. Known for his harsh statements towards colleagues, as well as politicians, including those from other countries.
Childhood and youth
Mikhail Vladimirovich Leontyev was born into an intelligent family on October 12, 1958. Mira Moiseevna, the mother of the future journalist, worked as a teacher at the Moscow Institute. Plekhanov, father Vladimir Yakovlevich was an aircraft designer. By nationality, the newborn turned out to be half Jewish, half Russian.
Since childhood, Mikhail Leontyev had a passion for literature - the boy read “bingely”, he especially liked historical stories and novels. At the age of 5, the parents wanted to sign the child up for figure skating, but he refused. As a teenager, the boy passionately argued with his grandmother, proving to her, an inveterate communist, the shortcomings of the USSR's policies. In high school, Mikhail secretly read magazines that were banned in those years, secretly from his parents.
Journalist Mikhail Leontyev at the presentation of the book “Time to Betray” / Dmitry Rozhkov, Wikipedia
After school, the guy entered the economics department of the Plekhanov Institute and successfully defended his diploma in 1979. In his youth, the future journalist had to work as a loader.
After university, Mikhail Leontyev got a job at a research institute and tried to realize his potential in economics. Patience lasted for several years. In 1985, Mikhail retired from the research institute, from that moment life became brighter. The young scientist mastered the craft of carpentry, was an ordinary worker at the Literary Institute and a watchman at the dacha. Leontiev also made a living by tutoring.
Journalism
The biography of Mikhail Vladimirovich is closely connected with journalism. In 1987, Leontiev became seriously interested in sociology—Mikhail’s first analytical articles were devoted to this topic. After another 2 years, the man devoted himself entirely to journalism. He first worked as a political correspondent for the Kommersant publication, then headed the department at Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
Bibliography of Mikhail Leontyev
However, hello! - M., 2005.
However, goodbye! - M., 2005.
Fortress Russia: farewell to liberalism, “Yauza”, 2005. - 189 p. (co-author)
Is Russia in danger of an “orange revolution”? - M., 2005.
The internal enemy: The defeatist “elite” is ruining Russia - M., 2005.
Leontiev M.V., Zhukov D.A. “Independent” Georgia: Bandit in tiger skin. - M.: Yauza, 2008. - 352 p.
The Great Game: The British Empire versus Russia and the USSR. - M.: AST, 2008. - 319 p.
Ideology of sovereignty. From imitation to authenticity. - M.: Izborsk Club, Book World, 2014. - 320 pp.
11.10.2018
Leontyev Mikhail Vladimirovich
Russian journalist
JSC Rosneft
Mikhail Leontyev was born on October 12, 1958 in Moscow. The future journalist’s mother, Mira Moiseevna, worked as a teacher at the Plekhanov Moscow Institute; his father, Vladimir Yakovlevich, was an aircraft designer.
Since childhood, Mikhail Leontyev had a passion for literature - the boy read “bingely”, he especially liked historical stories and novels. At the age of five, his parents wanted to sign him up for figure skating, but he refused. After school, the guy entered the economics department of the Plekhanov Institute and successfully defended his diploma in 1979. During his student years, he had to work part-time as a loader.
After university, Mikhail Leontyev got a job at a research institute and tried his best to study economics. His patience lasted for several years. In 1985, he retired from the research institute, from that moment his life became brighter. The young scientist mastered carpentry, was an ordinary worker at the Literary Institute and a watchman at Boris Pasternak's dacha.
In 1987, Leontiev became seriously interested in sociology - his first analytical articles were devoted to this topic. Two years later, Mikhail devoted himself entirely to journalism. He first worked as a political correspondent for the Kommersant publication, then headed the department at Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
In 1993, Mikhail Leontyev enthusiastically participated in the development of the concept of the Segodnya newspaper, and later became deputy editor-in-chief of this publication. But the editorial policy of the changes did not suit him, so he quit the newspaper.
In 1995, Leontyev ran for the Russian State Duma, but lost. During that period, fame came to him. Two years later, he founded the magazine “Delo”, the publication was sponsored by Mikhail Khodorkovsky: however, the pilot issue of the magazine never reached publication.
At the same time, Mikhail Leontyev came to work on television as the host of the daily program “Actually.” Then there was the analytical program “Actually” and cooperation with the print media. In 1998, the journalist received the Golden Pen Award.
At the beginning of 1999, Leontyev went to work for ORT. He became the permanent presenter of the “Odnako” program, and in 2009, the journalist, together with Channel 1, founded the “Odnako” magazine.
In 2000, during the presidential elections, Mikhail declared support for acting head of state Vladimir Putin. In 2001, he became a member of the political council of the socio-political movement “Eurasia” headed by Alexander Dugin. In 2002 he became a member of the United Russia party.
From November 2001 to December 2002, Channel One aired Leontyev’s analytical program “Another Time,” and from May 2003 to January 2004, the author’s program “Puppet Theater.” In 2005, Leontyev was the editor-in-chief of the Main Theme magazine, which was published at that time. From January 2006 to November 2007 he hosted the program “Master Class with Mikhail Leontyev” on the O2 TV channel.
In October 2007, Channel One aired his project “The Big Game” - a series of programs dedicated to the history of the confrontation between Russia and Great Britain for dominance in Central Asia in the 19th - 20th centuries. In November of the following year, Leontyev's book with the same title was published.
In May 2007, Mikhail was appointed editor-in-chief of the business analytical magazine Profile. He left Profile in March 2009. The magazine's publisher, Sergei Rodionov, argued that Leontyev's departure led to an increase in the publication's circulation. During the same period, Leontiev collaborated with the magazine Moulin Rouge.
