Laureate of USSR State Prizes, Chairman of the Charitable Foundation named after Artem Borovik, academician and member of the presidium of the National Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences of Russia.

Born in 1929, into a family of theater workers. Father - Borovik Aviezer Abramovich (1902–1980), conductor. Mother - Borovik-Matveeva Maria Vasilievna (1905–1970), leading actress of musical theaters. Wife - Borovik (Finogenova) Galina Mikhailovna (born 1932), teacher-historian, worked as a history teacher at school, then as editor of the cultural department of the “Time” program on Central Television. Daughter – Yakushkina Marina Genrikhovna (born 1956), candidate of philological sciences. Son - Borovik Artem Genrikhovich (1960–2000), a famous journalist, writer, public figure, founder and first head of the Top Secret holding, died tragically in a plane crash. Grandchildren: Yakushkin Ivan Dmitrievich (born in 1976), Borovik Maximilian Artemovich (born in 1995), Borovik Christian Artemovich (born in 1997).

Genrikh Borovik's parents have been associated with the theater all their lives. In 1939 they were among the founders of the Pyatigorsk Musical Comedy Theater. There, in Pyatigorsk, their son spent his school years.

In 1944–1945, while still a schoolboy, Genrikh worked at the Pyatigorsk Theater as an assistant electrician and sometimes appeared on stage as an extra. At the theater, he became friends - and retained this friendship for the rest of his life - with Makhmud Esambaev and Mikhail Vodyany, who were just beginning their brilliant path in art.

In 1947, after graduating from school with a gold medal, Heinrich went to Moscow to enter the Institute of International Relations. The “backup” option was the directing department of GITIS - his love for theater and music remained with him forever.

After successfully graduating from MGIMO (diploma with honors), Genrikh Borovik was hired by the editorial office of the Ogonyok magazine... as a technical secretary of the international department. It seemed that the holder of a “red” diploma could count on more, but he was glad of this too: it was a very “cold summer” of 1952. In the editorial office, the young man felt an extraordinary warmth. Wonderful people worked there, almost all of them were front-line soldiers or front-line journalists. The editor-in-chief was the poet Alexey Surkov. Almost all of the magazine’s affairs were led by a wonderful person, deputy editor-in-chief Boris Burkov, who worked throughout the war as editor-in-chief of Komsomolskaya Pravda. Absolutely legendary people - Konstantin Simonov, Boris Polevoy, Sergey Mikhalkov, Irakli Andronikov...

Genrikh Borovik was the youngest employee at the magazine, and the older generation treated him, at a minimum, with interest - “will this guy make a journalist?”, but more often - with touching, almost fatherly care.

In 1953, Borovik became a literary employee, and then a special correspondent for the international department. Already in the mid-1950s, fame came to him. His essays from “hot spots”—Vietnam, China, Indonesia, Burma—published in the Ogonyok magazine differed sharply from the general style of international journalism accepted at that time. These materials were devoid of propaganda cliches; they featured not stilted heroes, but normal people with their doubts and hopes; they described not stereotyped political schemes, but ordinary life situations.

In 1956, the Ogonyok library published the first book of essays by Genrikh Borovik about Vietnam. Particular success befell the young writer and journalist after he published essays about revolutionary Cuba in Ogonyok in 1960 and then created on their basis the book “The Tale of the Green Lizard,” populated by living, not poster, people with extraordinary characters. His essay about a meeting in Cuba with Ernest Hemingway and fishing with him together on his legendary schooner “Pilar” then became a real sensation.

The outstanding documentary film director Roman Karmen, having read Borovik’s essays about Cuba, invited him to write a script for a documentary film. And soon the premiere of “The Burning Island” took place, a film about the Cuban revolution, which then went around all the screens of the Soviet Union.

And soon the brilliant theater director Andrei Goncharov staged in Moscow, at the Drama Theater on Malaya Bronnaya, Genrikh Borovik’s first play, “Mutiny of the Unknown,” the images and content of which were inspired by the author’s trips to the “hot spots” of Southeast Asia. It was staged by many theaters in the country (this is how his “backup dream” came true).

In 1962, at the congress of young writers, Genrikh Borovik was admitted to the Union of Writers of the USSR. He has written more than 20 books. Among them: “The Tale of the Green Lizard”, “Your Special Correspondent Met...”, “One Year of the Troubled Sun”, “Prologue”, “May in Lisbon”, “Report from the Fascist Borders”, “Kim Philby”, etc. Some have been translated into different languages ​​of the world. He is the author of the script for dozens of documentaries, including the documentary series “The Most Expensive”, “Nine Years Before the End of the War”, “War in Russia. Blood on the Snow”, etc.

His plays “Mutiny of the Unknowns” (1962), “The Man Before the Shot” (1963), “Three Minutes of Martin Grow” (1970), “Interview in Buenos Aires” (1976), “Agent 00” (1985) were successfully performed in theaters of the USSR and abroad.

