Monument to Mikhail Evdokimov in Altai. Death and funeral of Mikhail Evdokimov. Chronicle of events. One of the most important reasons

On August 7, 2005, at about eleven o'clock in the morning, the life of the famous and beloved artist, governor, was tragically cut short Altai Territory, Mikhail Evdokimov.

Official version

According to official version, governor's car Mercedes 500 (state number O 100 OO) on high speed rushed along the Chuysky tract from the village of Verkh-Obskoye to Polkovnikovo. In the area of ​​the Bulanikha station, at the turn to Pleshkovo, Evdokimov’s driver Ivan Zuev, despite the continuous markings, overtook the Toyota Sprinter driving in front. At this moment, the driver of the Sprinter turned on the turn signal and began the maneuver - turning left. Zuev turned the steering wheel, but the cars still hit the tangent, the Mercedes flew off the road to the left and, flying at least twenty meters above the ground, crashed into a birch tree. The front part was almost destroyed by the impact. The airbags burst. The driver and the bodyguard sitting next to him were killed. Mikhail Evdokimov also died. As the investigation would later find out, his neck was broken. Miraculously, his wife, Galina, survived: her legs were broken.

After the tragedy became known, the accident site was cordoned off. The work of the group, which included police officers and prosecutors, was carried out near the car until the night. Galina Evdokimova, in “stable serious” condition, was taken to a hospital in a nearby village, and from there by helicopter to Barnaul. To investigate the causes of the tragedy, a commission was created, headed by the Deputy Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Siberian Federal District Lyubov Burda.

What people said

The car accident gave rise to a flurry of rumors. “Evdokimov was removed!” - the people decided unanimously. And not without reason. Confrontation between the people's governor and Legislative Assembly region began immediately after Evdokimov’s inauguration. In the spring of 2005, deputies twice assessed the administration's work as unsatisfactory and passed a vote of no confidence in the governor. They did not like that Evdokimov removed officials from their positions and installed others. Relations became tense when the head of the region at a session of the Legislative Assembly refused to read a report on economic situation region, pointing out to the deputies that they would turn over any figures as they please.

The public was also confused by the fact that a few days before the accident, the governor was deprived of traffic police escort vehicles, which were supposed to clear the road and ensure safety. Galina Evdokimova later recalled that her husband was very nervous about this and feared an assassination attempt. Folk version said that the day before, the head of the local Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Valkov, was summoned to Moscow and offered to leave his post. The governor did not stand up for him and therefore lost his motorcade and security.

Thirdly, the accident near Bulanikha turned out to be similar to the accident in which the mayor of Barnaul Bavarin died. There was also the Chuysky tract, traveling on high speed The mayor's Land Rower, an oncoming car - and a coup, the security systems did not work. The driver, security guard and mayor also died, but Vladimir Bavarin’s wife remained alive.

Cospirological versions

Two conspiracy theories immediately appeared. According to the first, the accident was carefully staged. Ivan Zuev was interrupted by an oncoming car that drove head-on. The version was fueled by rumors that supposedly in Novosibirsk the police were checking foreign cars with Altai license plates - they were looking for that same car. Zuev’s colleagues in the garage spoke in favor of this version.

The second version claimed that the governor was alive after the accident; he was finished off by breaking his neck. Evdokimov’s friends were amazed that the first to arrive at the scene of his death was the ex-governor of the region, Alexander Surikov, who did not like Edokimov.

What the experts say

Experts from the magazine “Behind the Wheel” conducted an independent examination of the accident.

The calculation showed that the speed of the Mercedes was no less than 149 km/h - this is evidenced by the braking trail of 84 meters. It was the Sprinter that hit the Mercedes in the rear right door. The car flew off the highway and crashed into an earthen embankment. Experiments have shown that the drivers are both to blame. Zuev exceeded the speed limit and overtook, and the Sprinter driver had the opportunity to see the flying Mercedes and not turn. He had 4.5 seconds to do this.

The examination confirmed that the ABS of the governor’s car did not work and the car skidded, but for some reason the investigation was not interested in this.