Since June 2009, together with Channel One, Mikhail became the founder of the magazine “Odnako”, in which, in addition to Leontyev, Evgeny Dodolev and Alexander Nevzorov and other journalists and columnists who previously worked in “Profile” are published. In 2009, he starred in a small role in Stas Mareev’s film “True Love”.
Mikhail Leontyev is a member of the journalistic “Serafimov Club”. He taught at the non-state Higher School of Management, where the “commissars” of the “Nashi” movement studied.
In January 2014, Mikhail Leontyev was invited to work at Rosneft, where he was offered to head the information and advertising department.
In May 2016, Rosneft allocated 170 million rubles for the publication of the magazine “Odnako” with the wording “Providing a sponsorship contribution for the publication of the magazine and the provision of information and advertising services.” It was reported that only one issue of the magazine was published in 2016.
Experts assessed the appointment of Mikhail Vladimirovich to a high post in Rosneft differently. Some say that finally his servility towards the authorities was appreciated, others, on the contrary, believe that Leontyev was given a “golden parachute” and will now gradually survive from Channel One. It is difficult to say which of them is right. So time will tell how long we will watch on television screens an unshaven man with a sly squinting of his eyes, announcing in a hoarse voice: “However, hello!”
Leontyev Mikhail Vladimirovich, born 10/12/1958, native of Moscow.
Graduated from the Moscow Institute of National Economy. G. V. Plekhanov.
After graduating from university, he worked at the Moscow Institute of Economic Problems, and after leaving it he was a laborer at the Literary Museum and a guard at the Boris Pasternak Museum in Peredelkino. At the same time, he was engaged in tutoring and wrote analytical articles on sociology.
He has been involved in journalism since 1989. He was an employee of the political department of the newspaper Kommersant, head of the economics department of Nezavisimaya Gazeta, and first deputy editor-in-chief of the weekly Business MN.
In 1993, he co-founded the newspaper Segodnya, where he was a political commentator and first deputy editor-in-chief.
In 1995, he ran for the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation from the Cheryomushkinsky electoral district of Moscow, where he took second place, but was not elected.
In 1997, Leontiev was invited to television as the host of the “Actually” program on the TV Center channel. At the same time, he headed the TVC socio-political program service, hosted the information and analytical program “Seventh Day” and was the author of the column “Fas!” in the weekly magazine "Company".
In 1999, he moved from TVC to ORT, becoming the host of the “However” program. In the period from 2001 to 2003, the program was also hosted by M. Yu. Sokolov and A. N. Privalov.
In addition to “However,” Leontyev was the host of the programs “Another Time” (from 2001 to 2002), “Puppet Theater” (from 2003 to 2004) and “Master Class” (from 2006 to 2007). In 2007, Channel One aired his series of programs, “The Big Game,” based on which he wrote a book of the same name in 2008.
In 2005, he was editor-in-chief of the Main Topic magazine, from 2007 to 2009 of the Profile magazine, and in 2009 he co-founded the Odnako magazine.
In 2009, he also played a cameo role in the film “True Love” directed by S. B. Mareev.
In January 2014, he was invited to the position of press secretary - director of the Information and Advertising Department of OJSC NK Rosneft with the rank of vice president.
Leontyev has the Order of Friendship. He is a laureate of the Golden Pen of Russia award in 1998.
Married, has three children.
Closest relatives:
Wife (ex): Azarova Natalya Mikhailovna, born September 23, 1956, philologist, head of the Center for the Study of World Poetry at the Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Author of a number of poetry collections and translations.
Wife: Kozlovskaya Maria Vitalievna, born March 4, 1969, child psychologist.
Daughter: Leontyeva Elena Mikhailovna, born November 25, 1975, worked in a number of Moscow banks, now a housewife.
Son: Leontyev Dmitry Mikhailovich, born June 25, 1983, employee of the O2TV youth television channel.
Daughter: Leontyeva Daria Mikhailovna, born November 23, 1999, student of one of the elite Moscow schools.
Contacts:
Gusinsky Vladimir Alexandrovich, born 10/06/1952, former media tycoon, currently resides permanently in Spain. Leontyev worked in the Segodnya newspaper, which he financed, but was distinguished by the fact that he did not always fulfill Gusinsky’s “wishes” regarding the direction of newspaper articles. Ultimately, Leontiev was “survived” from Segodnya, largely at the suggestion of Gusinsky.
Dodolev Evgeniy Yurievich, born June 11, 1957, journalist. Leontyev's friend. From 2007 to 2008, they jointly published in Ukraine the Russian-language version of the German weekly Der Spiegel. Dodolev is a regular contributor to the magazine "However".
Dugin Alexander Gelevich, born 01/07/1962, public figure, leader of the International Eurasian Movement. He actively collaborated with Leontyev in the early 2000s. Leontyev was a member of the political council of the Eurasia movement headed by Dugin, from which he left in 2002 in order to join United Russia.
Kurginyan Sergey Ervandovich, born November 14, 1949, political scientist, public figure, director. We have known Leontyev since the late 1980s. Despite some ideological differences, we have always maintained and continue to maintain good relations. Leontyev in 2012 was part of the so-called. Anti-Orange Committee, headed by Kurginyan.
Nevzlin Leonid Borisovich, born on September 21, 1959, entrepreneur, currently permanently resides in Israel. At the initiative of Nevzlin, Leontyev co-founded the newspaper Segodnya. Subsequently, their relationship deteriorated, which was the reason for Leontyev’s departure from Segodnya.
Privalov Alexander Nikolaevich, born May 31, 1950, publicist, former general director of ZAO Expert Magazine. We've known each other since the 1990s. At the invitation of Leontyev, Privalov was the host of the “However” program from 2001 to 2003. Currently, they differ in political views and actually do not maintain relations.