Hundreds of essays published in press in many countries around the world, television programs and essays, scripts for documentaries and feature films, plays for the theater - this is the creative range of the writer, publicist, playwright, journalist, and TV presenter Genrikh Borovik.

It is unlikely that anyone will dispute that among international journalists of the older generation, the works of Genrikh Borovik - whether on the newspaper page, in magazines, in books, on the screen of documentaries and television, on the theater stage, finally - have always occupied one of the first places by popularity among readers and viewers.

Let's give an example. In 1986, a book of essays by G. Borovik “Prologue” was published, noted by readers and critics and quickly disappeared from bookstore shelves. A year later, the editors of Roman Newspaper conducted an interesting survey of reader opinions. She sent out a questionnaire to her subscribers, in which she listed the 100 most notable works of prose that had received public attention recently, and asked readers to choose 12 of these 100 works for publication in 12 issues of the monthly “Roman Newspaper” in the coming 1988. Among these hundreds of works, the last book of Heinrich Borovik, “Prologue,” was mentioned. There was no detective plot, no love intrigue, or other elements obviously attractive to the reader. But in reader responses, the documentary essay book “Prologue” took third place in terms of the number of votes cast for it. Since the volume of the book did not fit into one issue of Roman-Gazeta, the editors published it in two issues. The total circulation of this book in the USSR alone amounted to more than 5 million copies!

The explanation for this is simple. Despite the “non-novel” structure, the book is truly artistic. The author introduces the reader to a whole gallery of characters and situations. Introduces the American people and America as a country. They are the main characters of the book.

And one more character in this novel appears before the reader’s eyes, regardless of the will of the author. Himself. His views, hopes and disappointments, moral values, character. And this turns out to be interesting to the reader.

Of the dramatic works of Heinrich Borovik, particular success fell on his play “Interview in Buenos Aires,” written in 1976 in the fiery wake of the Chilean events, which the author witnessed. It not only took place in almost a hundred theaters in our country, but also in one and a half dozen theaters in the largest cities in the world, including New York, Madrid, Stockholm, Prague, Warsaw, Tokyo, Damascus, Paris, Caracas...

The author himself, speaking about the success of the play, is inclined to attribute it primarily to the atmosphere of solidarity with the people of Chile, with which Pinochet’s coup on September 11, 1973 was perceived by many in the world. However, dozens, hundreds of works (including dramaturgical ones) were written about those events, but G. Borovik’s play was the most popular in those years. And his essays, written hot on the heels of the tragic events in Chile, were officially included in the documents of the International Tribunal, which examined the crimes of the Chilean military junta.

The chief director of the Lensovet Theater, Igor Vladimirov, who also staged this play in his theater and brilliantly played the main role of journalist Carlos Blanco in it, told how in 1977 the theater took the play to Paris for the Theater Festival of Nations. The performance was received very well, and the famous French theater critic said then: “The secret of the success of this performance is that it tells not only about Chile. It talks about the threat of fascism both in France and in any country in the world. In every scene, in every dialogue, I see and hear something that applies personally to me, a French journalist...”

These words apply to the entire work of Genrikh Borovik, no matter what genre he performed in. In his works there is always that main thing that readers, viewers, listeners can and do relate to themselves personally, to the society in which they live.

G. Borovik's personality is multifaceted. There are many striking actions in his life, which would be incorrect not to describe in at least a telegraphic style. In the spring of 1980 G.A. Borovik spent several months in Afghanistan. He traveled all over the country, visited the most dangerous places and situations, but wrote almost nothing from there either in newspapers or magazines. I couldn’t write a lie, but no one would publish the truth. Returning to Moscow, he refused a lucrative offer from the Mosfilm studio to write a script for a feature film about this war. The agreement was concluded on the eve of the trip to Afghanistan. The screenwriter was promised a state order and an almost certain State Prize. The film was to be directed by a famous film director. But, returning home, Borovik refused the contract and returned the advance. Instead of writing a script, he went to the CPSU Central Committee and told there about what he saw in Afghanistan. He said that this war is senseless, that our country is repeating the same mistakes and committing the same crimes that the United States committed in its war against Vietnam, that Soviet troops shouldered the war but were not ready for it, that the true extent of our losses the military authorities are hiding, etc., etc.

The result of this trip to the Central Committee was the anger of the head of the Glavpur (Main Political Directorate) of the Soviet Army. Army General A.A. Epishev was going to complain about the “irresponsible journalist” to L.I. himself. Brezhnev. The “irresponsible” was saved only by the help of his friends in the Central Committee - Evgeny Samoteikin and Nikolai Shishlin, as well as the fact that it was at this time that Borovik left journalism for a year and a half - to work on a series of documentaries and write a new play.