According to rumors A service Mercedes, just the day before it was being serviced.

The area of ​​the highway is very busy, but one person witnessed the accident.

Spriner driver Oleg Shcherbinsky was initially found guilty of traffic violations and was sentenced to four years in a penal colony, but after the intervention of human rights activists he was acquitted.

To understand what really happened, you need to be on the spot: a highway with excellent coverage, an unregulated intersection, a small hill in front of it, making visibility difficult. In the summer, on weekends, on this section of the Chuysky tract you can see several such accidents in the evening. Of course, several factors are to blame for the governor's death. And if they didn’t kill him, then they definitely destroyed him. Indifference, outright hostility and even bullying.

Now at the site of Evdokimov’s death there is a chapel in honor of the Archangel Michael.

I always bowed before this undeservedly forgotten great Man. I created a post because we began to forget the people who wanted to change Russia. Also, this post is a reminder that honest people have nothing to do in politics.

« navigable river will not slow down its waters,
And the state won’t notice the man’s disappearance.
There have already been a lot of men killed in the state,
Well, so what now - one is still missing.”

(Oleg Mityaev, lines from a song in memory of Mikhail Evdokimov)

Mikhail Evdokimov was born on December 6, 1957 in the city of Stalinsk (now Novokuznetsk) Kemerovo region. Father, Sergei Vasilyevich, is a worker. Mother, Anna Petrovna, was born in 1924, worked at the mine. Evdokimov has six brothers and sisters. In 1958, the family moved to the village of Verkh-Obskoye, Smolensk district, Altai Territory.

IN teenage years Mikhail managed to try many classes. After school, he created his own VIA in his village, organized concerts, entertained and parodied those around him.
After graduating from school, Mikhail Evdokimov studied in Barnaul at the cultural and educational school in the balalaika department.

After graduating from college, he worked as an administrator in a city canteen and as a grinder at the Altai Motor Plant. An important stage in his life was his military service, which he served in Nizhny Tagil. There he met his future wife Galina, whose house was located opposite the unit where Mikhail served. Immediately after meeting, he began persistent courtship.

In 1978-1979 he held the position of artistic director of a rural cultural center in the village of Ust-Katun, Smolensk district, Altai Territory. In 1979 he entered the Novosibirsk Institute of Trade and was captain of the KVN team. In 1981, he dropped out of school and went to Moscow, for which he was expelled from the institute.

Shortly before his departure, he got married in Tagil. The young wife already knew about his intention to conquer the capital: “Even before the wedding, we had such a conversation,” said Galina Evdokimova. - With a visit to me, he was then heading to Moscow to enter the circus school. Misha asked if I would mind if he became an artist. I replied that I would support her. Moreover, God gave him not just the ability to perform on stage, but talent. Then I went to Misha’s concerts - they were always impromptu. He even told his “Bathhouse” in different ways. Every time I heard it for the first time.”

Soon after the wedding, the Evdokimovs' daughter Anya was born, but the family saw each other only periodically for a very long time, waiting until Mikhail had the opportunity to take his wife and child to him. This would happen only in 1985, but four years of separation only strengthened the Evdokimovs’ marriage.

Subsequently, in the 2000s, Mikhail graduated from the Institute of Trade, which by that time had been renamed the Siberian University of Consumer Cooperation (specialty - “economics and enterprise management”).

The conquest of the capital was not easy for Mikhail, since admission to the circus school, which he was so eager to get into, ended in failure. But Evdokimov was not deterred by either the difficulties or two years of living in rented rooms, and in 1983 he was invited to the Moscow Philharmonic, and later to the Mosconcert. Evdokimov began his stage career as a conversational artist, and a year later he made his debut on television, starring in the festive “Ogonyok”, dedicated to the holiday March 8.

Real fame came to Evdokimov in 1989, when he took part in the filming of the television program “Full House”. He started out as a parodist, but very soon found his own image, which became a favorite for both him and the viewer. A village peasant, a Russian hero - slanting fathoms in his shoulders, an untucked shirt, an open soul - this is how Evdokimov was remembered and loved by the public.

