How did the personal life of the legendary Leonid Parfenov turn out?

Leonid Parfenov is a famous journalist and TV presenter known throughout Russia. He was born on January 26, 1960 in the city of Cherepovets in the Vologda region. His father was an engineer at a metallurgical plant, and his mother was a teacher.

Leonid has a younger brother, Vladimir, born in 1966, who today is a fairly successful businessman involved in the supply of medical equipment.

Their father was an avid hunter and loved to fish. He often took his sons with him.

Fast-paced career

In 1977, Parfenov entered the prestigious Leningrad University. Zhdanov to the Faculty of Journalism, where he studied for five years.

Sometimes people come into this profession by accident, but for Parfenov it was the right choice, because he had to work in a variety of printed publications: “Moscow News”, “Pravda”, “Red Star”, “Ogonyok”, “Vologda Komsomolets”.

Childhood and youth: Cherepovets - Leningrad

Leonid was born in the winter of 1960 in the family of metallurgical engineer Gennady Parfenov and historian Alvina Shmatinina from Cherepovets. His father, Gennady Viktorovich, worked at the Cherepovets Metallurgical Plant as a chief specialist in electrical steel, and his mother was a history teacher at school. 6 years after the birth of Leonid, another child, Vladimir, appeared in the family.

Leonid Parfenov in childhood

Leonid called his childhood poor in one of his interviews. The Parfenovs lived in a Khrushchev-era apartment building; there was no talk of buying a TV. The radio was on in the apartment 24 hours a day, and on a small shelf donated by neighbors were my mother’s history books. They were of great interest to little Lenya, and in particular his attention was drawn to the volume by Vasily Klyuchevsky. The future journalist developed a strong desire for history even then, in early childhood. Leonid endlessly asked his mother questions, to which she patiently answered.

Often Lenya was sent to her grandparents in the village of Uloma in the Vologda region. He liked that a kind and humorous atmosphere reigned in the old people’s house, although his mother’s parents were strict with him, not allowing their grandson to get away with it.

He didn’t like the school that Leonid went to in the late 60s. The boy did not understand anything about science subjects and constantly copied homework from his classmates. But in humanitarian subjects he had no equal, which is why Lenya was known as a troublemaker in the class.

Leonid Parfenov in his school years

Leonid has been making progress in writing since middle school. So, in 1973, Parfenov was awarded a certificate from the newspaper “Pionerskaya Pravda” as the best young correspondent at the All-Union rally in Artek. 2 years later, after watching the film “One Hundred Days After Childhood” by Sergei Solovyov, Parfenov wrote a long article dedicated to this film. Later she was sent to compete for the State Prize. At the time of graduation, Parfenov still did not understand technical subjects. The journalist recalled passing the final exams this way: Somehow, Leonid still passed the final exams and in 1977 he left for Leningrad, becoming a student of the Faculty of Journalism at the Andrei Zhdanov University (now St. Petersburg State University). Parfenov moved into a hostel with the Bulgarians, so he soon spoke their language fluently. During his student years, Leonid repeatedly published his articles in Soviet newspapers and magazines - he was published in Pravda, Moscow News, Krasnaya Zvezda and Ogonyok. During one of the courses, Parfenov managed to attend an internship in the GDR.

Leonid Parfyonov in his youth

In 1982, after graduating from university, Parfenov was sent to the position of correspondent for the Vologda Komsomolets newspaper, where he actively published reviews about youth culture and art. Also in the mid-80s, Leonid managed to work on Cherepovets television, where he was able to interview the famous political scientist Alexander Bovin, music critic Artemy Troitsky, and the leader of the then popular Magnetic Band group Gunnar Graaps. One of the most interesting topics for Parfenov was the Leningrad rock club, about which he wrote several materials. In 1984, a fateful meeting of two talented personalities took place at his home - Alexander Bashlachev and Artemy Troitsky. It was after her that Artemy organized his first apartments for the rock musician in both capitals. With the beginning of Perestroika in the country, Leonid decided that his place was in the thick of things, and moved to Moscow at the invitation of Eduard Sagalayev.

Documentary projects

Professional growth as a journalist began from the moment he came to Central Television in one of the editorial offices as a special correspondent in 1986, where he had to work on creating the “Peace and Youth” program. But he did not stop there and in 1988 he went on to the television show “Author’s Television,” where he experimented with new forms of presenting material, which turned out to be very interesting to the viewer.