In 1982–1985 G.A. Borovik becomes editor-in-chief of Theater magazine. The circulation of this publication doubled under him.

In 1985–1987 G.A. Borovik was the secretary of the USSR Writers' Union for international affairs. It was during these years that long-time friends of G. Borovik came to our country at the invitation of the Writers’ Union - outstanding writers and cultural figures from different countries: Graham Greene, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Norman Mailer, Peter Ustinov, etc. This contributed to the growth of our country’s popularity abroad and the spread of the truth about perestroika, which was just beginning then.

Soon G.A. Borovik appealed to the Central Committee with a proposal to end the isolation of Soviet writers from the largest international writers' organizations, in particular from the International Pen Club. His arguments were convincing, and the Secretariat of the Central Committee made a decision that put an end to the “Berlin Wall” between Soviet writers and writers of the world.

In 1987 G.A. Borovik is elected chairman of the Soviet Peace Committee and vice-president of the World Peace Council. This public work took up a lot of his time. The Soviet Peace Committee then became a prominent public organization firmly in the position of democratic reforms in the country. This was proven by many real deeds of the renewed organization, which did a lot to end the Cold War and eliminate the “image of the enemy.” But in addition to international affairs, Borovik then had to deal with internal conflicts that began to arise on national grounds on the territory of the USSR. He, as always, is one of the first to go to new “hot spots”, to places where it is dangerous. But now it’s not outside the country’s borders, but inside it. Everywhere where a conflict was brewing or unfolding, people saw him and turned to him for advice. This was at the height of the conflict around Nagorno-Karabakh, and during the days of the conflict between North Ossetia and Ingushetia, and during the days of the confrontation in Transnistria.

In those same years G.A. Borovik works as a political observer for the USSR State Television and Radio. He is the author and host of the popular program “Position”. It was in his program that for the first time on TV the origins of various interethnic conflicts were told, and for the first time the question of the activities of chauvinist organizations in the USSR was openly and acutely raised. So sharply and openly that in one of these organizations G.A. Borovik was placed first on the secret list “for physical destruction.”

In Minsk (Belarus) in the family of a symphony orchestra conductor and an actress. His parents were among the founders of the Pyatigorsk Musical Comedy Theater.

In 1952 he graduated with honors from the Moscow Institute of International Relations (University) of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MGIMO).

Since 1952, he worked in the editorial office of the Ogonyok magazine, first as a technical secretary, then as a literary employee, correspondent of the international department, executive secretary of the editorial office, and international observer.

He was one of the first to work at the intersection of journalism and literature. Genrikh Borovik became famous thanks to his essays from “hot spots”—Vietnam, China, Indonesia, Burma—published in the magazine “Ogonyok.”

In 1955, the Ogonyok library published the first book of essays by Genrikh Borovik about Vietnam. Particular success befell the young writer and journalist after he published essays about revolutionary Cuba in Ogonyok in 1960 and then created the book “The Tale of the Green Lizard” based on them.

Based on his essays about Cuba, Borovik wrote the script for the documentary film "Burning Island", which was shot by documentary filmmaker Roman Karmen.

In 1962, Genrikh Borovik was admitted to the Union of Writers of the USSR.

In 1966-1972 he worked as a correspondent for the Novosti Press Agency (APN) and Literaturnaya Gazeta in the USA.

In 1972, he was invited by the leading American magazine Esquire to be its special correspondent at the US Democratic Party Convention.

In 1972-1982, he was a special correspondent for APN and Literaturnaya Gazeta.

From 1982 to 1985 - editor-in-chief of the Theater magazine.

In 1985-1987, Genrikh Borovik was the secretary of the USSR Writers' Union for international affairs.

From 1987 to 1992 he was chairman of the Soviet Peace Committee (Federation of Peace and Harmony), vice-president of the World Peace Council. During these same years, Borovik worked as a political observer for the USSR State Television and Radio, and was the author and presenter of the popular programs “The Camera Looks into the World” and “Position.”

In 1989-1991 - People's Deputy of the USSR, member of the Standing Committee of the Supreme Council of the USSR on International Affairs.

In 1994, on the Ostankino TV channel, as the author of the project, scriptwriter and presenter, he created the television series “Nine Years Before the End of the War.” As the author of the project and one of the scriptwriters, he worked on the 10-episode documentary film “Russia in War - Blood on the Snow.”
Genrikh Borovik made a serious creative contribution to the formation of the television channel "Culture". He was the author and presenter of the educational author's program "Testament of the 20th Century."

Since 2002 - Academician of the National Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

He wrote the plays “Mutiny of the Unknown”, “The Man Before the Shot”, “Three Minutes of Martin Grow”, “Interview in Buenos Airos”, Agent 00” and others.

In total, he wrote more than 20 books and 40 scripts for documentaries.