Evdokimov's stage career developed rapidly. Confident and talented, he easily entered the artistic environment, captivating everyone with his talent and spontaneity.

In 1992 he graduated from the Faculty of Variety Directing at GITIS in Moscow. From 1992 to April 2004 he was the director of Evdokimov Theater LLC.

He starred in several films: “Memories of the Cow March” (1991), “I Don’t Want to Get Married” (1993), “About Businessman Thomas” (1993), “Don’t Play the Fool” (1997), “Should We Send a Messenger?” ? (1998), “Old Nags” (2000). He took part in voicing animals in Natalia Bondarchuk’s dilogy “Bambi” (“Bambi’s Childhood”, 1985, “Bambi’s Youth”, 1986, Gorky Film Studio). He made his own programs “Enjoy Your Bath!” (“Channel One”), “Mikhail Evdokimov among friends” (“Russia”), “Don’t be bored!” (“Russia”), “We must live” (TVC). He has released several CDs with songs performed by himself.

Despite his phenomenal popularity, Evdokimov never felt disconnected from ordinary people. He often went home if he had a chance free time, helped relatives with money and gifts.

In the early 2000s, Mikhail Evdokimov began to shift his attention to other areas of activity. His interest was drawn to politics as the most direct path to direct and significant help to people.

Evdokimov’s political career developed rapidly. In April 2004, he won the elections for the post of governor of the Altai Territory. However, it was this seemingly fortunate turn of fate that brought him a lot of trouble. Find mutual language It turned out to be difficult with deputies and local authorities. Mikhail was perceived as an artist who took aim at power using his own popularity. There have been repeated discussions in the press about his competence and suitability for the position he holds. Twice they expressed official distrust of Evdokimov.

He himself always spoke about his problems with humor, and always in a masculine manner: “You know, my rise to power causes some kind of rejection among many. Well, tell me, what’s wrong if I, having some weight in society, try to help my people? How am I bothering someone? Yes, I'm an artist. This was my main thing. I have achieved a lot in this field. But life makes adjustments to fate. And now I have decided for myself that I can do more as a politician. Actors are a priori loved. But a politician cannot be loved by everyone. You can't please everyone.

Why did I do this? I just want to do the most important thing in this life – improve people’s lives. Can this be blamed? I personally have everything. But I know that I can do more for those who believe in and love me."

Many friends, and even his wife, did not approve of Mikhail Evdokimov’s departure into politics: “I was very surprised and tried to dissuade him. He consulted with many - both with childhood friends, with friends - artists and athletes Mikhailov, Sergei Makarov, Evgeniy Lovchev, Pankratov-Cherny. I thought he would talk about this topic and the issue would end there. And he decided to act."

On August 7, 2005, Mikhail Evdokimov died in a car accident, along with his driver Ivan Zuev and security guard Alexander Ustinov. The accident occurred early Sunday morning on the Biysk-Barnaul highway. The purpose of the governor’s trip was the village of Polkovnikovo, where celebrations dedicated to the 70th anniversary of cosmonaut German Titov were planned. The Mercedes car in which Evdokimov was driving made an unsuccessful maneuver, trying to avoid a collision with a Toyota traveling towards him. The car slid into a ditch and full speed crashed into a tree. Three men in the car died from their injuries at the scene of the accident. Also in the car was Galina Evdokimova, but she survived the accident and was able to recover after many months of operations and hospital rehabilitation.

Mikhail Evdokimov was buried in his native village of Verkh-Obskoye, Altai Territory.

Several books have already been written about him and several films have been made posthumously. Much more will be written and filmed. Mikhail Evdokimov is an iconic personality in the post-Soviet space. The last of the Mohicans, who did not fit and would never fit into any format, whether we are talking about culture or politics. All the guises in which he appeared to his contemporaries are capitalized. Artist. Singer. Governor. Man. He was a holiday man, no matter how incredible work it cost him. A wonderful humorist who was never vulgar, all his humores are about love, tender, touching. The singer, who performed “On the Mountain, on the Hill” in the era of totalitarianism, seems to know something intimate about life. An actor and director who, like fellow countryman Shukshin, made not a serial soap for commercial gain, but a real movie. A reliable friend, on whom Alexander Mikhailov, and Alexander Marshal, and Oleg Mityaev - and everyone with whom he was friends from school - could rely, as if on themselves.

