Son of Yuri Aizenshpis Mikhail. Yuri Aizenshpis vs. his wards. Awards, further creative activities

Producer Yuri Aizenshpis was one of the first in our country to begin professionally “promoting” pop and pop stars. There were legends about this man, and his every step was shrouded in the most incredible rumors. But despite everything, all the projects that Yuri Aizenshpis took on turned out to be successful.

Contrary to the general trend, the performers who left him never threw mud at him in the press and never entered into legal battles.

Yuri Aizenshpis: biography. Childhood and adolescence

Aizenshpis was born in Chelyabinsk in 1945. His mother, Maria Mikhailovna Aizenshpis, a native Muscovite, was sent to evacuate to this city. Shmil Moiseevich Aizenshpis (Yuri's father) is a Polish Jew who was forced to leave his homeland to escape the Nazis. He fought in the ranks Soviet army and was a WWII veteran.

After the end of the war, the family returned to Moscow. Until 1961, she lived in a dilapidated wooden barracks, and then received a wonderful apartment in a prestigious area of ​​the capital. At that time they had a gramophone with a large collection of gramophone records and a KVN-49 TV.

As Yuri Shmilevich Aizenshpis himself recalled, in his youth he was seriously involved in sports: handball, athletics, volleyball, but due to a leg injury he had to stop playing. In addition to sports, the young man at that time was interested in jazz. He had a tape recorder, which the young man bought with his savings.

The first recordings were jazz compositions famous musicians world - Woody Herman, John Coltrane, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald. Yuri Aizenshpis, whose photo you can see in our article, was well versed in various directions - jazz-rock, avant-garde and popular jazz. After some time, he became interested in the origins of rock music, the founders of the rhythm and blues movement.

The circle of lovers and connoisseurs of this music in those days was very small; everyone knew each other. When one of the like-minded people had new record, Yuri Aizenshpis rewrote it. At that time, “black markets” were widespread in our country, which the police constantly dispersed. Exchange, purchase and sale were prohibited. The disks were simply confiscated from the sellers. And despite everything, records entered the country from abroad regularly, overcoming the powerful barriers of customs rules and laws. Some performers were banned - Elvis Presley, the Bary sisters.

Education

After graduating from school, Aizenshpis Yuri Shmilevich entered MESI and graduated in 1968 with a diploma in economics. But it should be noted that he entered the institute and successfully graduated only so as not to upset his parents.

First musical project

Yes, a graduate of the Faculty of Economics, Yuri Aizenshpis, did not like his specialty at all. His soul was drawn to music. While still studying at the institute, twenty-year-old Yuri began his creative activity, showing courage and business acumen.

In the mid-seventies, Beatlemania swept the world. At this time, Yuri and a group of like-minded musicians created the first rock band in our country. Since all the members of the group lived near the Sokol metro station, they didn’t go too far with the name of the group and they also called it “Falcon”. Today this group has taken its rightful place in the history of the Russian rock movement.

At first, the musicians performed songs of the legendary band “The Beatles” on English language. At that time, it was believed that rock music could only exist in English. Friends had long noted Yuri’s activity and organizational talent, so they appointed him as something of an impresario.

After some time, the team was accepted into the staff of the Tula Philharmonic. The group toured a lot, and Aizenshpis’s monthly income sometimes reached the astronomical sum of 1,500 rubles at that time. For comparison: ministerial salaries Soviet Union amounted to no more than a thousand rubles.

Ticket selling

At the very beginning of his activities, more precisely during his collaboration with the Sokol group, Yuri developed an unusual ticket sales scheme. Having previously agreed with the director of some cultural center or club, Aizenshpis bought all the tickets for the last showing of the film, and then sold them at a higher price for the group’s concert.

As a rule, there were significantly more people wanting to listen to music than there were seats in the hall. At times the situation got out of control. It was for this reason that Aizenshpis was the first to hire security guards in the seventies to ensure order at concerts.

