Gleb Olegovich Pavlovsky (; 5 March 1951 – 27 February 2023) was a Russian

political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

who also described himself as a "political technologist". During the Soviet era, he was prosecuted as a dissident. From 1996 to 2011, he was a political adviser to

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

. Since then, he was a critic of the Russian government. Pavlovsky was president of the Foundation for Effective Politics (FEP). In 1997, he helped create "Russian Journal", one of Russia's oldest websites. Pavlovsky and FEP organized and financed many early websites on the

Runet The Russian Internet () or Runet (), is the part of the Internet that uses the Russian language, including the Russian-language community on the Internet and websites. Geographically, it reaches all continents, including Antarctica (due to Russ ...

, including Lenta.ru. From 2005 to 2008, Pavlovsky hosted the weekly television news commentary "Real Politics", which was shown on NTV Russia at 10:00 p.m. on Saturdays. In 2012, he became editor-in-chief of the Russian-language blog Gefter.ru.

Biography

Pavlovsky was born in

Odesa Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

on 5 March 1951 in a family of engineers. From 1968 to 1973, he studied history at Odesa University. His first publication (in a university newspaper) was censored by the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

because of its alleged "anarchistic and left- extremist mood". At the age of 21, Pavlovsky and friends organized a political commune "Субъект Исторической Деятельности" (Subject of Historical Action), inspired by the spirit of the

protests of 1968 The protests of 1968 comprised a worldwide escalation of social conflicts, which were predominantly characterized by the rise of left-wing politics, Anti-war movement, anti-war sentiment, Civil and political rights, civil rights urgency, youth C ...

and ideals of intellectual Marxism (at the time, he described himself as a "Zen Marxist"). At this stage, Pavlovsky began to increase his links to the dissident movement in Odesa. In the 1970s, he went to Moscow to meet fellow dissidents: , , Grigory Pomerants, and other associates. He first came into contact with the

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

in 1974. As the 1970s went on, Pavlovsky cemented his place in Moscow's dissident movement and began publishing an underground newspaper entitled "Poiski", all while avoiding KGB interference. In 1982, he was arrested for anti-Soviet activity and sentenced to three years in exile in the

Komi Republic The Komi Republic (; ), sometimes simply referred to as Komi, is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia situated in the northeast of European Russia. Its capital city, capital is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Syktyvka ...

. Before the trial, he initially collaborated with the authorities, although during the trial he disowned his testimony. In Komi, he made a living as a house painter and stoker. By 1985, he had returned to civilian life in Moscow, where he was able to pursue further engagements. Between 1996 and 2011, Pavlovsky worked closely with

as a Kremlin adviser and political strategist during Putin's initial tenure as president and prime minister. He was instrumental in the development of managed democracy in Russia at this time. Pavlovsky was fired from this position in the spring of 2011. He became a critic of the Russian government. In a 2012 interview, he said he did not expect Putin to stay in power beyond 2018. Pavlovsky died on 27 February 2023, aged 71, after a long and serious illness.

Media

* 1991—1992 — vice chair of " Kommersant" publishing house. * 1994—1995 —

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

quarterly published magazine "Переделы Власти" * 1995—1996 — founder and co-editor of "Sreda" magazine. * 1995—2009 — co-creator of (, along with Maxim Meyer and Marat Gelman). * 1997—co-founder and editor-in-chief of internet magazine "Russian journal". * 2005 — co-founder and editor of "Europe" publishing house. * April 2012 — founder and editor-in-chief of the Gefter.ru blog named after the Russian and Soviet historian (1918–1995).

Notes

External links

Gleb Pavlovsky obituary: the man who turned Vladimir Putin into Russia’s action man

gefter.ru

Europe publishing house

Biography of Pavlovsky

Article about Pavlovsky on OpenDemocracy.net

Interview with Pavlovsky 2013
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pavlovsky, Gleb 1951 births 2023 deaths Academic staff of the Higher School of Economics Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Internet in Russia Russian male journalists Odesa University alumni Recipients of the Medal of the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd class Russian exiles Russian political scientists Soviet dissidents Soviet journalists Soviet prisoners and detainees Writers from Odesa