In the very place where a little less than a year ago the famous pop artist Mikhail Evdokimov suffered a car accident, tragedy struck again today. At approximately 07:00 Moscow time, a serious accident occurred there, resulting in the death of one person. An investigation is currently underway. Oleg Khovalkin, Deputy Head of the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate of the Central Internal Affairs Directorate for the Altai Territory, went there.

The accident happened in the Zonal district on the ill-fated section of the 319th km of the M-52 highway (Barnaul - Biysk) - at the turn to the village called Pleshkovo. Gross violation of the rules traffic led to the fact that two cars, a VAZ-2106 and a VAZ-2110, collided on the roadway, one of them with Barnaul and the other with Novosibirsk license plates. There were five people in each car.

According to the employees who went to the scene of the accident law enforcement, the picture of the incident looked something like this: the driver of the “six”, turning left, did not miss the “ten” moving in the opposite direction.

Since the VAZ-2110 was moving at high speed, the collision was severe. One person died on the spot, the other nine, including two children, were injured varying degrees gravity. Six of those involved in the accident received medical assistance, but refused hospitalization. Three hospitalized victims had traumatic brain injuries. They were delivered to surgery department Central District Hospital of the Zonal District to conduct examinations and, if necessary, operations. According to the deputy chief physician for the medical department of the district hospital, Svetlana Izboldina, two child passengers are currently in a condition of moderate to mild severity.

Let us recall that a little less than a year ago - on August 7, 2005 - almost in the same place, at a turn in the highway, the governor of the Altai Territory, Mikhail Evdokimov, died as a result of an accident. The Mercedes car in which the official was traveling crashed into a Toyota Marino at high speed. The Toyota driver Oleg Shcherbinsky was just preparing to turn off the highway. After the collision, the governor's car lost control, literally flew off the roadway and crashed into a tree. Along with Evdokimov, the driver and the security guard became victims of the accident, and the governor’s wife was hospitalized with serious injuries.

After a long investigation began trial, during which Oleg Shcherbinsky was recognized as the culprit of the disaster, but human rights activists and motorists from all over Russia came out in his support. The driver spent several months in a pre-trial detention cell. During this time, Russians who sympathized with him held a whole series of rallies and speeches, which, for the most part, provoked a review of the sentence. On repeated process.

According to the preliminary version, the accident occurred due to the fault of the driver of the governor's official Mercedes: he violated a number of traffic rules, including significantly exceeding the speed limit. While avoiding a collision with a Toyota Sprinter, the car flew into a ditch and crashed into a tree.

The traffic police escort crew was absent next to the governor’s car, as were the flashing lights on the Mercedes. As Mikhail Evdokimov admitted in one of his interviews with RG, he “was never able to get used to driving with flashing lights.” But, as residents of the region know, he preferred driving fast: a Mercedes 500 with license plate “O 100 OO”, which he inherited from the previous head of the region, moved along the highway at a speed of about 200 kilometers per hour. The governor left his native village of Verkh-Obskoye for the village of Polkovnikovo - the events were to take place there holiday events dedicated to the 70th anniversary of cosmonaut German Titov. The tragedy occurred 15 kilometers from the village of Zonalnoye, at a highway intersection. At about 11 a.m. local time, driver Ivan Zuev began to overtake a Toyota Sprinter before turning to the village of Pleshkovo. However, the Toyota turned left at the intersection, and in order to avoid a collision, the governor’s driver was also forced to sharply turn the steering wheel. As a result, the Mercedes, touching the Toyota tangentially, flew into a ditch at great speed (according to eyewitnesses, it flew about 20 meters over the side of the road, without even crushing the grass) and crashed its engine compartment into an old birch tree. The airbags deployed around the perimeter of the car, but they were torn apart by the powerful impact.

