Gennady Andreyevich ZYUGANOV, Dr. phil.*

Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF),
State Duma Deputy

Dr. Gennady Andreyevich Zyuganov was born on June 26, 1944 in the village of Mymrino in the region of Orel into a family of rural teachers.

His wife is an engineer at Moscow's second largest watch plant. His son, born in 1968, has graduated from Moscow Bauman State Technical University. His daughter, born in 1974, is an adviser. He has a five-year-old grandson.

Dr. Zyuganov likes tennis, field-and-track athletics, military triathlon and volleyball.

In 1992 the publishing house Paleya released a booklet called "Gennady Zyuganov" in the series "The Life of Prominent Russians".

Education

In 1962 Z. was enrolled at the Department of Physics and Mathematics of Oryol Pedagogical Institute.

From 1966 - 1969 he continued his studies at the institute and graduated in 1969.

In 1978-1981 he studied at the CPSU CC Academy of Social Sciences in Moscow where he took an external post-graduate degree.

April 1995, Doctor of Philosophy.

Publications

Candidate's thesis: "The Basic Principles of Planning the Development of Socialist Urban Way of Life (Based on Major Cities).", Academy of Social Sciences, Moscow, 1980.

Doctoral dissertation: "The Main Trends of Social and Political Development in Russia and Its Mechanisms 1980-1990." Academy of Social Sciences, Moscow, 1995.

Russia and the Contemporary World; 1992.
Russia, My Homeland. The Ideology of State Patriotism; 1997.

He is the author of about 50 articles on history and politics published in various newspapers and journals.

Occupations

In 1961-1962 Z. worked as a teacher in a rural secondary school.

Between 1963 and 1966 Z. served in NBC military intelligence units in Belorussia, Germany and the Chelyabinsk region.

In 1967 Z. began his Komsomol (Young Communist League) career. He worked as the first secretary of a district and later a city Komsomol committee.

In 1969-1970 Z. taught at the Department of Physics and Mathematics of Oryol Pedagogical Institute.

In 1972-1974 Z. was the First Secretary of the regional Orel Komsomol Committee.

In 1974-1983 he worked as secretary and then as Second Secretary of the Orel CPSU City Committee and was in charge of the Department of Propaganda at the Orel CPSU Regional Committee.

In 1981-1983 Z. also taught at the Department of Philosophy of Orel Pedagogical Institute.

In 1983-1989 Z. worked at the CPSU CC Department of Propaganda (for Moscow, Moscow region, and the North Caucasus), as an instructor, planner, Sector Head and Deputy Head of the department.

In 1989-1990 Z. was a Deputy Head of the Department of Ideology of the Communist Party Central Committee.

In August 1992 through August 1993 Z. was a member of the editorial board of Aleksandr Prokhanov's newspaper Den. He regularly contributes articles to the newspaper Zavtra (succeeded Den in 1994) - as well as to the CPRF newspaper Pravda Rossii, Sovetskaya Rossiya, Pravda and other periodicals.

Political Offices and Activities

1966, member of the Communist party of the Soviet Union (CPSU).

In 1970-1978 Z. was a People's Deputy of the Orel Regional and City Soviets. He headed the regional Soviet's Commission for the Youth.

In June 1990 he was a Delegate to the XXVIII Communist Party Congress.

In 1990-1991 Z. became popular among the members of the anti-reform opposition to Mikhail Gorbachev inside the Communist party (CPSU) after a number of his publications in the newspaper Sovetskaya Rossiya, the most notorious of which was "The Architect by the Ruins." It was directed against Aleksandr Yakovlev. At CPSU CC plenary meetings and party discussions, Z. insisted on the removal of Gorbachev from the post of CPSU CC General Secretary.

Following the establishment of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) in June 1990, Z. was elected its Central Committee Secretary, a Politburo Member and Chairman of the CPRF Central Committee's Standing Commission for Humanitarian and Ideological Issues. At the Central Committee, he was in charge of ideological policy and interaction with public organizations and movements.

In June-September 1990 Z. was a delegate to the Russian Communist Party Inaugural Congress.

In February 1991 he organized the conference "For a Great and United Russia!" that set up the Coordinating Council of patriotic movements which was reorganized in August 1992 into the Coordinating Council of the Popular Patriotic Forces of Russia.

In July 1991 Z., Aleksandr Prokhanov, Valentin Varennikov, Valentin Rasputin, Eduard Volodin, Boris Gromov and others issued a manifesto called "Appeal to the People" for which he was "called... not without grounds... the chief ideologue of the GKChP," as he admitted in one of his interviews later, because "it turned out to be in consonance with the "Appeal to the Soviet people" made by the GKChP members on August 19."