His scripts were used to make the feature films “Uninvited Guests” (1959) and “On the Pomegranate Islands” (1981), the short film “Cuban Novella” (1962), the film-play “Interview in Buenos Aires” (1979), and a documentary series "The Most Expensive" (1981).

Genrikh Borovik is the honorary rector of the Moscow Institute of Television and Radio Broadcasting "Ostankino". Since 2009, he has headed the board of trustees of the institute.

In the State Museum of Fine Arts. Pushkin opened a photo exhibition “Seeing Time”, which presented photographs of Genrikh Borovik taken during his trips abroad.

Borovik is a twice laureate of the USSR State Prize (1977, 1986). He is a laureate of the Vorovsky Union of Journalists Prize (1968) and the A. Tolstoy Prize of the USSR Writers Union (1985), several international journalistic awards (including the Golden Pen).

Awarded the Order of the October Revolution, the Red Banner of Labor, Friendship of Peoples, as well as the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, III (1999) and IV (2009) degrees,

Born in Minsk in 1929. Father - Borovik Aviezer Abramovich (1902-1980), conductor of a symphony orchestra, worked in musical theater; came from a Jewish family. Mother - Borovik-Matveeva Maria Vasilievna (1905-1970), actress. The life of Henry's parents was connected with the theater. In 1939, they were among the founders of the Pyatigorsk Theater of Musical Comedy, and Genrikh Borovik spent his school years there. In 1944-1945 he worked at the Pyatigorsk Theater as an assistant electrician and extra. In 1947, Heinrich graduated from school with a gold medal and went to enter the Institute of International Relations. After graduating from MGIMO, he worked at the Ogonyok magazine, where he soon gained fame as the author of essays from “hot spots”, who knew how to express and defend his own point of view.

In 1966-1972 he worked as a correspondent for the Novosti Press Agency and Literary Gazette in the USA. From 1972 to 1982 - special correspondent for APN and Literaturnaya Gazeta. While working at APN, he took part in a campaign organized by the authorities to discredit the writer Solzhenitsyn. In particular, he was one of the co-authors of the brochures “In the Last Circle” and “Response to Solzhenitsyn: Archipelago of Lies.”

In 1960-1970 writes a number of plays (production of the first play “Mutiny of the Unknown”, 1962) and film scripts, hosts a number of television programs (“International Panorama”, etc.). The play “Interview in Buenos Aires” (1976; USSR State Prize, 1977) about the events in Chile after the overthrow of Allende was staged in many countries around the world - including those that did not belong to the “socialist camp.” Since 1980, he fell into disgrace after critical remarks about the war in Afghanistan. Since 1987 - Chairman of the Soviet Peace Committee and Deputy Chairman of the World Peace Council. As an expert, he participated in many foreign trips of M. Gorbachev. In June 1990 he left the CPSU. During the August 1991 coup, he spoke on CNN condemning the coup. In the late 80s - early 90s. editor-in-chief of the magazine "Theater"

Author of a book of essays about the revolution in Cuba “The Tale of the Green Lizard” (1956), the story “May in Lisbon” (1975), the play “Agent 00” (1982), the essay novel “Prologue” (1984; USSR State Prize, 1986 ), a study dedicated to the famous agent Kim Philby (1994).

Family

• Wife - Borovik (Finogenova) Galina Mikhailovna (born 1932), teacher-historian, was a history teacher at school, then worked on television as an editor in the culture department.
• Daughter - Marina Genrikhovna Yakushkina (Borovik) (born 1956), Candidate of Philological Sciences
• Son - Artyom Genrikhovich Borovik (1960-2000), famous journalist, writer, founder and first head of the Top Secret holding.

After the death of his son Artyom, G. Borovik heads a charitable foundation named after him.

Awards

• Order of Merit for the Fatherland, III degree (November 16, 1999) - for his great contribution to the development of national culture and many years of fruitful work in the field of journalism
• Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree (December 8, 2009) - for great services in the development of national culture, many years of creative and social activity
• Honorary member of the Russian Academy of Arts

Artem Borovik lived a short (only 39 years old) but colorful life. He taught not to be afraid of the truth, helped former Cold War participants understand each other, loved life and knew how to make friends. He became the only journalist to be twice awarded the American Edward Morrow War of Justice Award. Winner of the “Public Recognition”, TEFI, and “Best Pens of Russia” awards.

Childhood and youth

Artem Genrikhovich Borovik was born on September 13, 1960 in Moscow. Artem’s father, journalist and writer Genrikh Aviezerovich (Averyanovich) Borovik, moved his family to the USA in 1966, where he worked as a correspondent for the Novosti Press Agency. Mother Galina Mikhailovna Borovik (nee Finogenova) is less known than her husband and son. In her youth she taught history, and later worked as an editor in the cultural department of television.