The result was not long in coming - together with Andrei Razbash he is creating a three-part documentary project called “Children of the 20th Congress,” where he talks about the famous generation of the 60s. He will later write about the work process in his book “Vlad Listyev. A close requiem."

Parfenov, Leonid Gennadievich

Born on January 26, 1960 in Cherepovets (Vologda region) in the family of Gennady Viktorovich Parfenov (1931-2004) and Alvina Andreevna Shmatinina (born 1931). His father was the chief specialist in electrical steels at the Cherepovets Metallurgical Plant. Mother worked as a history teacher.

In 1982, Leonid Parfenov graduated from the Faculty of Journalism of Leningrad State University. A. A. Zhdanova (now St. Petersburg State University).

Since 1983, he worked as a correspondent for the Vologda Komsomolets newspaper, then for Vologda Regional Television. In 1986 he moved to Moscow, where he became a special correspondent for the main editorial office of youth programs of the Central Television (CT) of the USSR State Television and Radio. Worked in the “Peace and Youth” and “Press Club” programs. In 1987, together with Andrei Razbash, he created a three-part documentary film “Children of the 20th Congress” about the era of the “Thaw” and the generation of the sixties (it was aired only in the summer of 1989 on the Second Program of the Central Television). Since 1988, Leonid Parfenov worked in the first Russian non-state television (ATV). In 1990-1991 hosted the weekly author's non-political news program “Namedni” (produced by ATV) on the Second Program of Central Television. In 1992-1993 created a series of documentary television films “Portrait on the Background” (Ostankino Channel 1). Their heroes were politician Alexander Rutskoy, writer Vasily Belov, actor Yevgeny Leonov, singers Muslim Magomaev, Alla Pugacheva and others. Since 1993, Leonid Parfenov worked on the staff of the NTV television company. In 1995-1998 was one of the hosts of the information talk show “Hero of the Day”. In 1997-2003 — author and presenter of the series of documentary and journalistic programs “Namedni. Our era". Their stories were dedicated to various events in the history of the USSR and Russia in the second half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century. In 1997-1999 Leonid Parfenov was the chief producer and member of the board of directors of the NTV television company. In 2001, after a change in the management of the television company, he remained to work at NTV. In 2001-2004 - author and presenter of the weekly information and analytical program “Namedni”. In 2004-2007 Leonid Parfenov was the editor-in-chief of the Russian Newsweek magazine. In the mid-2000s - first half of the 2010s. A number of his documentaries were released on Channel One. Among them: “The Presenter” (2004, about TV journalist Vladimir Pozner), “Oh world, you are a sport!” (2004, about the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens), “Lucy” (2005, about the actress Lyudmila Gurchenko), “Bird-Gogol” (2009, about the writer Nikolai Gogol), “The Ridge of Russia” (2010, about nature, history and culture of the Urals), “Color of the Nation” (2013, about the photographer Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky). In 2016-2017 Leonid Parfenov’s three-part documentary series “Russian Jews” was released. In 2021, the journalist began work on the documentary series “Russian Georgians”. The premiere of its first episode is scheduled for February 2020. Since 2021, Leonid Parfenov has been releasing his own show “Parthenon” on the YouTube video service. In March of the same year, he resumed the production of the “Namedni” program on the YouTube channel of the same name. Subsequently, it was continued on the Yandex.Ether service.

Member of the Russian Television Academy. He is a member of the board of trustees of the Konstantin Khabensky Charitable Foundation and the Friends Charitable Foundation. He was a member of the Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights under the President of the Russian Federation. Co-founder of the non-profit partnership "Kopirus".

Awarded a special TEFI prize (2004). Winner of a number of professional awards in the field of journalism.

Author of the books “Our portrait is being returned to us. Notes on television" (1990, with Elena Chekalova) and "Zvorykin Muromets" (2011), as well as the series of books "The other day. Our Era" (eight books about the Soviet and post-Soviet period have been published since 2009) and "Russian Empire" (three books have been published since 2013).

Married. Wife: Elena Chekalova (born 1967, journalist). Son - Ivan (born 1988), daughter - Maria (born 1993).

Perestroika, glasnost and the collapse of the country

And then the time of glasnost came to the country, then the collapse of the Soviet Union into parts and the formation of a new Russian state. Parfenov used this moment as a promising stage in his development as a television personality. In the early 90s, he hosted the “Namedni” program, but because of his sharp words and conclusions, he was very quickly removed from work. However, Parfenov does not give up and opens the project “Portrait against a Background,” which was created over two years and consisted of six parts.