Rodionov Sergey Sergeevich, born July 29, 1961, owner of the Rodionov Publishing House holding. Leontyev was the editor-in-chief of the Profile magazine, which was part of this holding. Rodionov speaks of Leontyev as a “wonderful journalist” and a “worthless manager.”
Sechin Igor Ivanovich, born 09/07/1960, President of OJSC NK Rosneft. According to some information, he approved and took part in financing a number of Leontiev’s projects. Leontyev’s invitation to work at Rosneft is Sechin’s initiative.
Sokolov Maxim Yurievich, born September 10, 1959, journalist, columnist for Expert magazine. Together with Leontyev he worked at Kommersant. From 2001 to 2003 he was the host of the program “However”. Currently, despite the fact that they have different Political Views, maintained good relations.
Mikhail Borisovich Khodorkovsky, born on June 26, 1963, entrepreneur, former owner of the Yukos oil company. Currently resides permanently in Germany. During his work at TVC, Leontyev contacted Khodorkovsky asking for help in publishing the magazine. Khodorkovsky agreed to finance the project, which, however, was never implemented.
Food for thought:
From childhood, Mikhail Vladimirovich Leontiev was distinguished by his penchant for dissent, which greatly upset his father, Vladimir Yakovlevich, and his mother, Mirra Moiseevna. So, even at the age of five, Misha flatly refused to go to the figure skating section, despite numerous threats and persuasion. When he grew up, he argued until he was hoarse with his grandmother, an old Bolshevik, telling her that the Soviet system was far from the best political and economic system known to mankind. In high school, Mikhail first read the then-banned magazine Posev.
If we have already started talking about Leontyev’s dissidence, then perhaps we should touch upon the question of his nationality. Yes, Mikhail Vladimirovich’s mother was Jewish by nationality and Leontyev himself never hid this, since it is absurd to deny the obvious. However, he always called and considered himself Russian; in his passport, in the “nationality” column (when such a column existed), “Russian” was written down; according to his religious views, he is Orthodox. So Mikhail Vladimirovich never considered himself a Jew, even when it was extremely beneficial for him (for example, during his work at the Segodnya newspaper), despite the fact that in fact he is half of him.
After school, Leontyev entered the Moscow Institute of National Economy. Plekhanov, where his mother taught statistics. He did not study shaky or poorly, he passed his exams mainly thanks to his mother’s intervention, and because of his anti-Soviet views he was considered “unreliable.” He was not expelled from the institute only thanks to the intercession of Mirra Moiseevna, although he was expelled from the Moscow Planetarium, where he worked as a night watchman, for drinking, which he had with his friends right during his shift.
Of course, with such a reputation, Mikhail was not destined for a good distribution. After graduating from university, he went to work at one of the boring economic research institutes under the Moscow City Executive Committee, however, he did not last long there. The quiet research institute did not welcome a rude young specialist who, for some reason, instead of solving crossword puzzles and gossiping in the smoking room, tried to deal with the “real Soviet economy.” At the same time, Leontyev began tutoring, preparing high school students for the university exam in history, the only subject that he really liked and in which he had straight A’s both at school and at the institute. It is interesting that among his students there was a certain Masha Kozlovskaya, who would later become his wife.
Mikhail Vladimirovich was quite satisfied with the money he earned from private lessons, so he resigned from his research institute without the slightest remorse. However, in Soviet times, tutoring was not considered an official source of income, so Leontyev had to look for a place of work so that, having received an entry in the work book, he would not be a parasite. Being an original person, Mikhail Vladimirovich, twenty-six years old, two children and a higher education, entered a vocational school to become a cabinetmaker, and even graduated in 1985. After graduating as a carpenter, however, he did not work, but was listed first as a laborer at the Literary Museum, and then as a watchman at the former dacha of Boris Pasternak in Peredelkino, which then belonged to the Union of Writers of the USSR. In a word, Leontiev retired to the “internal emigration”, in which many Soviet intellectuals lived at that time.
With the beginning of perestroika, Mikhail Vladimirovich realized that it was time to return from “internal emigration”. Moreover, in 1989, a fateful event occurs in his life - he meets the head of the Experimental Creative Center, Sergei Kurginyan, an innovative director whose hobby was political analytics. It was Sergei Ervandovich who recommended Leontyev to write articles on the topic of the day. Mikhail Vladimirovich followed the recommendation and became a freelance correspondent for the Socialist Industry newspaper. After a business trip to Vorkuta, where there was then a powerful miners’ strike, he wrote an article about the striking miners, at the same time noting that it would be nice to abolish the Sixth Article of the USSR Constitution, which assigned the “leading and directing role” to the CPSU. This article did not appear in Socialist Industry, but it was published by the Atmoda newspaper, the press organ of the opposition Popular Front of Latvia. Subsequently, Leontyev curtailed cooperation with the “reinsurers” from the Socialist Industry, sending his new articles exclusively to Atmoda.
Soon Mikhail Vladimirovich came to the attention of the “guru” of the perestroika press, the editor-in-chief of Moscow News Yegor Yakovlev, who carefully read Atmoda. Yakovlev even wanted to invite Leontiev to join him at MN or at least recommend him to Vitaly Korotich at Ogonyok, but Mikhail Vladimirovich did not have a specialized education, and without him at that time they would not accept on staff even those publications that were considered “mouthpieces” publicity." Then Yegor Vladimirovich recommended him to his son Vladimir, who shortly before left Ogonyok for “free swimming” and founded the Kommersant newspaper together with Gleb Pavlovsky at the Fakt information cooperative. So Leontiev became a correspondent for the politics department of Kommersant, but did not work there for long.