Little Artem Borovik with his mother and sister

In 1972, the family returned to the Soviet Union. The boy, along with his sister Marina, went to Moscow school No. 45, known for its innovative teaching methods and victories of students at Olympiads in school subjects. A high level of preparation allowed Artem to easily enter the Faculty of International Journalism at MGIMO and successfully complete his studies in 1982. He practiced at the USSR Embassy in Peru.

Journalism

After college, Artem did not become an employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but chose to work in the newspaper “Soviet Russia”. The editors send a young journalist to “hot spots.” For five years, Borovik visited Afghanistan and Nicaragua, covering the details of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant from the scene.

In 1987, he joined Ogonyok magazine, which, under the leadership of editor-in-chief Vitaly Korotich, became a mouthpiece for glasnost. In 1988, on instructions from the editors, the journalist was completely immersed in the American military environment. Based on the results of his service, he wrote the book “How I Was a Soldier in the US Army.”

It is known that an independent journalist “crossed the path” of many people in power. He was under surveillance and his phones were tapped. Artem Borovik had many enemies who understood that the growing popularity of the head of the information holding company posed a serious danger. The oligarchs striving for power had grounds and opportunities for assassination, but the true cause of the tragedy remained unknown.

Artem Genrikhovich was buried on March 11, 2000 at the Novodevichy cemetery. In May 2000, the Artem Borovik Charitable Foundation was established, presenting an annual award for the best investigative journalism on his birthday. On September 13, 2001, the Artem Borovik Park was inaugurated in Moscow. A friend of the journalist, the mayor of Moscow, spoke at the opening ceremony. There is a monument in the form of a granite feather in the park.

Moscow gymnasium No. 1562 was renamed into the school named after A.G. Borovik. However, the official website of the school does not contain information about him. The biography of the journalist is dedicated to the documentary film directed by Alexey Alenin “Artyom Borovik. He was in a hurry to live,” filmed in 2010. The film uses photos from Borovik’s family archive, stories from friends and relatives.

Projects

• 1988-1990 – TV show “Vzglyad”
• 1989 – newspaper “Top Secret”
• 1991 – TV show “Top Secret”
• 1992 – TV show “Double Portrait”
• 1996 – “Faces” magazine
• 1998 – newspaper “Versia”

Born in 1929. Father - Borovik Aviezer Abramovich (1902-1980), conductor of a symphony orchestra, worked in musical theater. Mother - Borovik-Matveeva Maria Vasilievna (1905-1970), actress. Wife - Borovik (Finogenova) Galina Mikhailovna (born 1932), a teacher-historian, was a history teacher at school, then worked on television as an editor in the culture department. Daughter - Yakushkina (Borovik) Marina Genrikhovna (born 1956), candidate of philological sciences. Son Borovik Artem Genrikhovich (1960-2000), a famous journalist, writer, founder and first head of the Top Secret holding, died tragically in a plane crash. Grandchildren: Yakushkin Ivan Dmitrievich (born 1976), Borovik Maximilian Artemovich (born 1995), Borovik Christian Artemovich (born 1997).

Genrikh Borovik's parents have been associated with the theater all their lives. In 1939 they were among the founders of the Pyatigorsk Musical Comedy Theater. Their son Heinrich spent his school years in the city of Pyatigorsk.

He remembers his teachers with great gratitude. They taught not only the “subject”, but also life. It is no coincidence that Genrikh Aviezerovich still maintains warm friendly relations with many classmates.

In 1944-1945, while still a schoolboy, Heinrich worked at the Pyatigorsk Theater as an assistant electrician and extra. There he became friends with Makhmud Esambaev and Mikhail Vodyany, who were just beginning their magnificent path in art. In 1947, after graduating from school with a gold medal, Borovik went to Moscow to enter the Institute of International Relations. The fallback option was GITIS. His love for theater and music remained with him forever.

After successfully graduating from MGIMO, Genrikh Borovik was hired by the international editorial department of the Ogonyok magazine, to the position of... technical secretary. It seemed that the holder of a diploma with honors could count on more, but he was glad of this too: it was the cold summer of 1952. In the editorial office, the young man felt an extraordinary warmth. Wonderful people worked there, almost all of them were front-line journalists: poet Alexey Surkov (editor-in-chief), Martyn Merzhanov, Viktor Viktorov, Andrey Turkov, Leonid Lerov. All affairs of the magazine were managed by a wonderful person, deputy editor-in-chief Boris Sergeevich Burkov, who worked throughout the war as editor-in-chief of Komsomolskaya Pravda. Absolutely legendary people also easily came to the editorial office - Konstantin Simonov, Boris Polevoy, Sergei Mikhalkov, Irakli Andronikov... Genrikh Borovik was the youngest employee in the magazine, and the older generation treated him, at least, with interest - “will it work out?” Is this guy a journalist?", but more often - with touching concern.

