© Mikhail Klimentyev/RIA Novosti

Representatives of the historical community continue to be outraged by the recent resonant statement of the head of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Medinsky, who dubbed everyone who tries to touch the “holy legend” of the 28 Panfilov men “complete scum.”

Let us recall earlier. In short: there was no feat, some of the heroes are traitors, the authors of the myth are journalists.

According to historians, the significance of even the most glorious myth for science cannot overshadow the significance of historical truth, no matter what it is. And Medinsky’s very definition of those trying to get to the bottom of the truth sounds simply offensive.

Meanwhile, Reedus recalled other cases of demonstration of speech skills by the head of the Ministry of Culture - and compiled a rating of two dozen of the most bright statements Medinsky.

20: About Panfilov’s men and complete scum

My deepest conviction is that even if this story were made up from beginning to end, even if there was no Panfilov, even if there was nothing, this is a holy legend that simply cannot be touched. And the people who do this are complete scum.

This statement by the Minister of Culture was made on the eve of the pre-premiere screening of the film “Panfilov’s 28 Men” for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Historians were extremely outraged by Medinsky’s words. For example, doctor historical sciences, chief researcher of the Institute Russian history RAS Vladimir Lavrov admitted that he was very bitter to hear that the minister called people with a different point of view “complete scum”: “The Minister of Culture should not use such terms if he is a cultured person. In his opinion, I belong to this very scum. But I’m not scum, I’m a real Russian historian.”

The head of the research programs of the Historical Memory Foundation, Vladimir Simindey, in an interview with Reedus, noted that such an act on the part of Medinsky was quite expected:

A lot of incidents have happened to Mr. Medinsky lately. First of all, historians and members of the public remember his role in the outrageous action associated with St. Petersburg. This board has still not been dismantled, although it is completely clear that its installation was completely inadequate. So from one inadequacy others follow.

The expressions that the minister allows himself testify not so much to the depth of his position as to the level of political culture.

“Panfilov’s division accomplished a feat, historians know about it, but specific episodes and details need further study,” Simindey continues. “But, nevertheless, the conversation should not be about the sacralization of myths, but about the study of history and its presentation in various forms, including in the form of popular cinema.”

Medinsky’s actions with Panfilov’s men are akin to Marshal Karl Mannerheim’s tenacity with the plank, the historian believes, noting that this energy and zeal is worthy of much better use.

In turn, director of the Historical Memory Foundation, Chief Editor"Journal of Russian and East European Studies". Alexander Dyukov explained on the pages of Life why Medinsky’s approach is dangerous:

By planting the legend of Panfilov’s heroes on the younger generation, we are disorienting them. Here’s a young man going to see the film “Panfilov’s 28 Men.” There he sees Sergeant Dobrobabin, who is the undoubted hero in the film. After some time, he learns that Dobrobabin survived this battle, then went to serve the Germans and worked as a policeman twice. Having learned that Dobrobabin, to put it mildly, is not a hero, the young man will be amazed and will question the entire plot. If they lied about one person, it means they can lie about others.

“This will cause really great damage,” the historian continues. - After all, the feat of soldiers near Moscow remains a feat. You need to film not based on legends and myths that have already been refuted by historians, you need to film based on real events. Real events are less vulnerable, historical truth is the best policy.”

19: About the teachings of the USA

Even before entering the civil service as an official at the Ministry of Taxes and Duties in the 90s - and long before his appointment to the post of head of the country's most cultural department, Medinsky worked at the Russian embassy in Washington. Apparently, there the head of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation found out everything about the morals of Americans, who will become frequent heroes of his statements. One of the most popular ones is located in 19th place in our symbolic ranking:

And they also teach us not to pick our noses!

18: About their morals

It is probably easier and more pleasant to be the Minister of Culture of the United States, where all culture is private and functions fully without government participation... But there is no Minister of Culture there.

17: About the ancient tradition

In 2003, Medinsky was elected to the State Duma for the first time - and was included in the Presidential Commission to counter attempts to falsify history to the detriment of the interests of Russia. Statements from this “pre-cultural period” deserve close attention:

The question to drink or not to drink is as meaningless as to eat or not to eat.

16: About the skills of Russian parliamentarians

Medinsky uttered this phrase in 2010, having become proficient in the intricacies of lawmaking. Just six months later he will head the Duma Committee on Culture.

In principle, a deputy can, like a drop of stone, hammer away non-stop for four years.

15: Guys about animals

We are a dying nation. Well, something like Amur tigers, penguins, and so on.

14: About school workload

Last year’s phrase from the head of the Ministry of Culture instantly blew up the segment of the Runet inhabited by mothers of school-age children:

There is little load. I myself, as a parent whose son went to fifth grade, can say that the ideal story is when a child comes to school in the morning at half past eight and is busy until seven in the evening.

13. About hellish shooters

A few years ago they showed me Doom, it was at 9 pm, when dawn broke, I was already on top level. I installed it on my home computer, played for three days, completed all the levels and destroyed the game, although accidentally along with all the software.