In the beginning of August 1991, at the CPRF CC plenary meeting the first secretary Ivan Polozkov resigned. Z. refused to be nominated as a successor candidate in favour of Valentin Kuptsov, whose candidature was nominated by the Politburo.

On August 19 - 21, 1991, during the coup attempt, Z. was on a vacation in the North Caucasus and did not take part in the conspiracy.

In the fall of 1991 Z. helped to establish the Russian All-People's Union (ROS) and in December he became a member of its Coordinating Council.

He was also elected a member of the Coordinating Council of the Otchizna "Motherland" Movement.

Although Z. was not a People's Deputy, he took an active part in the establishment of the parliamentary bloc Russian Unity.

In January 1992 Z. became Chairman of the Coordinating Council of the Popular Patriotic Forces of Russia.

On June 12/13 1992 Z. took part at the first Russian National Congress and became a member of its presidium.

In October 1992 Z. became a member of the organizing committee of the National Salvation Front. Later he became a member of the Political Council of the National Salvation Front and was elected one of its co-chairmen.

In December 1992, following a Constitutional Court ruling that lifted the ban on communist party organizations, Z. became a member of the initial organizing committee for the restauration congress of the CPRF.

On 13/14th of February 1993, at the second extraordinary congress of the Russian Communist Party Z. was elected at the proposal of General Albert Makashov a member of the Communist Party central executive committee.

In February 1993, at the first organizing Plenum of the Communist Party Central Executive Committee Z. was elected Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the CPRF.

On 25/26th of July 1993 Z. took part in the Second Congress of the National Salvation Front, held in Moscow.

In April 1994 the CPRF became a member of the Union of Communist Parties (UCP-CPSU).

On September 21, 1993, at 8 p.m., Z. was at the House of Councils at the moment when Boris Yeltsin declared the dissolution of Parliament. The CPRF supporters helped to defend the White House, but Z. urged them to use only peaceful forms of resistance. Just a day before the bloodshed in Moscow, Z. made two appearances on television to call on all sides to resist provocations and refrain from using force. During the state of emergency in Moscow, the activity of the CPRF was suspended, but soon after its end the party was legalized again. This enabled it to participate in the elections to the State Duma.

In December 1993 Z. was elected to lead the federal list of the CPRF for the elections to the State Duma.

On December 12, 1993 Z. was elected as People's Deputy to the 1st State Duma. He was elected chairman of the CPRF Duma group and became an ex-officio member of the Duma Council.

In April/May 1994 Z. was one of the initiators of "Accord for Russia" Movement.

On April 28, 1994 Z. took part in the procedures of signing the National Accord Treaty. But he did not sign the treaty.

On September 16, 1994 Z. participated in a Congress of Russia's Patriotic Forces, "The Russian Frontier: From Kaliningrad to the Kurils." that was held in Kaliningrad. He signed a joint statement of the opposition leaders that called for the resignation of the government and an early presidential election.

At the third CPRF Congress in January 21-22, 1995 Z. was elected a member of the CPRF Central Committee and on the last day of the congress, Chairman of the CPRF Central Committee.

In spring of 1995, together with Alexei Podberyozkin, RAU Corporation president, Z. was put in charge of the Organizing Committee of the Spiritual Heritage Movement, The movement's founding congress elected Z. a member of its council.

In July 1995 Z. was elected a member of the Council and the Political Executive Committee of the Union of Communist Parties (UCP-CPSU).

On December 17, 1995 Z. was elected on the federal list of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) as People's Deputy to the 2-nd State Duma.

On January 15, 1996 the Central Electoral Commission registered a nomination group (which consisted mainly of the activists of the Spiritual Heritage movement) that nominated Z. its presidential candidate.

On February 15, Z. candidature was supported by the All-Russian CPRF Conference. At the end of February 1996, the nomination group that named Z. its candidate became the first to submit the lists of signatures to the Central Electoral Commission and on March, 4 1996 Z. was registered as an official candidate for the Presidency.

In June 1996 Z. lost the presidential elections against Boris Yeltsin.

In December 1999 Z. was elected on the federal list of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) as People's Deputy to the 3rd State Duma.

Dr. Gennady Zyuganov is official candidate
for the Election of the President of the Russian Federation
on
26th of March 2000.

Sources: www.panorama.ru, National News Service and others.

To be pronounced as Gennady (gna:'di:) Zyuganov ('schu:'ga:nov)
In German: Dr. Gennadij Sjuganow.