In 1990, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of MN Vitaly Tretyakov created Nezavisimaya Gazeta. Tretyakov offered Mikhail Vladimirovich, about whom he had heard only good things from his father and son Yakovlev, the post of head of the economics department. Leontiev worked at this newspaper for almost three years until he was called to the position of first deputy editor-in-chief of the weekly Business MN. Then Leonid Nevzlin invited him to become a co-founder of the Segodnya newspaper, which was conceived as a “fundamentally new media.” In addition to Nevzlin, oligarchs Vladimir Gusinsky and Alexander Smolensky agreed to finance the publication.
At Segodnya, Mikhail Vladimirovich was first a political commentator, and then the first deputy editor-in-chief. It was there that he made a name for himself. He even allowed himself to write contrary to the “general line”, for example, in his articles he spoke approvingly of the actions of federal troops in Chechnya, which was not accepted in the “oligarchic” newspapers. But this was forgiven for the talented journalist. Leontyev even tried, for the first and so far last time, to run for the State Duma from the Cheryomushkinsky constituency of Moscow as an independent candidate, but lost to the representative of Russia's Choice, Pavel Medvedev, who had sat in parliament since 1990. But in 1996, the newspaper underwent a reorganization and the shareholders hastened to get rid of Mikhail Vladimirovich, who was becoming increasingly inconvenient for them, since he not only went beyond what was “permissible” in his articles, but also actively sought to take the post of editor-in-chief of Segodnya.
In 1997, a new stage in Leontyev’s biography began, related to work on television. It was then that Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov created the TV-Center channel “for himself,” where such broadcast masters as Leonid Mlechin, Alexander Shashkov, and Sergei Lomakin came to work. Mikhail Vladimirovich with his program “Actually” did not get lost in their company. After some time, he headed the socio-political program service of this channel. At the same time, he established contacts with Mikhail Khodorkovsky, establishing the Delo magazine with his money, which, however, was never published.
In 1999, Leontyev and the program were changed to ORT by Boris Berezovsky. It was on ORT that Mikhail Vladimirovich debuted his information and analytical program “However,” which became his calling card. Very quickly, along with Sergei Dorenko, Leontyev earned the fame of a “television killer.” So, after the explosions of residential buildings in Moscow and Volgodonsk, Mikhail Vladimirovich directly from the television screen called for bombing Chechnya, for which the General Prosecutor's Office of the “Chechen Republic of Ichkeria” opened a criminal case against him. But Leontyev did not care about this, since new times were already dawning in the country.
When Vladimir Putin became acting head of state, Mikhail Vladimirovich hastened to announce his unconditional support. From now on, a common thread running through all issues of “However” was the idea that there is no and cannot be an alternative to Putin. Since Leontyev’s idol from his early youth was Augusto Pinochet, Mikhail Vladimirovich immediately discovered the similarity of the President of the Russian Federation with the Chilean dictator in the sense that both “defeated the chimera of communism.” At the same time, Leontyev never once doubted the correctness of Putin’s course, and to this day Putin is not an object of criticism for him.
However, Mikhail Vladimirovich does not spare critical arrows for foreign leaders. In particular, he called Viktor Yushchenko “henpecked” and “the husband of an American spy,” for which he was banned from entering Ukraine during Yushchenko’s presidency. Leontyev called the President of Moldova Vladimir Voronin a “nationalist nit,” said about the Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko that he had a “dislocation in his thinking,” and without further ado he called the head of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili a “degenerate.” Mikhail Vladimirovich did not favor entire states either. In his opinion, Ukraine is a “fictional reality” that will “soon fall apart,” and Latvia is a “poor country.” But Leontyev got away with all this, since in “However” he did not allow the slightest hesitation in supporting the course of the top leadership of the Russian Federation and any of its decisions, even unpopular ones.
In addition to “However,” his favorite brainchild, Mikhail Vladimirovich generated a number of projects. He was published in the Vedomosti newspaper, hosted the “Master Class with Mikhail Leontyev” program on the O2TV channel, was the editor-in-chief of the Main Topic magazine published in 2005, and gave lectures to activists of the Nashi movement on Seliger. Channel One aired his original programs “Puppet Theatre” and “Main Topic”, as well as a series of programs “The Great Game”, dedicated to the Anglo-Russian rivalry in Central Asia, on the basis of which he wrote a book. But most of all, Leontyev was impressed by his editorial and publishing activities.
Back in 1999, Mikhail Vladimirovich became the editor of a satirical magazine of “political hunting” called “FAS”. BUT the first pancake came out lumpy: the magazine was closed a year later for financial reasons. Leontyev's next editorial experience was more successful. In 2007, Mikhail Vladimirovich replaced Georgy Bovt as editor-in-chief of the Profile magazine. Having brilliantly carried out the United Russia election campaign there, Leontyev left the magazine in 2009, and three months later he founded the magazine “However” together with Channel One. The Converse Group company promised to provide financing for the new magazine, and Investment Bank was ready to open a credit line. The first issue of “However” was published in September 2009. Skeptics doubted that the magazine could survive the financial crisis, but they were put to shame. “However” continues to be published to this day.
I wonder what happened to Mikhail Vladimirovich’s dissent? After all, now all the people who called themselves that way in Soviet times are on the other side of the barricades. It seems that everything is in order with Leontyev’s dissidence, since in his understanding the term “dissident” meant an anti-Soviet, which Mikhail Vladimirovich was and remains, despite his friendly relations with the godfather of “USSR 2.0” Sergei Kurginyan. Leontyev never liked communists, he actively participated in the information campaign against Gennady Zyuganov in 1996 and refused to support the government of Yevgeny Primakov, which was too “leftist” in his opinion, with whom Mikhail Vladimirovich’s actual employer at the time, Yuri Luzhkov, was establishing active contacts. Now Leontyev, as a “right-wing conservative,” is quite happy with everything. He himself admits that if he “stops liking” the Kremlin’s policies, he will become its opponent. For now, apparently, Mikhail Vladimirovich is happy with everything in modern Russia.