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Then he began working in Ostankino on Channel One and, in 1994, on the NTV channel, where he would work very fruitfully. He will own the ideas for creating such magnificent television projects as “Russian Empire”, “Leonid Parfenov’s Un Certain Regard”, “Live Pushkin”. He will also be the host of these TV shows.

In 2004, he returned to Channel One, where he made a series of historical and educational films “The Ridge of Russia”, “Bird-Gogol”, etc.

The enormous work done by Parfenov became for him proof of his own talent and great love for analytics. Since 2012, he begins working on the Dozhd channel.

A television

At the age of 22, after an internship in the GDR, journalist Parfenov returned to his hometown. There he continued to write articles and eventually appeared on TV.

In 1986, Leonid was invited to work in Moscow. For two years he worked in the television program “Peace and Youth”. After a couple of years, he began to work in the body.

The very next year, Parfenov was entrusted with hosting the famous “Namedni” program, which brought him all-Union fame and recognition.

Parfenov in the program “The Other Day”

The presenter repeatedly allowed himself to make rather bold statements, for which he was criticized by the channel's management. As a result, a year later he was suspended for harsh statements against the Georgian politician Eduard Shevardnadze.

Soon Leonid Parfenov was allowed to host “Namedni” again. This was due to changes in the political situation.

With the coming to power of Mikhail Gorbachev, freedom of speech appeared in the country, which allowed journalists to express their opinions without fear and convey them to the public masses.

After the collapse of the USSR, Parfenov began collaborating with the television station founded by Vladislav Listyev.

In 1994, a significant event happened in Leonid’s professional biography. For the first time he was awarded the prestigious TEFI award for the program he created “NTV - New Year's Television”.

After this, Leonid Parfenov became the author of such famous television projects as “Hero of the Day”, “Old Songs about the Main Thing” and “Russian Empire”.

In 2004, NTV management fired the journalist. For this reason, he started working on Channel One. At this time, the man was creating documentaries.

Many celebrities became the heroes of Parfenov's documentary stories, including Lyudmila Zykina, Oleg Efremov, Gennady Khazanov, Vladimir Nabokov and many others.

Later, Leonid began collaborating with the Dozhd channel. In 2010, the presenter was awarded the Vlad Listyev Prize for his services in the field of television broadcasting.

Parfenov with the Vlad Listyev Prize

In addition, Parfenov received dozens of other awards. An interesting fact is that over 15 years of work, he won the TEFI award 4 times.

At the beginning of 2021, the first film of Leonid Parfenov’s documentary project “Russian Jews” was released. Over time, he publicly stated that later they were planning to release programs about representatives of other nationalities who mixed with the Russian nation.

In 2021, Leonid Parfenov presented a new show “The Other Day at Karaoke”. Together with the guests who came to the program, the presenter performed popular songs of past years.

Books

From 2004 to 2007, he served as editor-in-chief of Russian Newsweek magazine. Then he set about writing five volumes of “The other day. Our era". He also dubbed feature films and animations and was on the jury of the “Major League of KVN”, “Minute of Fame”, etc.

In 2010, on Channel One he began hosting the program “What are our years!” with co-host Tatyana Arno.

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On NTV

In 1993, he moved to the newly created NTV channel, where he would work for more than 10 years. In 1994 he received the first TEFI figurine. In 1995-1996, he was the author of the first two parts of the popular New Year's show “Old Songs about the Main Thing” (ORT), the idea of which came to him in the early 90s.

In 1997, the presenter reformatted its author’s program, turning “Namedni” from an “information program of non-political news” into a documentary cycle, each episode of which talks about the events of a particular year from 1960 to 2003. For example:

“Another year, another series. Today is the 80th year. Sakharov was exiled to Gorky, the Iran-Iraq War, the Moscow Olympics, Juneteenth, Reagan - President, “Time Machine”, we are at war in Afghanistan, “Moscow does not believe in tears”, shortage of plumbing, “Hammer Center”, Sheremetyevo-2, sheepskin coats, the murder of John Lennon."

All episodes were subsequently released on videocassettes and DVDs.

From April 1997 to March 1999, in parallel with his craft activities, he also held the position of chief producer of NTV, and from December 1997 he was on the board of directors of the channel: he was responsible for design, broadcast network, and third-party programs. Under his leadership and with his direct participation, in the fall of 1997, the scandalous and new for that time program “About This” was launched with Elena Hanga as the host - the project was the first talk show about sex in the history of domestic television. In the late 1990s - late 2000s, he was often invited to the jury of the KVN Major League.

