Did Vladimir Zhirinovsky say that his mother is Russian and his father is a lawyer?

For many years, the leader of the LDPR has been credited with an unusual phrase about the origin of his own parents. We checked to see if he actually said it.

According to numerous publications in the media and social networks, during one of his public speeches, politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky said: “My mother is Russian, my father is a lawyer.” This quote in one form or another is given, in particular, by the authors of articles on BBC and in The New Times, Valentina Sklyarenko in the book "50 Famous Scandals", as well as blogger and politician Maxim Katz in his video about Zhirinovsky. Moreover, there is a mention of such a statement by the leader of the LDPR on website Nizhny Novgorod branch of his party.

Interest in Zhirinovsky's origins most likely stems from the fact that from the very beginning of his political career, his rhetoric regularly included statements about the defense of ethnic Russians. In 1991 he spoke about this in interview Alexander Nevzorov for the program “600 seconds” and on press conferences before the presidential elections. Similar statements were in Zhirinovsky’s program before the presidential elections in 1996 And 2000 years. At widespread In the early 1990s, such statements from a politician whose father’s name was Wolf Isaakovich Eidelstein sounded contradictory against anti-Semitism.

The authors of many publications that refute the politician’s words about his parents refer to the interview that Zhirinovsky gave to Dmitry Gordon. Conversation on the website of a Ukrainian journalist dated February 8, 2005, on his YouTube channel - 2004. Even then, Gordon called Zhirinovsky’s phrase “catchphrase” and inquired about its origin. The politician replied: “It was June 10, 1991. Last round table and last questions [before the elections]. They brought me questions. To save time, since I only have a minute for each question and answer, I did not name the questions. The girl brings me a question: “What is your mother’s nationality?” I answer: “Mom is Russian.” At this time, another girl brings the question: “Who is your father by profession?” I said without pause: “Dad is a lawyer.” The journalists present decided that this was an answer to the same question...” A few years earlier, Zhirinovsky outlined the same version of events in an interview on Ekho Moskvy.

The discussion that Zhirinovsky talks about in his answer actually took place. On June 10, 1991, on Central Television, five presidential candidates of the RSFSR (with the exception of Boris Yeltsin, who did not come to the studio) talked with each other and the presenter Igor Fesunenko. TV viewers had the opportunity to send their questions, which they brought to the candidates on cards, and they answered the voters. Although it was not possible to find a recording of the entire program, a cut of fragments with Zhirinovsky’s participation is available on YouTube (apparently, quite complete). There are no questions about the origins of the politician’s father and mother.

It is possible that Zhirinovsky, in his answer to Gordon, mixed up the broadcast in which these questions were asked. In 1994, Sergei Plekhanov published the book “Zhirinovsky: Who is He?”, which contains a story about a television broadcast that took place a few days earlier, on May 31. How writes the author, “it was in this conversation that the words that became popular were heard: “Mother is Russian, father is a lawyer.” True, the two parts of this phrase were uttered as answers to two different questions, but nimble reporters brought them together and the new aphorism instantly became an indelible label.” We have not yet been able to find a recording of this broadcast.

Despite the fact that in his stories about the origin of the phrase being verified, Zhirinovsky shows consistency and changes only minor details, he usually refers to the broadcast, in which these questions and answers do not exist. It is very likely that the politician is indeed mistaken with the date of that live conversation, but there is no publicly available video recording that would formally confirm his words. However, we also failed to find any reliable evidence contradicting Zhirinovsky’s version.

Photo: press service of the State Duma of the Russian Federation

This is not accurate

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. Interview with Dmitry Gordon (2005)
2. Interview with Andrey Cherkizov (2001)
3. Interview with Vladimir Pozner (2010)