In life, Leontyev is not far from the image he creates for himself on the screen. He is just as rude, dressed with ostentatious sloppiness, and allows himself unprintable expressions. Mikhail Vladimirovich also loves to drink from a bottle; he has been repeatedly caught heavily drunk. Leontyev himself takes this weakness of his calmly, saying that man is generally vicious by nature. According to him, it would be much worse if he read sanctimonious morals from the screen, and then went to a restaurant and got drunk. In addition, he never allowed himself to appear in the studio, not only while drunk, but even the morning after a stormy feast.
Mikhail Vladimirovich got married early, while still a student. But marriage never settled him down. His wife Natalya Mikhailovna eventually gave up on him. They divorced when their family actually ceased to exist long ago. Now Leontyev is married for the second time. Ironically, his current wife, Maria Vitalievna, was once his student, whom he prepared for university entrance exams. His son Dmitry, who was educated in the USA, followed in his father's footsteps and currently works in television.
Experts assessed the appointment of Mikhail Vladimirovich to a high post in Rosneft differently. Some say that finally his servility towards the authorities was appreciated, others, on the contrary, believe that Leontyev was given a “golden parachute” and will now gradually survive from Channel One. It is difficult to say which of them is right. On the one hand, Mikhail Vladimirovich has worked well in the field of propaganda supporting the course of the current leadership of the Russian Federation, on the other hand, not everyone likes him, being very talented, but still an amateur. So time will tell how long we will watch on television screens an unshaven man with a sly squinting of his eyes, announcing in a hoarse voice: “However, hello!”
Mikhail Vladimirovich Leontyev. Born on October 12, 1958 in Moscow. Russian journalist and publicist, TV presenter.
Father - Vladimir Yakovlevich Leontyev, aircraft design engineer.
Mother - Mira Moiseevna Leontyeva (born 1926), teacher of statistics at the Moscow Institute of National Economy. Plekhanov, co-author of the textbook “Trade Statistics”.
Studied at the general economics department of the Moscow Institute of National Economy. Plekhanov, who graduated in 1979 with a degree in Labor Economics.
During his student years, he worked as a security guard at the Moscow planetarium, from where he was fired for a brawl caused by his friends. After receiving higher education, Leontyev worked at the Moscow Institute of Economic Problems, where, in his own words, he tried to “get involved in the real Soviet economy.”
In addition to working at the research institute, Leontiev worked part-time as a history tutor and became interested in applied arts.
In 1985, he graduated from SPTU No. 86 with a degree in cabinetmaker, but did not find a permanent job in his specialty. During this period, Leontyev worked as a laborer at the Literary Museum, guarded the dacha-museum of Boris Pasternak in Peredelkino, and continued to tutor.
In 1987, Leontiev began writing analytical articles on sociological topics.
In 1989, at the invitation of a friend, he came to the Experimental Creative Center, headed by Sergei Kurginyan, which was engaged in political science. At the same time, he worked as a freelance correspondent for the Socialist Industry newspaper, but his notes were not published in the newspaper.
Leontyev's first journalistic publication appeared without his knowledge in the Riga newspaper Atmoda, after which Leontyev collaborated with it in 1989-1990.
In 1989, Leontyev was invited to the political department of the Kommersant newspaper, even before it began to be published on paper, where he went through, by his own admission, “a very useful school.”
In 1990, Leontyev moved to Nezavisimaya Gazeta, where he headed the economics department.
In 1993, he became first deputy editor-in-chief of the weekly magazine Business MN. In the same year, he co-founded the newspaper Segodnya, which was financed by Leonid Nevzlin, Vladimir Gusinsky and Alexander Smolensky. Leontyev was a member of the newspaper's editorial board, a political observer and first deputy editor-in-chief. He left Segodnya, disagreeing with the reform that began in the publication. L. Nevzlin claims that Leontyev was “kicked out” of the newspaper.
In December 1995, M.V. Leontyev, as an independent candidate, ran for the State Duma of the 2nd convocation from the 203rd Cheryomushkinsky electoral district of Moscow, but lost the election to Pavel Medvedev. During the first Chechen war, he was among those who supported the entry of troops into the territory of Chechnya, and stated that he was “a staunch supporter of a forceful solution to problems in Chechnya.” Later, during the explosions of residential buildings in Moscow and Volgodonsk, he called for bombing Chechnya.
In 1997, Leontyev became the founder of the magazine “Delo”, which was financed, but was not published. In April of the same year, he began working on television, becoming the director and presenter of the daily program “Actually,” aired on the TV Center (TVC) channel.
In 1997-1998, he headed the Service for Socio-Political Programs of TVC and hosted the information and analytical program “The Seventh Day.” At the same time, he continued to work in the print press - in 1998 he became the author of the column “Fas!” in the business weekly magazine "Company".
In 1997, Leontiev was nominated for the TEFI Award, and the following year he won the Golden Pen Award.
In February 1999, he left TVC and, together with the team of the “Actually” program, moved to the staff of the ORT Service for Socio-Political Programs, where his program began airing in March of the same year "However". Leontiev explained his departure from TVC by saying that he did not share “the views of those people who own TV Center.”
Later, Leontyev hosted “However” together with Maxim Sokolov and Alexander Privalov.
In the summer of 1999, he became editor of the satirical “political hunting magazine” FAS. The project was closed in 2000 for financial reasons.
In 2000, during the presidential elections, he declared his support for the acting head of state. In 2001, he became a member of the political council of the socio-political movement “Eurasia” headed by Alexander Dugin. In 2002 he became a member of the United Russia party. From November 2001 to December 2002, Channel One aired Leontyev’s analytical program “Another Time,” and from May 2003 to January 2004, the author’s program “Puppet Theater.”