From November 2000 to May 2003, the NTV channel aired a series of historical documentaries “Russian Empire”, the format of which was similar to the “Namedni” project and was dedicated to the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg and the Russian Empire. The films included a narrative about the period of the country's history from Peter the Great to Nicholas II.

In 2001, the channel's management changed. This event caused a split among the channel's employees. During a conflict with new managers, he took the side of the new management. Some colleagues reproached him for betrayal (some on air, others in personal conversations). After the dismissal of some of the employees, Parfenov became the general producer, but only for the duration of the “transition period”. On April 16, 2001, the NTV editorial board was created, which included Tatyana Mitkova, Vladimir Kulistikov, Parfenov and a number of other journalists. Leonid earned a reputation as a strikebreaker, but he himself emphasized that he was not afraid of it. Over time, conflicts and disagreements with the majority of colleagues who did not understand his position at that time were exhausted, although Parfenov did not change his opinion about those events and does not regret his actions.

On May 31, 2004, the “Namedni” program (which, in addition to the documentary cycle, was also a weekly news program) was closed, and Parfenov himself was fired from NTV, according to the management “for violating corporate ethics,” according to many and Parfenov himself - because censorship. From 2004 to 2014, he was the author of documentaries that were shown on Channel One. Documentary films “Oh, world - you are sport!” were released. (about the Olympics), “Lucy” (about Lyudmila Gurchenko), “And personally Leonid Ilyich” (about Brezhnev), “Zvorykin-Muromets” (Russian engineer, the founding father of world television), “Bird-Gogol”, “Ridge of Russia” (about the Ural Mountains), “The Color of the Nation” (about the Russian photographer and inventor of color photography in Russia, Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorsky).

Personal life

But Parfenov is successful not only in his professional field. In his personal life, everything is going well.

He married Elena Chekalova in 1987. His wife is also a famous journalist and the author of numerous books about television.

They had two children in their family - a son, Ivan, and a daughter, Maria; they received their education abroad. The son graduated from the University of Milan and now has an economic education. The daughter graduated from the British Council School in Italy and wants to further engage in the hotel and restaurant business. And the other day Parfenov became a grandfather - his grandson was born.

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Wife

Leonid Parfenov entered into his first and only marriage in 1987. His chosen one was Elena Chekalova, she is also a fairly famous journalist and the author of a large number of books. It was a common interest in journalism that brought this couple together. Elena read an article in the newspaper authored by Leonid and after that she simply dreamed of making an acquaintance with him.

At one of the events, Elena’s friend invited Parfenov. This day became the beginning of their great love. Later, in one of the interviews, Elena talked about the first days of their acquaintance and the moment when she realized that she had fallen in love. After they became friends, Leonid invited her to show her a Petersburg like she had never seen it before. Tatyana, after walking around St. Petersburg, was very surprised and definitely realized that she was in love. At their first meetings, she spoke of Leonid, on the one hand, as an honest and natural person in communication, but on the other hand, ironic.

Leonid Parfenov with his wife and daughter

Leonid Parfenov prefers not to discuss his personal life and does not pay attention to all sorts of gossip around him. But his wife Elena Chekalova speaks about married life only with pleasure. In an interview, she admitted that she considers herself the woman who receives the largest number of flowers from her husband. And both with and without reason. All her life she feels only a chivalrous attitude towards herself from Leni. Even when she comes home tired from filming late in the evening, there is a laid table waiting for her at home and a husband who is looking after her.

The Parfenovs have been leading a calm and peaceful family life for many years, and since the wedding they have never caused any noisy scandals around their couple.

Leonid Parfenov with his wife Elena Chekalova, daughter Maria and son Ivan

House

Leonid Parfenov spends all his free time from work with his wife in a luxurious and stylish mansion in the Moscow region. The white house with dark beams sits on a lot with pine trees. All this construction was carried out by a family friend, an architect. They were offered a half-timbered house or a Finnish house, and the Parfenovs chose the first, as they considered it more elegant and joyful.

Parfenov had long been looking for a place with pine trees that would remind him of his native Vologda region. Either the forest was not enough for them, or the house was already standing, but in the end, they bought a plot with an unfinished box in an old dacha village. They did not break it, but only slightly altered it, adding a front part with a sharp-angled roof.

Coming into the profession

The formation of a journalist Parfenov began to occur from the moment he entered the journalism faculty of one of the most prestigious universities in the country in 1977 - the Zhdanov Leningrad University, which Leonid successfully graduated in 1982.