In 1953, when the “thaw” came, Borovik became a literary employee, and then a special correspondent for the international department. Already in the mid-1950s, fame came to him. His essays from “hot spots”—Vietnam, China, Indonesia, Burma—published in the magazine “Ogonyok” differed sharply from the general level of international journalism accepted at that time. These materials were devoid of propaganda cliches; they featured not stilted heroes, but normal people with their doubts and hopes; they described not stereotyped political schemes, but ordinary life situations. As for conclusions, they were left to the readers themselves to draw.

In 1955, the Ogonyok library published the first book of essays by Genrikh Borovik about Vietnam. Particular success fell on the lot of the aspiring writer and journalist after he published essays about revolutionary Cuba in Ogonyok in 1960 and then created on their basis the book “The Tale of the Green Lizard,” populated by living, and not poster, people with extraordinary characters. His essay about meeting Ernest Hemingway in Cuba and fishing with him on his legendary schooner Pilar became a real sensation.

A year later, together with the outstanding film director Roman Karmen, Genrikh Borovik created the documentary film “The Burning Island”, which was screened in many countries around the world. His first play, “Mutiny of the Unknown,” was brilliantly staged by Andrei Goncharov at the Theater on Malaya Bronnaya and toured many theaters across the country.

Best of the day

In 1962, at the congress of young writers, Genrikh Borovik was admitted to the Union of Writers of the USSR.

In total, he wrote more than 20 books. Among them: “The Tale of the Green Lizard”, “Your special correspondent met...”, “One Year of the Troubled Sun”, “Prologue”, “May in Lisbon”, “Report from the Fascist Borders”, “Kim Philby”, etc. .

His plays “The Man Before the Shot” (1963), “Three Minutes of Martin Grow” (1970), “Interview in Buenos Aires” (1976), “Agent 00” (1985), were staged in the largest theaters of the USSR, and were performed in many countries abroad.

Numerous speeches by G.A. Borovik in print and on television, television programs that he hosted ("International Panorama" - in the 1970s, "The Camera Looks into the World" - in the early 1980s, "Position" - during the years of perestroika, the author's program "Testament XX century" - 1997-2001 - all this gives an idea of ​​the creative biography of the writer, publicist, playwright, journalist, TV presenter Genrikh Borovik.

It is unlikely that anyone will dispute that among the works of international experts of the older generation, the works of Genrikh Borovik - whether on a newspaper page, in magazines, in a book, on the screen of a documentary film or television, on stage, finally - have always occupied one of the first places (if not definitely the first place) in popularity among readers and viewers.

For example, in 1986 a chronicle novel by G.A. Borovik's "Prologue", immediately noticed by the reader and sold in large quantities. The following year, the editors of Roman-Gazeta sent out a questionnaire to its two million subscribers, in which they listed 100 works of prose that had received public attention recently, and asked readers to name 12 works for publication in the monthly Roman-Gazeta in 1988 year. Among hundreds of works, the last book of Heinrich Borovik was mentioned. There was no detective plot, no love intrigue, or other elements obviously attractive to the reader. But in reader responses, the documentary journalistic book “Prologue” took third place in terms of the number of votes cast for it, and the total circulation of this book in the USSR alone exceeded 5 million copies!

The explanation for this is “simple”. Despite the “non-novel” structure, the book is truly artistic. The author introduces the reader to a whole gallery of characters and situations. Introduces the American people and America as a country. They are the main characters of the book.

And one more character in this novel appears before the reader’s eyes, regardless of the will of the author. Himself. His views, hopes and disappointments, moral values, character. And this turns out to be interesting to the reader.

Of the dramatic works of Heinrich Borovik, particular success fell on his play “Interview in Buenos Aires,” written in 1976 in the wake of the searing events in Chile, which the author witnessed. It took place not only in almost a hundred theaters in our country, but also in one and a half dozen theaters in the largest cities in the world, including New York, Madrid, Stockholm, Prague, Warsaw, Tokyo, Damascus, Paris, Caracas...

The author himself, speaking about the success of the play, is inclined to attribute it primarily to the atmosphere of solidarity with the people of Chile, with whom Pinochet’s coup in September 1973 was perceived by many in the world. However, dozens, hundreds of works (including dramatic ones) were written about those events, but G. Borovik’s play was the most popular in those years.

The chief director of the Lensovet Theater, Igor Vladimirov, who also staged this play in his theater and brilliantly played the main role of journalist Carlos Blanche in it, told how in 1977 the theater took the play to Paris for the Theater Festival of Nations. The performance was received very well, and the famous French theater critic said then: “The secret of the success of this performance is that it tells not only about Chile. It talks about us, about France, about the people of any country! In every scene , in every dialogue I see and hear something that applies personally to me, a French journalist..."