In 2005, M. Leontyev was the editor-in-chief of the Main Theme magazine, which was published at that time.
From January 2006 to November 2007 he hosted the program “Master Class with Mikhail Leontyev” on the O2TV channel.
In October 2007, his project was released on Channel One "Big game"- a series of programs dedicated to the history of the confrontation between Russia and Great Britain for dominance in Central Asia in the 19th-20th centuries. In November 2008, Leontiev's book with the same title was published.
In May 2007, M. Leontiev was appointed editor-in-chief of the business analytical magazine Profile. He left Profile in March 2009. The magazine's publisher, Sergei Rodionov, argued that Leontyev's departure led to an increase in the publication's circulation. During the same period, he collaborated with the Moulin Rouge magazine.
Since June 2009, together with Channel One, he became the founder of the magazine “Odnako”, in which, in addition to Leontyev, Evgeny Dodolev and Alexander Nevzorov and other journalists and columnists who previously worked in “Profile” are published.
In 2009 starred in a small role in Stas Mareev’s film “True Love”.
In the preface to E. Dodolev’s book “View”, published in 2011, the Beatles of Perestroika defined their attitude towards the profession: “I think journalism is a vile profession, chosen by flawed people. Journalists are professional amateurs. This is not literature, not art, not science, but a little bit of everything.”.
He is a member of the journalistic “Seraphim Club”, taught at the non-state Higher School of Management, where the “commissars” of the “Nashi” movement studied.
On January 8, 2014, the Kommersant newspaper reported that from January 13, Mikhail Leontyev, who will have to oversee the activities of the information and advertising department, will become an adviser to Rosneft President Igor Sechin with the rank of vice president for PR. The publication’s sources indicated that there are long-standing “friendly relations” between Sechin and Leontyev. At the same time, Mikhail Leontyev will remain the host of the “However” program on Channel One. On January 14, Rosneft issued a press release according to which Mikhail Leontyev works in the company as a press secretary - director of the information and advertising department with the rank of vice president.
Mikhail Leontyev and Ukraine
In 2002, for statements addressed to the wife of ex-Prime Minister of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko, Ekaterina Yushchenko (previously she bore the surname Chumachenko, changing it to Yushchenko only in 2005), the Shevchenkovsky District Court of Kiev ordered Leontyev to compensate 2,500 hryvnia in favor of Ekaterina Yushchenko within 30 days to refute the false information that he voiced in his “However” program on April 10, 2001.
In his program, Leontyev called the prime minister an “adventurer” and a “henpecked” man, and his wife “an analyst for the State Department and the US National Security Council.” Leontyev rudely announced his refusal to comply with the court decision.
After the journalist became “persona non grata” in Latvia, he was banned from entering (July 14, 2006) Ukraine.
The ban was later lifted, and in September 2007, Mikhail, together with his colleague Evgeny Dodolev (who acted as publisher), launched the Russian-language version of the German weekly Der Spiegel (“Der Spiegel-Profile”) in Ukraine, which became a notable event in the media market of this country .
The magazine was launched under the presumption that “the quality of content in Ukraine lags significantly behind Russian requirements,” and it was stated that in concept it was more of a political weekly, closer to Newsweek than to the “Profile” that Russian readers were accustomed to.
The Russian-language magazine was published weekly with a circulation of 30 thousand copies in Kyiv, Crimea and Eastern Ukraine, with the editorial office based in Moscow and a correspondent network being formed in Ukraine. The project was suspended in May 2008; there is an online version of the publication.
In August 2014, it was included in the sanctions list by Ukraine.
In his own words, he was a “dissident.” Calls himself a right-wing conservative.
At the beginning of his publicistic and journalistic career, he adhered to radically liberal views, primarily in the field of economics, which predetermined his opposition to the communists in the 1996 elections and the government headed by E. M. Primakov in the late 1990s.
Criticized leftist ideology: “The pathetic attempts to build communism from a sandbox are disgusting. And their economic consequences are global. Nobody believes in anything anymore. In general, no one and nothing at all. It is obvious that market reforms in Russia have failed. The market is not suitable for Russia. Russia is a wretched, terrible country, separate from the entire population of homo sapiens, which can only exist in some kind of senile, isolationist - necessarily in a zoo - conditions. All these senseless and insane compromises, all these handouts to socialism and populism, which is extremely expensive for a sick economy - all this must be discarded. The way out is in normal liberal development".
In February 1998, Leontyev became the laureate of the Adam Smith Prize, established by Gaidar's Institute for Economic Problems in Transition "for criticism of liberal policies from the perspective of liberalism." Leontyev himself called Gaidar's reform shock therapy under anesthesia.
In earlier works, Leontyev also called for abandoning the “imperial burden”: “And God forbid we try to restore the empire, to which we are inclined not only by our domestic crazy, but also by those selfishly interested in all sorts of (like the previous) government unions of newly formed states, which, despite all their loudly declared independence, can live without the usual Russian freebies not a joy. If, contrary to common sense, such a reunification can still be carried out without bloodshed (which, of course, is unlikely), then Russia will inevitably perish and cease to exist as an independent cultural and geopolitical organism. And not just for a long time - forever".
Leontyev also repeatedly spoke out in support of Augusto Pinochet: “He did what Lavr Georgievich Kornilov failed to do in his time. And he did it, in general, very cruelly, I would say, but with the minimum possible losses, with the minimum possible".
Leontiev believes that Pinochet carried out an exemplary economic reform in Chile: “The main thing is that the general created an effectively working social system, truly built on a liberal principle. The government did not redistribute anything to anyone; by providing citizens with equal opportunities, it encouraged them to independently solve their problems. The population must work for the country - this is the essence of the Chilean model".
