Vyacheslav Nikonov
First Deputy Chairman of the Committee on International Affairs of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.
Chairman of the Committee for Education of the State Duma of Russia, Dean of the Faculty of Public Administration of the Lomonosov Moscow State University.
Born on 5 June 1956 in Moscow
Grandson of Vyacheslav Molotov, the renowned Soviet politician and diplomat
1973: studied at the History Faculty of Moscow State University, specialising in modern and contemporary history. Following graduation, he began working for the Department of Modern and Contemporary History at the MSU
1989: became the youngest Doctor of History in the USSR
1991: served as Assistant to the Chief of Staff of the President of the USSR
August 1991: appointed as an assistant to the head of the State Security Committee (KGB) of the USSR
From 1992: served as an adviser to the International Foundation for Economic and Social Reform (Reforma Foundation) and also taught at the California Institute of Technology in the United States
April 1993: co-founded and headed up the Polity Foundation
May 1993: became one of the initiators of Club – 93
1994-1996: member of the State Duma, elected from the federal list of the Party of Russian Unity and Accord. He served as Chairman of the Subcommittee for International Security and Arms Control
January 1995: Deputy Chairman of the State Duma committee charged with investigating the emergence of the crisis situation in the Republic of Chechnya
1996: Deputy Chairman of President Yeltsin's re-election campaign
1997-2001: member of the Presidential Political Advisory Council, the Presidential Human Rights Committee and the Presidential Expert Council on Political Extremism
2006-2009: member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation and headed the organisation's committee on international cooperation and public diplomacy
2007-: Executive Director of the Russkiy Mir Foundation. He is also Chairman of the Russian National Committee of the Council for Security Cooperation in Asia Pacific.
Other appointments:
1993-: President of the Polity Foundation
2003-: President of the Unity for Russia Foundation
Head of the History and Political Science Department of the International University in Moscow
Member of the Public Council of the Russian Ministry of Defence, Public Council of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs and Academic Council of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
February 2011: appointed Dean of the School of Public Administration and Management at Moscow State University
He is also active in many political and policy organisations: President of Club – 93; Deputy Chairman of the Editorial Board of Russia in Global Affairs; a member of the presidium of the Council on Foreign and Defence Policy; a member of the board of the Russian Public Policy Centre; and editor-in-chief of "Russia's Strategy"
He is the author of over 600 works on politics, government affairs and public policy, including seven books.