The driver and bodyguard (seven business trips to Chechnya, father of a three-month-old son), sitting in front, died on the spot. Mikhail Evdokimov also died immediately - as was later established, his cervical vertebrae were broken.

Only Galina Evdokimova, who was sitting behind the driver, survived - she had fractures in both legs. A man driving a Toyota Sprinter (five people were traveling in this car, including two children) stopped and tried to help the victims. However, he was unable to open the doors of the Mercedes, which were jammed from the impact.

In the very first seconds after the accident, emergency services began receiving calls from eyewitnesses - the Barnaul-Biysk highway was very busy. The license plate number of the damaged vehicle was also provided. Ten cars immediately left Biysk at the scene of the incident: rescuers, " ambulance", the State Police Department, as well as the police, the FSB and the prosecutor's office. A little later, a helicopter from the Center for Disaster Medicine arrived. Galina Evdokimova was hardly evacuated from the car and taken by ambulance to the hospital in the village of Zonalnoye. A few hours later, when it became clear that her life was nothing is in danger, she was sent by helicopter to Barnaul City Hospital No. 1. Now the condition of the governor’s widow is described as “stable and serious.”

Only at about five o'clock in the evening local time, rescuers removed the body of Mikhail Evdokimov from the wrecked Mercedes and sent him to Barnaul by helicopter. It took another two hours to extract the corpses of the driver and security guard; they were transported to the regional center by road. The operational-investigative group, which includes employees of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Siberian Federal District, as well as the Department of the Prosecutor General's Office, continued to work at the scene of the disaster until late in the evening. A criminal case has been initiated under Article 264 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Violation of traffic rules resulting in the death of two or more persons).

The investigation of the tragic incident was taken under personal control by the presidential envoy in Sibirsky federal district Anatoly Kvashnin. To identify in detail the causes of the tragedy, members of a specially created commission headed by Deputy Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Siberian Federal District Lyubov Burda went to the Altai Territory.

Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday sent a telegram of condolences to the Altai Territory. In particular, it says: “The death of Mikhail Sergeevich is an irreparable loss for his family and friends, for everyone who knew and highly valued this bright, talented and charming person.” Also yesterday, the head of the presidential administration, Dmitry Medvedev, who is spending his vacation in Altai, visited Mikhail Evdokimov’s wife Galina in the hospital.

After the first reports of the governor’s death, the media and the regional administration received a flurry of calls. The disaster gave rise to many rumors in the Altai region. Versions have emerged that the death of Governor Evdokimov was not an ordinary road accident. The press service of the Altai Territory administration was even forced to make an official statement and explain that Mikhail Evdokimov died in an accident that was not rigged. And indeed, so far there is no reason to believe that Evdokimov’s death occurred as a result of someone’s malicious intent.

The confrontation between Mikhail Evdokimov and the legislative branch of government began immediately after the inauguration of the new governor. Mikhail Evdokimov did not live up to the expectations of the local elite, depriving many of its representatives of high positions that they had previously occupied. Therefore, any of his miscalculations resulted in multiple scandals at meetings of the Council of People's Deputies. This spring, for example, deputies twice - in March and April - rated the administration's work as "F" and passed votes of no confidence on Evdokimov and his team. In May, a new vice-governor, Mikhail Kozlov, joined the Evdokimov administration, and at the same time a restructuring of the bureaucracy began. Evdokimov even proposed in May that all members of his administration resign (since the deputies were twice dissatisfied with the work of his team), in order to then begin anew the formation of the regional government. At the same time, Evdokimov invited the deputies to participate in the creative process, but Alexander Nazarchuk stated that “the regional Council will not take part in any events related to the formation new administration under the leadership of Mikhail Sergeevich Evdokimov, will not participate."

In the meantime, the duties of the governor have been entrusted to Mikhail Evdokimov’s deputy, Mikhail Kozlov. He has already had phone conversation with Vladimir Putin. Kozlov discussed the current situation with the head of the presidential administration.

The last appearance of Mikhail Evdokimov among ordinary residents was sport games in his homeland in the village of Verkh-Obskoye, which took place at the very end of last month. On the evening of July 31, Evdokimov sang for about 40 minutes for fellow villagers and holiday guests at the village stadium.