In connection with the global economic crisis, he stated that “The only way out of the current crisis is a global war. Who and how will unleash it is a purely technical question. I am not going to guess what the reason for this war will be - the complication of relations between Russia and Ukraine/Georgia, the Iranian issue or Pakistan.".
In 2006, presenting Stanislav Zhiznin’s book “Russian Energy Diplomacy: Economics, Politics, Practice,” Mikhail Leontiev noted: “Russia is trying to enter the global world using energy as our main argument. That is, to use it both in the global economy and in global politics.".
He outlined his political credo in 2007 in his article for the almanac “Moulin Rouge”: “Politics is inseparable from cultural roots. Our culture is based on Christianity with its core idea of compassion. There is not a single other world religion where the one omnipotent God would give himself up to suffer for the sake of people. In its ideal form, Christianity is embodied precisely in Christian culture. It would have to be embodied in Christian politics. But it is embodied precisely in culture. Politics is pragmatic. But culture is not. In this sense, the highest form of Christian spiritual culture is the Middle Ages.
What does modern postmodernism, the so-called avant-garde, do? By destroying the idea of compassion. It’s good when this is expressed in the form of the grotesque, such a “cabbage”, as Tarantino does, for example. Banter about the removal of barriers implies their existence. The banter over breaking Christian cultural taboos is, to some extent, human. And it means recognizing the existence of these same taboos. It’s worse when no one sees these taboos. When they are no longer in the consciousness of those who create. And there are no living people in their consciousness who don’t think about anything at all. Then this is the end of culture. And the end of humanity as a population.
Real politics, like culture, can only exist within the framework of taboos. That is why in all famous novels about politics the eternal theme is “How power destroys a person.”.
Mikhail Leontyev's height: 162 centimeters.
Personal life of Mikhail Leontyev:
Was married twice. First wife - Natalia Azarova, philologist by training, poetess, headed the Center for the Study of World Poetry. In this marriage, the couple raised two children - daughter Elena and son Dmitry. After the divorce, Natalya married a foreigner and emigrated to the United States. His children also lived and studied there. After living abroad for several years, they returned to Russia.
Second wife - Maria Kozlovskaya, child psychologist.
In 1999, the couple had a daughter, Daria.
The eldest daughter Elena also became interested in psychology, although she is a lawyer by first education. After receiving a diploma in psychology, the girl got a job at Kashchenko.
Son Dmitry works on the O2TV channel.
Bibliography of Mikhail Leontyev:
2005 - However, hello!
2005 - However, goodbye!
2005 - Fortress Russia: farewell to liberalism
2005 - Is Russia threatened by the “Orange Revolution”?
2005 - The internal enemy: The defeatist “elite” is ruining Russia
2008 - “Independent” Georgia: Bandit in Tiger Skin (in collaboration with D.A. Zhukov)
2008 - The Great Game: The British Empire against Russia and the USSR
2014 - Ideology of sovereignty. From imitation to authenticity
Filmography of Mikhail Leontyev:
2009 - True Love
Mikhail Leontyev
Occupation: journalist, publicist, TV presenter
Date of birth: October 12, 1958
Place of birth: Moscow, USSR
Citizenship: USSR → Flag of Russia.svg Russia
Awards and prizes: Order of Friendship - 2006
"TEFI"
(October 12, 1958, Moscow) - Russian television journalist, publicist, host of the TV show “However” and Chief Editor weekly magazine of the same name, and since October 2007 also the host of the geopolitical analytical program “The Great Game”. Mikhail Leontyev is a laureate of the Golden Pen of Russia award, a nominee for the TEFI-1997 award.
born October 12, 1958 in Moscow. Father is aircraft design engineer Vladimir Yakovlevich Leontyev, mother is a statistics teacher at the Moscow Institute of National Economy. Plekhanova, co-author of the textbook “Trade Statistics” Mira Moiseevna Leontyeva.
Married (wife Maria). From his first marriage (with poetess and philologist Natalia Azarova) - son Dmitry, daughter Elena and two grandchildren. From his second marriage - a daughter.
In the preface to the book “The Beatles of Perestroika” he defined his attitude towards the profession:
“I think journalism is a vile profession, chosen by flawed people. Journalists are professional amateurs. This is not literature, not art, not science, but a little bit of everything"
Education Mikhail Leontyev
In 1979 Mikhail Leontyev Graduated from the general economics department of the Moscow Institute of National Economy. Plekhanov.
After graduation from the institute Leontyev worked at a research institute, where he tried, in his own words, “to work on the real Soviet economy.”
Job Mikhail Leontyev
After leaving the research institute in 1985, the most varied period of his biography began. Mikhail Leontyev He graduated from a vocational school with a degree in cabinetmaking, worked as a laborer at the Literary Museum, guarded Boris Pasternak's dacha in Peredelkino, and gave paid history lessons.
In 1987 Mikhail Leontyev started studying sociology. He began writing analytical articles, and after a while he devoted himself completely to this.
Mikhail Leontyev and Press
At the end of 1989 Mikhail Leontyev became a correspondent for the politics department of the Kommersant newspaper, where he went through, by his own admission, “a very useful school.”
In 1990, Mikhail Leontyev headed the economics department of Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
In 1993, when the history of the Segodnya newspaper began, Mikhail Leontyev took an active part in its organization. Subsequently, Mikhail Leontiev served as first deputy editor-in-chief of this publication.
During the period 1999-2000 Mikhail Leontyev- editor-in-chief of the weekly magazine "FAS".