These words apply to the entire work of Genrikh Borovik. Whatever genre he speaks in, whatever country he talks about, a person who reads, listens or watches his works finds in them the main thing that he can relate to himself personally, to the society in which he lives.

G. Borovik’s personality is multifaceted; it goes far beyond the scope of his creative biography. There are many actions in his life that it would be incorrect not to describe, even in a telegraphic style.

In the spring of 1980 G.A. Borovik spent several months in Afghanistan. He traveled all over the country, visited the most dangerous places and situations, but wrote almost nothing from there either in newspapers or magazines. He couldn’t write a lie, but no one would publish the truth. Returning to Moscow, he refused a lucrative offer from the Mosfilm studio to write a script for a feature film about this war. The agreement was concluded on the eve of the trip to Afghanistan. The screenwriter was promised a state order and an almost certain State Prize. They quickly found a famous director for the film. But, returning home, Genrikh Aviezerovich refused the agreement and returned the advance. Instead of writing a script, he went to the CPSU Central Committee and told there about what he saw. He said that this war was pointless, that the Soviet troops shouldered the war but were not ready for it, that the military authorities were hiding the true extent of our losses, etc., etc.

The result of this trip to the Central Committee was the anger of the head of the GlavPUR of the Soviet Army. Army General A.A. Epishev was going to complain about the “irresponsible journalist” to L.I. himself. Brezhnev. The “irresponsible” was saved only by the help of his friends in the Central Committee, Evgeniy Samoteikin and Nikolai Shishlin, and also by the fact that it was at this time that Borovik left journalism for a year and a half - to work on a series of documentaries and write a new play.

In 1982-1985 G.A. Borovik becomes editor-in-chief of the Theater magazine. Under his leadership, the publication's circulation doubled.

In 1985-1987 G.A. Borovik is elected working secretary of the USSR Writers Union for International Affairs. It was during these years that long-time friends of Genrikh Aviezerovich came to our country at the invitation of the Writers' Union - outstanding writers and cultural figures Graham Greene, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Peter Ustinov and others. It is hardly worth emphasizing that this contributed to the growth of our country’s popularity abroad.

Genrikh Borovik appealed to the Central Committee with a proposal to end the isolation of Soviet writers from the largest international writers' organizations, in particular from the Pen Club. His arguments were convincing, and the Secretariat of the Central Committee made a decision that put an end to the “Berlin Wall” between Soviet writers and writers of the world.

In 1987 G.A. Borovik is elected chairman of the Soviet Peace Committee and vice-president of the World Peace Council. This public work took up a lot of his time. The old committee, created in the late 1940s to promote, first of all, Soviet foreign policy and was an instrument of the international department of the CPSU Central Committee, needed profound changes. Together with like-minded people, among whom Borovik relied primarily on outstanding cultural figures, these transformations were largely accomplished. The Soviet Peace Committee then became a prominent public organization firmly in the position of democratic reforms in the country. This was proven by many real deeds of the renewed organization, which did a lot to eliminate the “image of the enemy” and to end the Cold War.

In those same years, Borovik worked as a political observer for the USSR State Television and Radio. He is the author and host of the popular programs “The Camera Looks into the World” and “Position”. For the first time on TV, he spoke about the origins of the conflict around Nagorno-Karabakh and raised the question of the activities of chauvinist organizations in the USSR.

During the years of perestroika, M.S. Gorbachev invited Genrikh Borovik with him to almost all meetings with the heads of foreign countries as an expert or member of the support group.

In 1989 G.A. Borovik was elected People's Deputy of the USSR, a member of the Standing Committee of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR for International Affairs.

He sent a note to the CPSU Central Committee, in which he argued that the situation when all the channels of the All-Union Television and Radio are subordinate to one organization and one person - the chairman of the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company - impoverishes television and is contrary to democratic principles. He proposed leaving only one channel under the control of Gosteleradio, and giving the rest to creative unions. The same principle was proposed for radio broadcasting. At that time, this proposal was more than radical.

During the critical days of the August 1991 coup, the Soviet Peace Committee, on August 19, adopted an official statement sharply condemning the unconstitutional actions of the State Emergency Committee. The statement was broadcast on the radio on the evening of August 19 and published in newspapers the morning of the next day, and Genrikh Borovik himself spoke from Moscow on CNN on August 19, 20 and 21, telling the whole world how the leaders of the CPSU betrayed their General Secretary, betrayed perestroika, violated the Constitution of the country (this was naturally impossible to do on Soviet television). The son of Genrikh Borovik, Artem, already a very popular journalist by that time, spent all these three days and three nights in the “white house” on Krasnopresnenskaya embankment.