Last night, at a meeting in the regional administration, a funeral commission was created. It has been tentatively decided that the civil funeral service will take place on Tuesday, August 9. The burial place will be agreed upon with the relatives of Mikhail Evdokimov - it is possible that his grave will be in Verkh-Obsky.

By the way

Mikhail Evdokimov became the fourth head of the region to die tragically in modern history Russia. On April 28, 2002, the governor died in a plane crash Krasnoyarsk Territory Alexander Lebed. On October 18, 2002, on Novy Arbat, a hired killer shot and killed the governor of the Magadan region, Valentin Tsvetkov. On August 20, 2003, a helicopter carrying Sakhalin Governor Igor Farkhutdinov crashed in Kamchatka.

direct speech

Valery Chikov,
screenwriter, director:

Did Mikhail Evdokimov and I discuss his entry into politics? Would this tragedy have happened if he had not left the stage?.. Firstly, you cannot escape fate. And secondly, with such a large personality, he felt a little cramped on the stage.

A man is interested in passion. It doesn’t matter whether it’s cards, football, women or hunting... He also had a passion - football. And cinema. Because he grew up in rural areas. And when the film was brought to the village, it was a real holiday - a whole breakthrough into another world. In one village he watches, say, a comedy by Gaidai, the projectionist transports it to another, Misha gets on his bicycle and rides after him... This boyish love lived in him constantly.

In my films “About businessman Thomas”, “Should we send us... a messenger” and “Don’t play the fool” Mikhail Evdokimov played his main film roles and made his debut as a film artist. In the film “About Businessman Foma” he played a rural machine operator who decided to step into capitalism along with the whole of Russia, but his entire business was destroyed and burned. It was a parable story about what a hunched-over freak new people come into our lives economic relations. Then he and I shot the second film, “Don’t Be a Fool,” about how a man went to catch logs and caught a barrel of alcohol. He threw a holiday in his village, the men went on a spree, fought, and again they burned everything. In the third film, “Shouldn’t we send... a messenger,” Evdokimov’s hero, a bankrupt farmer, goes to the president to talk to him about how to develop Russia. And as a result, he picks up a homeless boy at a crossroads and brings him home to his wife. That is, the moral result of his trip was simply to pick up an orphan... There were still plans. Distant. He said: “Come to Altai, we’ll make a movie. I’ll film for free - I can’t pay for money, I now hold an administrative position...” I promised: Misha, I’ll be free now, and we’ll definitely do something... But see how things turned out...

In the film "About Businessman Thomas" Vitaly Leonov played with him. Vitaly Leonov died. I called my wife, found out where he was buried, and went with Misha to the cemetery. It was spring. Misha was not such a megastar yet, but people already recognized him. We crawled through this cemetery, got dirty, could not find the mound of Vitaly Leonov - the graves there are numbered like crazy... We go out onto the asphalt path, and suddenly we see a monument to Andrei Sakharov. And we stand with flowers, knee-deep in clay. Misha then says: “Valera, next time we’ll bring it to Vitalik, let’s put it here.” We stood there, kept quiet, went to the car... Now Misha himself has to carry the flowers...

He lived, and I knew that if anyone was in trouble, he would never refuse to help his friends. His people sometimes let him down, sometimes even betrayed him, but he could forgive the weakness - condescend to understand, be higher... An absurd, offensive and incredible loss.

Mikhail Evdokimov - Soviet and Russian artist, who performs in the genre of parody and also reads humorous monologues. In addition, Mikhail Evdokimov is familiar to the public as a singer, actor and TV presenter. The artist also began political career and even realized himself as a politician, becoming the fourth Governor of the Altai Territory.

Mikhail Sergeevich Evdokimov was born in December 1957 in Novokuznetsk (at that time Stalinsk), Kemerovo region. He grew up in a family of simple workers who worked hard to feed and raise their seven children. My father was a laborer, my mother spent her whole life in a mine.

