叶戈尔·盖达尔

Yegor Timurovich Gaidar (; Russian: Егор Тимурович Гайдар, IPA: [jɪˈɡor tʲɪˈmurəvʲɪtɕ ɡɐjˈdar]; 19 March 1956 – 16 December 2009) was a Soviet and Russian economist, politician, and author who was the acting Prime Minister of Russia in 1992 and simultaneously held several other cabinet roles. Gaidar was also in the State Duma from 1993 to 1996 and from 1999 to 2003 as a member of Democratic Choice of Russia and the Union of Right Forces.

Gaidar was the son of a Soviet naval officer and graduated from Moscow State University. He worked in economic research institutes before joining a commission that advised Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in the 1980s. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Gaidar was the chief architect of Russia's controversial shock therapy reforms, which brought him both praise and harsh criticism. He entered the cabinet led by President Boris Yeltsin as Minister of Finance, Minister of Economy, and Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policy, serving from 1991 to 1992. He was also the First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia in 1992, with Yeltsin and later himself as acting prime minister, and again from 1993 to 1994, in Viktor Chernomyrdin's cabinet, where he was also the acting Minister of Economy. Gaidar became widely unpopular for his reforms to transition Russia to a market economy, during which the country experienced hyperinflation and mass impoverishment, and the parliament pressured Yeltsin to remove him. He left the government in early 1994, when the administration decided to take a more gradual approach to economic reform.

Early life and education

Gaidar was born in 1956 in Moscow, RSFSR, Soviet Union, the son of Ariadna Bazhova and Pravda military correspondent Timur Gaidar, who fought in the Bay of Pigs Invasion and was a friend of Raúl Castro. His paternal grandfather was Soviet writer Arkady Gaidar and his maternal grandfather was writer Pavel Bazhov. They had both been devoted Bolsheviks that fought in the 1917 Russian Revolution.……

Political and economic career

Gaidar graduated with honors from Moscow State University in 1980 and worked as a researcher in several academic institutes. He studied liberalizing reforms in socialist economies. After obtaining his doctorate in economics, Gaidar was put in charge of the economic policy section of the party's ideological journal, Communist. In 1990 he became the head of the economic section of Pravda.……

Later life and work

Gaidar returned to his academic work after leaving politics, and published multiple books that studied and compared historic economic models and institutions. According to Russian finance minister Alexei Kudrin, Gaidar continued to be consulted for advice on economic matters up until the day of his death.……

Poisoning case

In November 2006 Gaidar went to Dublin, Ireland, to present his book Collapse of an Empire: Lessons for Modern Russia at an academic conference.……

Death and legacy

Gaidar died at the age of 53 in Odintsovo raion, Moscow Oblast, Russia. Gaidar's aide Valery Natarov stated that Gaidar died unexpectedly, early on 16 December 2009, at his Moscow Oblast home while he was working on a book for children. Gaidar died of pulmonary edema, provoked by myocardial ischemia. He is survived by his wife, three sons and daughter.

Personal life

Gaidar married the daughter of writer Arkady Strugatsky during his time at the university. His daughter, Maria Gaidar, was one of the leaders of the Russian democratic opposition. From July 2009 until June 2011 she was Deputy Chair of the Government of Kirov oblast. In 2015 and 2016 she was vice-governor of Odesa Oblast in Ukraine.

Gaidar forum

In honor of Yegor Gaidar, each year in mid-January the Russian Presidency holds the Gaidar forum that attracts the Russian political and business elite, with top European politicians also attending.……

Academic and political positions

Positions held

Director of the Institute for Economy in Transition

Executive Vice-President of the International Democratic Union (Conservative International)

Steering Committee member "Arrábida Meetings" (Portugal)

Member of the Baltic Sea Cooperation Council under the Prime Minister of Sweden

Member of the Editorial Board of Vestnik Evropy (Moscow)

Member of the Advisory Board of the Acta Oeconomica (Budapest)

Honorary positions

Honorary Professor, University of California, Berkeley