After graduation, Leonid Parfenov served in the ranks of the Soviet army in Leningrad. There are people who enter the profession by accident, but this was truly the right choice. As a journalist, he will try himself in a wide variety of publications, among them there will be “Red Star”, “Pravda”, “Moscow News”, “Ogonyok”, “Vologda Komsomolets”. Oblomov, Sobchak, Parfenov - Rap prayer in support of faith After the experience in print media, Parfenov will begin to understand the significance and possibilities, and will gradually begin to fall in love with the television space. His first experience on television was his work on regional Cherepovets TV. He was the first, of the few journalists of that time, to begin making friends with famous rock performers and music critics who were just appearing in the Soviet music space. Among them will be such names as Alexander Bashlachev and Artemy Troitsky, whose meeting took place precisely with the light hand of Parfenov in 1984. Leonid regularly held meetings with legendary personalities of that time as part of regional television programs.

Love for the native land

Very naturally and without much debate, they came up with the idea of creating a collection of Vologda furniture and all kinds of household utensils from the late 19th and early 20th years. Leonid thought that all this would not look good in an apartment - only in the house and in nature, where you can retire from the noisy metropolis and be in a joyful, warm and comfortable environment.

This entire collection was assembled in one year. The late Vologda collector, Mikhail Vasilyevich Surov, helped compile it. Parfenov knew exactly what he wanted to see in his house - chests, sideboards, cabinets, supplies and the rarest utensils. Most of this is concentrated in the living-dining room. They didn’t want to make a museum, but that’s how it turned out.

It is always pleasant to observe families where there are harmonious relationships, where love and respect reign. Looking at the Parfenov family and their family nest, one gets the impression of calm and tranquility, although their profession does not always dispose them to this, constant employment and business trips still do not prevent the family from being together.

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Parfenov's adult life

Journalist Parfenov’s growing up began from the moment he joined Central Television in 1986 as a special correspondent for the youth editorial office, where he worked with other fellow journalists to create the “Peace and Youth” program. But this was not enough for Leonid Parfenov, and in 1988 he went to work for Author’s Television, where he could not only experiment with words, but also look for completely new forms of presenting material to the viewer. The result of his work at ATV was a three-part documentary project, “Children of the 20th Congress,” jointly with Andrei Razbash, about the famous generation of the 1960s. Then Parfenov will write with particular trepidation about the process of working on his first documentary television film in the book “Vlad Listyev. A close requiem."

Leonid Parfenov quickly began his career as a journalist. The collapse of the USSR, the arrival of glasnost in the country and the formation of the new Russian state became milestones in the work of the young, promising television personality. In 1990-1991, he became the author and host of the entertainment program “Namedni,” but because of his razor-sharp words and conclusions, he was suspended from working on television at the beginning of 1991. But this fact not only did not clip Parfenov’s wings, it would give him even more confidence in his abilities and show the way to the creation of a new documentary project, “Portrait against a Background,” which was created over the course of 1991-1993 and consisted of six films. Then he will work on the release of non-political news on Ostankino Channel One, and in 1994 he will begin working on the NTV channel, with which he will have many good and not so good events in his life. In addition to his special love and awe for television documentaries, Parfenov also tried himself as the author of such popular New Year projects in the early 1990s as “Old Songs about the Main Thing.”

While working at NTV from 1997 to 2001, Leonid Parfenov will be a permanent presenter and author of the historical program “Namedni. Our era. 1961-1991”, he will also have the idea of creating some of the most ambitious television projects of our time “Russian Empire”, “Living Pushkin”, “Leonid Parfenov’s Un Certain Regard”, he was also their permanent presenter. After leaving NTV in 2004, Parfenov went to work for Channel One, which found in him the author and presenter of documentaries “Oh, world - you are sport!”, “Lucy”, “And personally Leonid Ilyich”, “ Zvorykin-Muromets”, “Bird-Gogol”, “Ridge of Russia” and many others. All of them became proof of Parfenov’s journalistic talent and innate love for analytics. Since 2012 he has been working on the Dozhd TV channel. Speech by Leonid Parfenov on Bolotnaya Square

Working on television

After leaving the NTV channel, Leonid Parfenov continued to actively collaborate with other TV channels. Viewers could see him as a TV presenter or jury member of such programs:

“Minute of Glory” (2009);
“What are our years” (2010–2011);
The Magical World of Disney (2011–2013);
“Parfenov and Posner” (2012);
"Parfenov" (2012).

Photo: Instagram @leonidparfenoff