When Mikhail was one year old, the family moved to the village of Verkh-Obskoye, in the Altai Territory. Mikhail Evdokimov considered it his real homeland. Here he spent his childhood and youth. In Verkh-Obsky he graduated from school, after which he entered the Barnaul Cultural and Educational School, where he chose the balalaika department. To obtain a working specialty, Evdokimov completed a 4-week course for grinders and went to earn money at the Altai Motor Plant.

After army service in Nizhny Tagil, Mikhail Evdokimov worked for a year as the artistic director of a rural cultural center. And in 1979 he became a student at the Novosibirsk Institute of Trade. Here the artistic talent of this Altai nugget shone in full force. Soon, the charming red-haired guy was chosen as the captain of the institute’s KVN team. Here Evdokimov finally understood what he would like to do all his life.

To make a career and not waste time, Mikhail Evdokimov went to the capital. Here he made an unsuccessful attempt to enter the circus school, after which he returned home and completed his studies at a trade university. But the dream of becoming an artist did not disappear. Therefore, in 1983, Mikhail Sergeevich again went to Moscow. And the capital accepted him: Evdokimov was accepted into the regional philharmonic as a conversational artist.

Humor and creativity

The artist's debut took place on Women's Day - March 8, 1984. Mikhail Sergeevich first appeared on screen in the festive concert of Ogonyok. From that moment on, his career developed rapidly. A few months later, the comedian was invited to the program “Around Laughter.” After several performances, the whole country knew who Mikhail Evdokimov was.

For several years, the colorful comedian made people laugh with his parodies and hilarious monologues in the “Around Laughter” program. The most popular was the cycle “Village Stories”, or “Village Stories”, in which Mikhail Evdokimov appeared on stage as a simple village guy from the people. He told funny stories about going to the bathhouse, hunting, fishing and ordinary problems that villagers face.

A distinctive feature of Mikhail Evdokimov’s performances was a simple, lively language and an abundance of vernacular and dialecticisms - the artist sacrificed literary speech for the sake of a stage image. At the same time, the humorist’s author’s monologues turned out to be so close to the audience that they instantly diverged into quotes and turned into sayings and aphorisms, which people not familiar with the work of Mikhail Evdokimov mistake for village folklore.

In this regard, the audience especially liked the humorous monologue “After the Bath,” which Evdokimov reads on behalf of a citizen who was taken into custody by the police. For example, the phrases “I’m not red, but my face is red”, “dyn-dyn-dyn”, “oh, I don’t know what to tell you”, “my head dries up on its own after the bath”, “I’m going and not touching anyone”, “ the whole mood dropped,” “reusable paddle” came into circulation precisely after Mikhail Evdokimov said them from the stage.

At the very end of the 1980s, Mikhail Sergeevich, who always dreamed of getting a higher theater education, entered GITIS. He continued to perform. Not a single holiday concert broadcast by central television channels could take place without it.

In the early 1990s, a cinematic biography of Mikhail Evdokimov began. Over the course of 10 years, he starred in 7 films. The most striking and memorable of them are “I don’t want to get married,” “Should we send us a messenger?” and “About businessman Thomas.”

During these same years, it turned out that the artist was also talented in music. Evdokimov released records with his songs. The best of them are called “We must live”, “Get off, bad life!”, “House by the Road” and “Countrymen”.

But the main thing in Mikhail Sergeevich’s work remained the conversational genre and parodies. In 1992, the artist founded the Evdokimov Theater. For 12 years he was its permanent leader. In 1994, Mikhail Evdokimov was awarded the title of Honored Artist of Russia.

Policy

Mikhail Sergeevich Evdokimov first thought about a career as a politician in the mid-1990s. During these years he ran for State Duma from Barnaul. But he managed to get to the political Olympus only in 2005. The artist became the head of the administration of the Altai Territory. As experts noted, Evdokimov in his election program used the familiar image of an “honest man”, proclaiming the phrase “Jokes aside!” as his slogan.

His main rival, the current governor of the Altai Territory, Alexander Surikov, lost to Evdokimov in the second round, dubbing the artist’s victory “Schwarzenegger syndrome.”

