"Professor of Work Sciences"

Vasily Shandybin died

On December 30, 2009, the charismatic politician, State Duma deputy of the second and third convocations Vasily Ivanovich Shandybin died. He himself called himself a “professor of labor sciences.” Voters loved him, considering him a simple, honest man who defended the interests of the working people.

Shandybin's biography is very unusual. He worked for more than 30 years at the Bryansk Road Machine Plant, and in 1994 he began his political career. First, the “professor of labor sciences” became a deputy of the Bryansk Regional Duma, and a year later he entered the Federal Duma on the list of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. In parliament, the workers' deputy was remembered for his eccentric actions. For example, in the Duma of the second convocation he remained seated in the presence of President Boris Yeltsin during the performance of the national anthem. In the third convocation, he got into a fight with deputy Alexander Fedulov. Then, during the hearing of the president’s annual address to the Federal Assembly, he began to loudly criticize Vladimir Putin.

Later, Shandybin himself claimed that it was this incident that cost him his deputy badge. In the Duma elections in 2003, the politician lost to United Russia businessman Nikolai Denin, and there was no place for him on the federal list of communists. Shandybin made several more attempts to regain his status as a deputy, but he was invariably removed from the elections.

In 2007, the “Bryansk worker” left the Communist Party and joined the “agrarians”. In the parliamentary elections, he occupied third place on the list of the Agrarian Party of Russia, but it did not enter parliament. In October 2008, the “agrarians” joined United Russia, which Shandybin actively protested against. In March 2010, he was going to return to politics and run from A Just Russia as a candidate for the post of head of one of the districts of the Tver region.

Despite the fact that in recent years Vasily Shandybin has not worked in the State Duma, interest in him has not waned not only from journalists, but also from filmmakers. In particular, he was filmed in a cameo role in the film “Night Watch” and was invited to participate in television reality shows. The image of the working deputy was inspired by Madame Tussauds London, which included him in the list of candidates for making wax sculptures.

Vasily Shandybin was buried on January 3 at the Mitinskoye cemetery. Of his former colleagues in the Duma, only LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky came to say goodbye to him.

Ksenia VERETENNIKOVA