With the money received from the sale of tickets, he purchased foreign currency, with which he purchased quality goods from foreigners. musical instruments and high-end stage sound equipment. Since all foreign exchange transactions were illegal in the USSR at that time, he always took great risks when making transactions.

Work at the USSR Central Statistical Office

In 1968, Aizenshpis joined the Central Statistical Office as a junior researcher with a salary of 115 rubles. However, he rarely visited his workplace. His main income continued to be foreign exchange transactions, purchase and further sale of gold. He made transactions whose volume exceeded a million dollars a month. At that time, the underground millionaire was only 25 years old.

Arrest

But this life did not last long. At the beginning of January 1970, Aizenshpis was arrested. During a search, $7,675 and 15,585 rubles were found in his apartment. He was convicted under Article 88 (“Currency transactions”). Even in places of detention, Aizenshpis’s entrepreneurial spirit was evident. In the "Krasnoyarsk-27" zone future producer developed a brisk trade in tea, vodka and sugar. Then he began to be appointed to management positions at local construction sites.

When he was transferred to a settlement colony, Yuri fled from there to Pechory and settled with a local intellectual, whom he charmed with his charm and conversations about the capital. However, he was soon exposed by a guest at home - a police colonel. And again, Aizenshpis’s amazing luck, as well as his knowledge of the basics of psychology, came to the rescue. He was transferred to another colony perfect place standardizer.

Yuri Aizenshpis served almost 18 years in prison for something that any citizen is now allowed to do. But something else is important: over such a long period of time, Aizenshpis did not become embittered, did not become a criminal, and did not lose his human appearance.

Life after release

Finding himself free in 1988, Aizenshpis saw an unfamiliar Russia during perestroika. Alexander Lipnitsky introduced him to the rock scene. Initially, he was entrusted with heading the directorate of the Interchance festival. Gradually, step by step, he studied behind-the-scenes life and the basics of show business, and soon the aspiring producer began working with domestic music performers.

Yuri Shmilevich formulated his purpose quite frankly - to promote the artist using any means: diplomacy, bribery, threats or blackmail. This is exactly how he acted, for which they began to call him “the shark of show business.”

There were plenty of unknown young performers who dreamed of making it to the big stage. Among them, Yuri Aizenshpis chose those who could hook the viewer, who had at least a more or less interesting repertoire. At first, he introduced them to the general public through television, and then organized tours.

Group "Kino"

From December 1989 to tragic death Viktor Tsoi (1990) Aizenshpis was the producer and director of the Kino group. He was the first to break the state monopoly on the release of records. Already in 1990, he released the “Black Album” using funds taken on credit.

It should be noted: by the beginning of cooperation with the producer, Kino was already a fairly well-known group. At that time, the most successful, legendary album “Blood Type” had already been recorded. According to critics, after him Tsoi could not write a single line for two or three years. Therefore, cooperation with Kino brought Aizenshpis to a new stellar level of activity, which allowed him to earn authority in his craft.

"Technology"

If “Kino” already had some success at the beginning of working with the producer, then the “Technology” group was fashioned almost from scratch by Yuri Aizenshpis. “Lighting up the stars” is how the producer began to be called more and more often after his second successful project. Using the example of “Technology”, he was able to prove that he could take guys with an average level of talent and “fashion” them into stars.

Among the numerous ensembles existing on the stage at that time was the Bioconstructor group, which over time split into two subgroups. One was called “Bio”, and the second was just thinking about its name and musical concept. They could show only two or three songs, which the already famous producer liked. As time has shown, Aizenshpis was not mistaken and was able to create a truly popular group called “Technology”.

Linda

In 1993, Aizenshpis drew attention to the young performer Svetlana Gaiman in Jurmala. Very soon the name of singer Linda became known to both viewers and music critics. Soon the compositions I want your sex, “Non-stop” and famous hit"Playing with fire". Linda's collaboration with the producer lasted less than a year, after which they parted ways.

Vlad Stashevsky

This project was more long-term - it lasted six years (1993-1999). The favorite half of Russian viewers, the sex symbol of the mid-nineties, was Vlad Stashevsky, who, in collaboration with Aizenshpis, released five albums.