The reign of Mikhail Evdokimov is assessed differently. Some experts argue that his approach to many of the problems that had accumulated in the region was unprofessional, which is why a power crisis emerged in Altai a few years later. In the spring of 2011, the regional council passed a vote of no confidence in Mikhail Evdokimov and his administration. The proposed resignation had to be approved by the head of state.

There is another point of view. Evdokimov allegedly “stepped” on the established business interests of many representatives big business in Altai, including destroying drug trafficking, from which many representatives of the old government “fed”.

The protracted conflict was resolved by the unexpected death of the governor.

Personal life

The truth that the politician and the artist had more than just a legal marriage surfaced after his death. The personal life of Mikhail Evdokimov hit the top news and was discussed for a long time in the yellow press after it turned out that he had two illegitimate children.

The eldest of the illegitimate children is already adult daughter Anastasia, who chose journalism as her own path. As a result of the division of property after the death of Mikhail Evdokimov, the girl’s family was able to prove their blood relationship and received an apartment on Rublyovka.

The youngest is the son Daniil, born in 2004, whose mother was the black model Inna Belova.

Officially, the artist married only once. His wife was Galina Nikolaevna Evdokimova. In this marriage a daughter, Anna, was born. But, as it turned out, Mikhail Sergeevich had two secret romance. Nadezhda Zharkova gave birth to another daughter, Anastasia. And the dark-skinned Russian model Inna Belova became a mother only son Evdokimov - Daniil.

Death

On August 7, 2005, Mikhail Evdokimov’s car crashed in an accident on the Biysk-Barnaul highway, which subsequently caused the artist’s death. The official cause of the tragedy was that the driver lost control and the Mercedes flew into a ditch. The driver, the security guard and Evdokimov himself died on the spot. His wife Galina survived, having received multiple injuries.

The funeral of the 48-year-old artist and politician took place in Mikhail Evdokimov’s native village of Verkh-Obskoye.

A criminal case was opened into the accident. Law enforcement officers and observers had suspicions about the accident, although officials in the first days after the accident completely denied any possibility that the tragedy was deliberately staged.

This theory has a number of indirect evidence. Firstly, shortly before the accident, Mikhail Evdokimov, after a conflict with the regional internal affairs bodies, lost his escort vehicles. Secondly, the governor himself, shortly before his death, told his relatives: he knows that he will soon be killed. The wife and children of Mikhail Evdokimov also spoke in favor of this theory.

However, the investigation did not consider the version of a staged accident, much less look for the motives for such an action. Although journalists and a number of politicians expressed the idea that Mikhail Evdokimov had fundamentally crossed the path of one of his colleagues with his fight against corruption and drug trafficking from neighboring Kazakhstan.

In memory of this tragedy, the film crew of the detective series "Citizen Chief" in the third season showed a plot clearly based on this accident, albeit with a note that all coincidences are random. In the series, the characters investigate the death of a governor with the similar surname Akimov in an accident.

Concerts are also regularly held in memory of the artist. In December 2017, a concert was held in the Sibir concert hall in Barnaul in honor of the 60th anniversary of Mikhail Evdokimov.

Filmography

• 1986-1987 - “The Koloboks are conducting the investigation”
• 1991 - “Memories of the Cow March”
• 1993 - “About businessman Thomas”
• 1993 - “I don’t want to get married!”
• 1996 - “Full House and Co”
• 1997 - “Don’t be a fool”
• 1998 - “Should we send a messenger?”
• 2000 - “Old Nags”

Monologues

• 1987 - “After the Bath”
• 1988 - “Mother-in-Law”
• 1991 - “Our whole life is a parody”
• 1991 - “Broad Soul”
• 1997 - “Love”
• 1999 - “Debt”
• 1999 - “Case”
• 2001 - “Chasing the Ducks”
• 2001 - “Discrimination”
• 2001 - “Day of Sobriety”
• 2002 - “No time to live”
• 2002 - “Joker”
• 2003 - “Grandfather”
• 2003 - “At Night”
• 2003 - “Inventor”