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Boris Nemtsov

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Politician

The Resume

    (October 9, 1959-February 27, 2015)
    Born in Sochi, Russia
    Governor of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast (1991-97)
    First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia (1997-98)
    Deputy Prime Minister of Russia (April-August, 1998)
    Founding member of the political parties Right Cause (1998), Union of Right Forces (1999) and Solidarity (2008)
    Frequent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin
    Fatally shot in the back four times on a bridge near the Kremlin and Red Square in Moscow

Why he might be annoying:

    Boris Yeltsin said about him, 'What a stubborn nature. Reminds me of myself.'
    His advocacy of 'shock therapy' economics and rapid privatization of state assets was controversial in some quarters.
    He was dismissed from the government after the 1998 collapse of the Russian stock market and subsequent economic crisis.
    He was recorded calling other Russian opposition politicians 'hamsters' and 'scared penguins.' (2011)
    In a 2013 poll, his approval rating was 6%.
    He fathered three children out of wedlock: a daughter with his secretary, Irina Korolava, and a son and a daughter with home shopping channel presenter Yekaterina Odontsova.

Why he might not be annoying:

    Before going into politics, he was a scientist with over 60 published papers on quantum physics and thermodynamics.
    He entered politics after the Chernobyl disaster to organize opposition to construction of a nuclear plant in his hometown.
    As governor of Nizhny Novgorod, he instituted a 'Laboratory of Reform' free market system that was praised by Margaret Thatcher.
    He broke with mentor Boris Yeltsin over the war in Chechnya, presenting him with a petition opposing the war signed by a million people (including himself).
    His wife, Raisa Ahmetovna, and mistresses, Korolova and Odintsova, all attended his 50th birthday celebration and spoke warmly of him.
    He was arrested three times for protesting against the Putin government (2007, 2010, 2011).
    He was under constant watch by the FSB (successor to the KGB), which somehow lost track of him long enough for him to get murdered.
    The security cameras at the site of his murder had been turned off for maintenance.
    Shortly before his murder, he claimed to have obtained proof that Russian soldiers were fighting undercover in the eastern Ukraine.
    The night after his murder, his papers and computer hard drives were seized by police.
    He was the latest example of a critic of Vladimir Putin getting killed under mysterious circumstances.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 9 Votes: 44.44% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 7 Votes: 85.71% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 18 Votes: 44.44% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 69 Votes: 59.42% Annoying