“I felt how the social fabric and matter are arranged”

Today in Moscow they said goodbye to political scientist and journalist Gleb Pavlovsky. About a hundred people came to see off the man who created a significant part of Russian political reality, including his relatives, former colleagues and friends. None of the major political figures recognizable today were present.

The funeral service and farewell to Gleb Pavlovsky took place in the funeral hall of the Central Clinical Hospital (CCH) in Moscow. By 11 o’clock, several dozens of his relatives, colleagues and acquaintances had gathered there. In the center of the hall, on a podium, stood the coffin with the body of the deceased. Red roses and carnations lay in rows at their feet. A meter from the headboard stood three wreaths, two of which were signed – “from the Foundation for the Development of Civil Society” and “from the Association of Political Consultants.”

The funeral hall filled with about a hundred people. However, few chose to speak publicly. Dissident, one of the co-founders of Yabloko Vyacheslav Igrunov called Gleb Pavlovsky an epochal person: “But he was not the face of the era. And he will not close this era with his departure. On the contrary, Gleb was a man who challenged this era, walked across it and tried to restrain it. And the era took revenge on him, overturned him and forced him to endure a crushing defeat. He said that all Pavlovsky did was to continue the search “which burned him in his youth and youth.”

And this search, according to Mr. Igrunov, has not ended to this day. “Gleb belonged to a small handful of people who love their homeland and know for sure that without urgent reforms, without immediate changes, the country is doomed to death,” he added. “For Gleb, it was important to convince the authorities to change and convince those who opposed it take some of the responsibility for these changes.”

Vyacheslav Igrunov also said that the political scientist knew that defeats are sometimes more fruitful than victory, that they not only teach, but also build a person.

“I think that his defeat should not depress us either,” Mr. Igrunov added. “He should be happy for his life – he did everything he could, he said everything he wanted.”

After that, a letter from political scientist Vladimir Pastukhov was read out: “Gleb is presented mainly as a political strategist – and this is a mask drawn by him. Still, of course, as a publicist, a public figure. But, for me, all this is secondary. His real significance is that he was a good theoretician who felt how the social fabric and matter worked. He generated meanings, concepts that were often misunderstood, sometimes false, but always original. It will be difficult to compensate.”

The former head of the presidential administration Alexander Voloshin, head of the presidential Council for Human Rights Valery Fadeev, economist Alexander Auzan, former municipal deputy Yulia Galyamina (included in the register of foreign agents) and politician Marina Litvinovich also came to say goodbye to the political scientist. But there were none of the major political figures recognizable today.

The political scientist’s body is cremated in Moscow, the burial place will be known later.

Anna Vasilyeva