From May 22, 2007 to March 2, 2009 Mikhail Leontyev- editor-in-chief of the business analytical magazine "Profile". The publisher claims that Leontyev's departure led to an increase in circulation.
During the same period, he collaborated with the Moulin Rouge magazine. Later, answering a question from Ksenia Sobchak regarding the presentation of his credo in this experimental publication, the TV presenter explained:
“I worked at the Rodionov Publishing House, so I had no right to refuse to write for the magazine. »
Since June 10, 2009 Mikhail Leontyev publishes the analytical magazine “Odnako” with ex-Profile journalists and “profile” columnists Evgeny Dodolev and Alexander Nevzorov.
A television
In April 1997, he came to television - he was the director and presenter of the program “Actually” (“TV Center”).
From November 1997 to 1998 Mikhail Leontyev- author of the information and analytical program “The Seventh Day” (“TV Center”).
Since February 1999 Mikhail Leontyev works on the ORT channel.
In March 1999 Mikhail Leontyev became the host of the “However” program.
From November 2001 to December 2002 Mikhail Leontyev worked on the analytical program “Another Time”.
From May 2003 to January 2004 Mikhail Leontyev worked on the author’s program “Puppet Theater with Mikhail Leontiev.”
From January 2006 to November 2007 he led the program “Master Class with Mikhail Leontyev" on the O2TV channel. An interesting fact: In 2009, he starred in a small role in Stas Mareev’s film “True Love”.
The relationship between Mikhail Leontyev and the Ukrainian authorities
In 2002, for statements addressed to Ekaterina Yushchenko (she previously bore the last name Chumachenko, changing it to Yushchenko only in 2005), the Shevchenkovsky District Court of Kiev ordered Leontyev to compensate 2,500 hryvnia in favor of Ekaterina Yushchenko and within 30 days to refute the false information that he voiced in his program “However” on April 10, 2001. Leontyev refused to comply with the court's decision. ORT presenter M. Leontyev lost the case to Viktor Yushchenko's wife, Ekaterina Chumachenko.] 2002.01.30 After the journalist became “persona non grata” in Latvia, he was banned from entering (July 14, 2006) Ukraine. Later, the taboo was lifted, and in September 2007, Mikhail, together with his colleague Evgeny Dodolev (who acted as publisher), launched the Russian-language version of the German weekly Der Spiegel (“Der Spiegel-Profile”) in Ukraine, which became a notable event in the media market of this country .
The magazine was launched under the presumption that “the quality of content in Ukraine lags significantly behind Russian requirements,” and it was stated that in concept it was more of a political weekly, closer to Newsweek than to the “Profile” that Russian readers were accustomed to.
The Russian-language magazine was published weekly with a circulation of 30 thousand copies in Kyiv, Crimea and Eastern Ukraine, with the editorial office based in Moscow and a correspondent network being formed in Ukraine. The project was mothballed in May 2008[, there is an online version of the publication.
Mikhail Leontyev and "Big Game"
In October 2007, Channel One aired his project “The Big Game” - a series of programs dedicated to the history of the confrontation between Russia and Great Britain for dominance in Central Asia in the 19th-20th centuries.
In November 2008, the Astrel-SPb publishing house published a book by Mikhail Leontiev with the same title based on the project.
Political leanings
In his own words, he was a “dissident.” Mikhail Leontyev calls himself a right-wing conservative.
Mikhail Vladimirovich considers working on television harmful “to physical and mental health.” In connection with the global economic crisis, he stated that “the only way out of the current crisis is a global war. Who and how will unleash it is a purely technical question. I’m not going to guess what the reason for this war will be - the complication of relations between Russia and Ukraine/Georgia, the Iranian issue or Pakistan.”
In 2006, presenting Stanislav Zhiznin’s book “Russian Energy Diplomacy: Economics, Politics, Practice,” Mikhail Leontiev noted:
“Russia is trying to enter the global world using energy as our main argument. That is, to use it both in the global economy and in global politics. »
He does not hide his political credo and defends it on air and in publications. He openly outlined it in 2007 in his article for the almanac “Moulin Rouge”:
Politics is inseparable from cultural roots. Our culture is based on Christianity with its core idea of compassion. There is not a single other world religion where the one omnipotent God would give himself up to suffer for the sake of people. In its ideal form, Christianity is embodied precisely in Christian culture. It would have to be embodied in Christian politics. But it is embodied precisely in culture. Politics is pragmatic. But culture is not. In this sense, the highest form of Christian spiritual culture is the Middle Ages.
What does modern postmodernism, the so-called avant-garde, do? By destroying the idea of compassion. It’s good when this is expressed in the form of the grotesque, such a “cabbage”, as Tarantino does, for example. Banter about the removal of barriers implies their existence. The banter over breaking Christian cultural taboos is, to some extent, human. And it means recognizing the existence of these same taboos. It’s worse when no one sees these taboos. When they are no longer in the consciousness of those who create. And there are no living people in their consciousness who don’t think about anything at all. Then this is the end of culture. And the end of humanity as a population.
Real politics, like culture, can only exist within the framework of taboos. That is why in all famous novels about politics the eternal theme is “How power destroys a person.”
Incident in Odessa at a concert on May 6, 2012
The “Song of Victory” concert on Levitan Street that took place on the evening of May 6 turned into a scandal. The “hero” of the celebration, despite the presence of pop masters Lev Leshchenko and Alexander Marshal on stage, was Russian television journalist Mikhail Leontyev. It was clear to the naked eye that the journalist came on stage “tipsy” and immediately declared that the people of Ukraine “fucked up the country.” And in order to return everything to normal, Mikhail Leontiev believes, it is necessary to make the right choice.
“We need to stop betting on goats and fagots. To change something, we need to vote for the Rodina party,” Mikhail Leontyev loudly proclaimed from the stage.