He is used to setting an example

Memory of Dmitry Zimin

We agreed with Dmitry Borisovich Zimin unexpectedly: he called, invited him and for pies and glasses of vodka proposed composing a prize for Russian -speaking scientific enlighteners. You need to understand that 15 years ago there was no scientific scientist written in Russian. It was - the residual - Soviet, reprinted by decades, and was a new, translated. “Nothing will appear,” he took the objections. I preferred to believe the intuition of a person who managed to create a mobile communications system in a country where not everyone had ordinary wired phones. And Zimin again guessed where the market unfolds: in the first year, we hardly gained a short list, there was no long list, then two nominations appeared, then I had to take away from hundreds of books ... Or maybe not so much I guessed how I used to push the story in the right direction.

And he is also used to setting an example. For example, an example of a voluntary rejection of power.

During our last meeting, he joked: “At 80, it is easier to be a democrat than at 40”, but in fact he always behaved like a democrat.

At first, without impulsion, he moved to the role of the honorary president of the company he created, so as not to restrain its development. In the first year of the existence of the “Enlightener”, I autocraticly decided to award award; In the second year, he became one of the equal members of the jury, and then generally abandoned the right of vote so as not to put pressure on professionals. He reserved an advisory voice - to have the right to participate in meetings that gave him intellectual pleasure.

In general, he adored smart people. And he really liked to create conditions for their self -realization. He dreamed that the third Thursday of November, when his prize was awarded, would become an all -Russian day of the enlightener. And he was most upset, observing the corrosion of rationality, and in the mass consciousness, and in the actions of the authorities. He became one of the first Russian multimillionaires who invested almost all earned capital in charity; He was answered by the fact that the Dynasty Foundation (dedicated to science and only science) was declared a foreign agent. The Enlightener Award, created by it, grew with new nominations, both book and digital, and at the same time spent the last year of his life away from Russia. And not only because of household and medical reasons. As a people's loving person, he still did not give up; When we saw him for the last time, during the “Enlightener” ceremony, Zimin bitterly joked: “It's warm, calm, just paradise. I wonder if this is an accident or I deserve it? "

You deserve, Dmitry Borisovich. Without you, the country is not complete, the enlightenment is not complete - and the world is not complete. Thank you for everything - and eternal memory.