12: About unexpected startups

How can a library be made profitable? Maybe open a nightclub with a pole next to her.

11: About Lenin and people

Medinsky is an active supporter of burying the body of Vladimir Lenin. According to the minister, the mausoleum on Red Square is “some kind of ridiculous, pagan-necrophiliac mission.” It is not surprising that Ilyich becomes a frequent hero of the most memorable sayings of the head of the department.

One way or another, Lenin was a man, even though he was an atheist.

10: About Lenin and morality

Those who do not know Lenin and Stalin will have problems with morality, they will not have problems only with Chupa Chups.

9: About football

That's why Russia's favorite national game is football? But, say, not bandy? I see in this our historical tendency towards moral self-torture.

8: About the ban on Russian channels in Ukraine

Don't underestimate the Minister of Culture's sense of humor. Sometimes his ironic phrases spread across social networks like hot cakes:

The threat to the “national security of Ukraine” posed by Sergei Penkin, “Kukhnya TV” and the cat Matroskin cannot be underestimated.

7: About cultural titles

Entered new sign“For services in the field of Russian culture”... As for “Honored Worker of Culture,” we would like the previous abbreviation “asshole” to be forgotten.

6: About teen classics

Now a 14-year-old teenager, so to speak, in his classic expression, is something with a can of beer and popcorn, you know?

5: About “Smeshariki” and other blockbusters

For several months they were choosing which films to show as part of the “Night at the Movies” event. We chose “Smeshariki” for children, “Legend No. 17” and “Battalion” - these are spectacular, big films, but still purely Russian cinema. Cinema is about people, patriotic cinema, this is the choice of people, this is very important, and this is why our cinema differs from all the rubbish like “” that penetrates our screens from Hollywood.

4: About self-esteem

Besides political activity, Medinsky is known as a writer and publicist: a dozen of his books have been printed, most of which forms the series “Myths about Russia”, amounts to about a million copies. However, Medinsky himself has a rather low opinion of his literary talents:

I'm a bit of a writer myself.

3: About depressive Russian literature

Medinsky often begins to criticize his colleagues in the shop, accusing them of excessive self-examination:

The cause of all the country's misfortunes is Russian literature of the 19th century. All our great writers engaged in soul-searching. Not a single positive hero in the patriotic sense. When you read the same Dostoevsky, you are simply filled with horror: how did people ever live?

2: Protestants have everything in Latin!

This quote is from doctoral dissertation Medinsky thundered so loudly on the RuNet that it came to the point of a collective appeal for the deprivation of the minister of the degree of Doctor of Historical Sciences (which, however, remained unheard):

As you know, Orthodox believers have everything church books were written in Russian, so their content was easy to understand. The situation was different for Catholics and Protestants. Their Holy Scripture was written in Latin, which ordinary believers did not know.

“You don’t need to be a historian to appreciate the degree of ignorance of the author of this phrase, almost implausible for a humanities scientist - in one sentence he was able to show that he knows nothing either about such a phenomenon as the Church Slavonic language, or about translation Holy Scripture on German, made by Luther,” says the statement depriving Medinsky of his academic degree.

1: Not a button accordion, but a classic

There is no more famous Medinsky phrase in RuNet than the statement about “” made two years ago:

What I don’t see the point in is making films with money from the Ministry of Culture that disparage the elected authorities and don’t even criticize them. This is about those who make films according to the “Rashka the shit” principle. For what? Some kind of state masochism. We won't do this, but otherwise we support a wide range of films.

Later, the Minister of Culture apologized for the “not very correct term,” admitting that he quoted famous Internet bloggers and did not know that “someone would overhear this and start replicating it.” “But, in essence, I do not renounce my words,” Medinsky concluded.

Former United Russia deputy Vladimir Medinsky became the new Minister of Culture in the government of Dmitry Medvedev. His appointment came as a surprise to many, since V. Medinsky’s name was never mentioned during the discussion of the future composition of the Cabinet.

V. Medinsky graduated from MGIMO. Worked at the Russian embassy in Washington. In the 1990s. worked in the civil service as an official in the Ministry of Taxes and Duties. In the 2000s. became involved in politics, headed the executive committee of the Moscow branch " United Russia"and the party's election headquarters in Moscow. In 2003, he was elected to the State Duma for the first time. He was included in the Presidential Commission to counter attempts to falsify history to the detriment of the interests of Russia. In November 2011, he became the head of the State Duma Committee on Culture, and in February 2012 - confidant of V. Putin, who ran for president of the Russian Federation.

V. Medinsky, in addition to political activities, is known as a writer, publicist, and historian. He is the author of a dozen books, most of which form the “Myths about Russia” series. The total circulation of V. Medinsky's books is about a million copies.

On the pages of these books, V. Medinsky tries to debunk negative stereotypes about Russia and offers a new look at national history. Here are some quotes from the works of V. Medinsky:

“The whole blood of Russian history over the centuries is a day or two of work of one inquisitorial tribunal. A month in the life of Elizabeth the Great. And it’s not for you to teach us, gentlemen!” “It’s simply amazing how much effort has been made to cast a shadow over the fence and blame everything from a sore head to a healthy one, in order to present backward France, which amuses itself with the fairy tales of Jules Verne, as a technically advanced country. And an advanced, dynamic Russia, which in practice carried out the French dreams, to imagine a country lagging behind in development... But just the example of a submarine clearly shows: it’s the other way around!”