In June 1990, G. Borovik left the CPSU. During the years of reform, he took an active position in helping to democratize the country. In 1994, on the Ostankino TV channel, he created (as the author of the project, scriptwriter and presenter) the television series “Nine Years Before the End of the War.” For the first time in the history of Russian television, it told the truth about how the infamous decision to send Soviet troops into Afghanistan was made in 1979 and how it was carried out.

Next year, Genrikh Borovik begins work (as the author of the project and one of the scriptwriters) on the 10-episode documentary film “Russia at War - Blood on the Snow.” It showed the real truth about the Great Patriotic War, which, for obvious reasons, Roman Carmen could not show in his famous 20-episode epic “The Great Patriotic War”. The new series became for its creators a kind of continuation of work on the film Carmen.

G.A. Borovik made a serious creative contribution to the formation of the television channel "Culture". His original educational program “Testament of the 20th Century”, in which the writer and publicist talks about his meetings with outstanding people of the 20th century, such as A.F. Kerensky, Ernest Hemingway, Kim Philby, Konstantin Simonov, Graham Greene, Walter Cronkite, Mother Teresa, etc., constantly has a high rating.

Writer, playwright, publicist, television journalist, prominent public figure, political scientist, and finally, citizen, Genrikh Aviezerovich Borovik is one of the most prominent figures in the literary and social life of modern Russia. His name is known in many countries. And of course - in all CIS countries.

G.A. Borovik is a laureate of two USSR State Prizes (for the play “Interview in Buenos Aires” and for the book “Prologue”), and a laureate of the A. Tolstoy and Mikhail Prizes of the USSR Writers Union. Koltsova, winner of the Vorovsky Union of Journalists Prize, a number of prestigious international journalistic awards, including the Golden Pen award.

His work was marked by state awards of the USSR and Russia: the Order of the October Revolution, the Red Banner of Labor, Friendship of Peoples, the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, III degree, medals.

In 2000, Borovik’s family suffered a terrible tragedy: on March 9, their son Artem died in a plane crash that occurred during takeoff at Sheremetyevo Airport. Artem was a talented journalist and writer. He became famous for his essays from Afghanistan in the mid-1980s, in which he was the first in the country to tell the truth about the Afghan war. He won the love and trust of readers and television viewers because newspapers, magazines and television programs of the “Top Secret” holding company he created boldly conducted journalistic investigations of crimes committed by some oligarchs and corrupt authorities.

Despite the enormous pressure to which Artem and his holding were subjected, despite outright threats, he remained an independent, honest, incorruptible journalist. In the last television interview, one of the viewers asked him a question: “If you are so honest, then why are you still alive?..” The answer came two days later - at the Sheremetvo airfield, the plane in which Artem was flying crashed during takeoff. To this day, the causes of this plane crash are not known for certain.

Today, Genrikh Borovik heads the Artem Borovik Charitable Foundation, which was established by Artem’s relatives and friends. The goal of the foundation is to promote the development of independent journalism in Russia, that is, to continue the main work of Artem, to defend his ideals of a citizen and patriot.

The family of Heinrich Brovik finds at least some consolation in this work and in the fact that Artem left two wonderful little sons, Maximilian and Christian.

Genrikh Borovik lives and works in Moscow.

Borovik
Alexander 21.07.2006 03:17:19

Dear Sirs, I have long been a fan of the work of Genrikh Borovik. Unfortunately, after the collapse of the Union, information in Ukraine about interesting people in Russia became significantly less. I would really like to communicate with Borovik personally and ask you, if possible, to give me his contact (telephone, e-mail, etc.) or tell him my email. address. I am 55 years old, I am the co-owner of an electronic equipment manufacturing company. Lipman Alexander Efimovich. Thank you in advance.

Nagorno-Karabakh
Tim 16.11.2009 05:20:41

I remember the speech of G.B. in 1988 about Nagorno-Karabakh. After his speech, I sat in shock for half an hour, unable to say anything. Many expected him to make an assessment of the situation, more or less fair.
But no one expected him to be the mouthpiece of the Armenian nationalists. It's not worthy of a real reporter to be bought. Since then, the attitude has been one - corrupt reporter.

About G. Borovik.
Slava 14.09.2010 02:33:44

For a long time I wanted to talk about this man, but I never had the opportunity.
I feel sorry for his son, Artyom. But his unfortunate son was fully responsible for the sins of his father. Henry was a real political prostitute all his life. For the sake of a satisfying life, he lied all his life. He, a Jew, always crap on Israel and prostrated himself before the Arabs.. This is special kind of Jews, they always run ahead of their owners and try to outdo their owners in everything. He served, in a word. And did not repent. Our God is quite harsh. He can punish right up to the 7th generation. (And you don’t sin, so that your great-grandchildren will not later they drank in full measure) So he punished Genrikh Aviezerovich (he even changed his father’s name, sold his father for a piece of fat) And if Genrikh does not tell the whole truth, I’m afraid that his grandchildren will get it too.