Enver Nazim oglu Mammadov ( Azerbaijani: ''Ənvər Nazim oğlu Məmmədov''; 15 August 1923 – 7 September 2023) was a Soviet diplomat and a mass media manager. During his career, spent mostly in Russia and the West, he was primarily known under the Russianized form of his name, Enver Nazimovich Mamedov (), or just Enver Mamedov.

Early life

Enver Mamedov was born on 15 August 1923 in

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

Azerbaijan SSR The Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, also referred to as the Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic, Azerbaijan SSR, Azerbaijani SSR, AzSSR, Soviet Azerbaijan or simply Azerbaijan, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union be ...

. Mamedov's mother's maiden name was

Ivanov Ivanov, Ivanoff or Ivanow (masculine, , Sometimes the stress is on Ива́нов in Bulgarian if it is a middle name, or in Russian as a rare variant of pronunciation), or Ivanova (feminine, , ) is one of the most common surnames in Russia and Bu ...

, and he occasionally used it as his pen name during his media career. After graduating from high school in Baku with the "excellent" grades in all subjects (including the Azerbaijani and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

languages), in June 1941, Enver Mamedov joined a fighter pilot school. After Hitler's invasion of the USSR in 1941, Enver asked to be sent to the front line, but was instead sent to be trained as a military translator at a

GRU Gru is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the ''Despicable Me'' film series. Gru or GRU may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * Gru (rapper), Serbian rapper * Gru, an antagonist in '' The Kine Saga'' Organizations Georgia (c ...

school."Я не совершал больших подвигов"
("I did no great feats"), interview with Enver Nazimovich Mammadov. "Broadcasting. Телевидение и радиовещание", No. 4, 2005 After seeing some action first as a Sr. Sergeant, later as a Sr. Lieutenant, at the Soviet Union's Caucasus Front, Mamedov was sent to work with the USSR Commissariat for Foreign Affairs, where he was posted to the Soviet embassy in Italy as the press secretary. According to Mamedov himself, he was probably selected to that position because he spoke Italian, in addition to German, English, and French. After the end of the war, Mamedov participated in the

Nuremberg trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...

, as one of the handlers of the Soviet prosecutors' star witness, Field Marshal

Friedrich Paulus Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus (23 September 1890 – 1 February 1957) was a German ''Generalfeldmarschall'' (Field Marshal) during World War II who is best known for his surrender of the German 6th Army (Wehrmacht), 6th Army during the Battle ...

The nation's publicist

Broadcasting and publishing

Beginning about 1950, and for the rest of his life, Mamedov worked in Soviet mass media. In 1950–56 he was one of the officials in charge of the Soviet radio broadcasting to the UK, US, and Latin America. In the late 1950s, Mamedov edited ''The USSR'', a Soviet English-language magazine intended for a US audience – the Soviet counterpart of the '' Amerika'' magazine. He also visited the US on a number of public relations missions.

Media management

Enver Mamedov was appointed the Deputy Chairman of the State Committee for Radio and Television in 1962, and occupied this post from the late days of

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Chai ...

administration and throughout the

Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (19 December 190610 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1964 until Death and state funeral of Leonid Brezhnev, his death in 1982 as w ...

era. Together with

Alexander Yakovlev Alexander Nikolayevich Yakovlev (; 2 December 1923 – 18 October 2005) was a Soviet and Russian politician, diplomat, and historian. A member of the Politburo and Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union throughout the 1980s ...

, he is credited with the creation in August 1964 of

Radio Mayak Radio Mayak () is a radio broadcasting company in Russia, owned by VGTRK. Mayak is the Russian word for "lighthouse" or "beacon". As well as Radio Mayak proper (which broadcasts news, talk shows, and popular music), the company is also responsi ...

, a national news and music radio broadcasting channel meant to compete with the Western radio stations broadcasting to Russia. From 1970 to 1985, he was directly in charge of Soviet television, being second in command to the

Gosteleradio The State Committee of Television and Radio Broadcasting of the Soviet Union ( Russian: Государственный комитет СССР по телевидению и радиовещанию) commonly known as Gosteleradio of the USSR (Г ...

chief Sergey Lapin.Легенды Иновещания. Беседа третья
(The stories of Soviet Radio's Foreign Service. Talk no. 3) At the time of his 85th birthday in 2008, Enver Mamedov still was an adviser to the Director General of

RIA Novosti RIA Novosti (), sometimes referred to as RIAN () or RIA (), is a Russian state-owned domestic news agency. On 9 December 2013, by a decree of Vladimir Putin, it was liquidated and its assets and workforce were transferred to the newly created ...

.Энвер Мамедов: война и наша Победа – самые значимые для меня события. Сюжет: 85 лет легендарному журналисту Энверу Мамедову
(Enver Mammadov: "The war and our Victory are the most important events in life". Topic: 85th birthday of the legendary journalist Enver Mammadov)

Personal life and death

Enver Mamedov's son, Georgiy Mamedov, is a Russian diplomat, who served as Russia's ambassador to Canada between 2003 and 2014. Through him, he has a granddaughter, Tatiana Mamedova, who is an artist, film costume and fashion designer living in Moscow. Mamedov died on 7 September 2023, at the age of 100.

References

External links

From Baku to the Kremlin Olympus: The Legend Named Enver Mammadov
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mamedov, Enver 1923 births 2023 deaths Russian men centenarians Diplomats from Baku Journalists from Baku Recipients of the Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd class Recipients of the Medal of Zhukov Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples Recipients of the Order of the October Revolution Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Male journalists Mass media in the Soviet Union Azerbaijani emigrants to Russia Russian male journalists Soviet diplomats Soviet journalists