“As soon as you raise doubts about our national identity, the question immediately arises about our right to our territories, our natural resources, our water and our air...”

Continuing the fight against negative stereotypes about Russia, V. Medinsky said in one of his interviews that he considers the common statement about bad roads in Russia a historical myth.

Also new minister culture previously expressed critical remarks about Russian writers: “All our great writers were engaged in self-examination, not a single positive hero in the patriotic sense. If you read the same Dostoevsky, you are simply overcome with horror. And as soon as people lived.”

In the matter of eradicating destructive ideas about the historical past of Russia, V. Medinsky did not ignore the issue of anti-Semitism.

"Great Russian anti-Semitism is a very far-fetched thing. A very far-fetched story with the oppression of Jews even in Tsarist Russia. They like to talk about this a lot - about the Black Hundreds, about the pogroms - but these were all individual and not mass things,” the official said in an interview.

A number of major scandals are associated with the new Minister of Culture. V. Medinsky is a Doctor of Political and Historical Sciences and a professor at MGIMO. However, after he was awarded a doctorate, a number of historians criticized the dissertation abstract, believing that many phrases in it were borrowed from other works. In addition, they criticized some provisions of the dissertation.

In 2008 V. Medinsky sued entrepreneur Alexander Lebedev after he called the deputy the main lobbyist for the gambling business in the State Duma. The court sided with V. Medinsky, collecting 30 thousand rubles from the businessman. as compensation for moral damage.

Let us recall that V. Medinsky is also an active supporter of the burial of Vladimir Lenin’s body. “I believe that every year we should raise the same issue - about removing the remains of Lenin’s body from the mausoleum. This is some kind of ridiculous, pagan-necrophiliac mission here on Red Square,” the historian believes.

Photo: Alexander Zemlyanichenko / AP

Russian schoolchildren receive “too little workload,” Vladimir Medinsky told reporters on Wednesday.

“I myself, as a parent whose son went to fifth grade, can say that the ideal story is when a child comes to school in the morning at half past eight and is busy until seven in the evening,” says the Minister of Culture. Users of social networks began to quote this statement, discussing what Medinsky himself was not enough for.

Open Russia recalled other resonant quotes from the Minister of Culture.

“We have enormous riches hidden in our thousand-year history. These are unparalleled feats of our ancestors, 100% positive examples of loyalty, heroism, and devotion to the Motherland. Unlike the Poles who are still fixated on Katyn, we can raise a lot of things to our shields.

— All the blood of Russian history over the centuries is a day or two of work of one inquisitorial tribunal. A month in the life of Elizabeth the Great. And it’s not for you to teach us, gentlemen!

“I think that the epic Soviet heroes - the Young Guards, Panfilov’s men, and Zoya - should be treated like canonized saints are treated in the church. This is my human and civic position. And any attempt to dig deeper into why the Nazis carved a star on Ulyana Gromova’s back should be taboo. This same martyr’s star on the back is the answer to all the current “truth-seekers-at-home workers” to all their vile questions.

“And it’s even good that this story also includes Stalin, who evokes such opposite assessments.” But the most natural thing we can and should do today is to come to terms with ourselves. This means finally putting an end to the “cult of personality” that has lingered in some heads, and stop blaming all of our current problems and disagreements on Stalin. After all, Stalin will no longer do anything for us, will not build anything and will not send anyone to the Gulag - he died 62 years ago.

“The only thing I don’t see the point in is making films with money from the Ministry of Culture that disparage the elected authorities and don’t even criticize them. This is about those who make films according to the “Rashka the shit” principle. For what? Some kind of state masochism. We won't do this, but otherwise we support a wide range of films.

— I apologize for the perhaps not very correct term, I quoted well-known Internet bloggers, I never thought that someone would overhear this and begin to replicate it, but, in essence, I do not renounce my words.

Not a single Mansky project, including Artdocfest, will ever receive any money while I am the Minister of Culture. [...] He said so many anti-state things that let him do the festival at his own expense, no one is against it. We are not banning his festival.

— Bringing Rachmaninov back would be a great thing. [...] If you look at American sources, you will see that Sergei Rachmaninov is a great American composer of Russian origin. The Americans are arrogantly privatizing the name of Rachmaninov, just like the names of dozens and hundreds of Russians who, by the will of fate, ended up abroad after the events of the revolution.

— ...culture, in my deep conviction, is fundamentally not a “market object.” It would be a mistake to limit ourselves here to the logic of “who dines a girl...” here. Culture is the space in which the most important moral coordinates for society are set and maintained. And in this space, the state represents the interests of the voter, the taxpayer, the “consumer of cultural products” - that is, the people of Russia. Consequently, requirements for the content of a creative product are not the right of the state, but its obligation delegated by society.