The producer met Stashevsky at the Master nightclub. Yuri Shmilevich heard Vlad playing behind the scenes on an out-of-tune piano and singing songs from the repertoire of Mikhail Shufutinsky and Willy Tokarev. After this meeting, nothing foreshadowed long-term cooperation, although Aizenshpis left his business card for the unknown performer.

A few days later he called Vlad and they agreed on a meeting, during which Aizenshpis introduced Vlad to Vladimir Matetsky, who took part in the audition. Stashevsky’s first performance took place at the end of August 1993 in Adjara, at a song festival.

Awards, further creative activities

In 1992, Aizenshpis was awarded the Ovation Prize as the best producer in Russia. Until 1993, Yuri Shmilevich produced the groups “Young Guns”, “ Moral code", singer Linda. In 1997, he began to work with singers Inga Drozdova and Katya Lel, a year later singer Nikita became his protégé, and in 2000 he began collaborating with the Dynamite group.

During this period, Yuri Aizenshpis became especially famous as a very successful producer. The man who lit the stars on Russian stage, since 2001 he took the post of general director of the Media Star company.

Dima Bilan

Yuri Aizenshpis and Dima Bilan met in 2003. According to music critics, the last project of the famous producer, which he worked on for the last three years of his life, became one of the most successful in the work of Yuri Shmilevich. In September 2005, Dima Bilan was recognized as the best performer of 2004 by MTV, and much later became the winner of Eurovision 2008.

Other roles

In 2005, Yuri Shmilevich played a cameo role in the popular Russian film"The night Watch". In addition, he became the author of the book “Lighting the Stars.”

Family life

Aizenshpis did not like to talk about his personal life. At the Interchance-89 festival, he met a very pretty assistant director, Elena. The couple did not formalize the relationship. In 1993, a baby appeared in the family - son Misha. But gradually the feelings lost their former severity, and the couple broke up.

Yuri Shmilevich spoiled his son Aizenshpis, however, the educational process was completely transferred to Elena’s shoulders. Mikhail often visited his father’s office and went with him to concerts. Yuri Shmilevich bequeathed to his son and ex-wife two huge apartments in Moscow. After the death of the producer, Elena married the editor of the TNT channel Leonid Gune.

Yuri Aizenshpis: cause of death

On September 20, 2005 this was gone talented person, a recognized and successful Russian producer. At about eight o'clock in the evening, Yuri Aizenshpis died in Moscow City Hospital No. 20. Death was due to extensive myocardial infarction. Yuri Shmilevich was buried at the Domodedovo cemetery near Moscow.

Yuri Shmilevich Aizenshpis was born a month after the end of the Great Patriotic War in Chelyabinsk. At that time, the producer's mother was evacuated there. Yuri Shmilevich comes from unusual family. My father’s ancestors lived in Spain, but Shmil Moiseevich’s passport indicated Poland as his country of birth. Already as an adult, the man fled to the USSR, fearing reprisals from the Nazis.

Interestingly, the real name of Yuri’s father is Shmul. The NKVD officer, filling out the passport, got it wrong. This is how Shmil Aizenshpis turned out. The man went through the Second World War and visited Berlin. However, the soldier was never wounded. Yuri Shmilevich’s mother’s biography is no less interesting. Maria Mikhailovna was born in Belarus.

After the death of her parents, she was given over to distant relatives to raise. Because of the outbreak of the war, I did not have time to obtain a diploma in journalism. Maria Mikhailovna joined partisan detachment, almost fell into the hands of the Germans several times. IN post-war years was awarded medals and orders.

Yuri's parents met at the Belorussky railway station in 1944. After the end of the war, Maria Mikhailovna and Shmil Moiseevich ended up in the Main Directorate of Airfield Construction. At that time, the Aizenshpis family lived well. In their house there was a TV and a gramophone with a large collection of records.

Until 1961, the producer's family lived in a wooden barracks, but then moved to an apartment located in the Sokol district of Moscow. Yuri Shmilevich was a sporty child, attended sports school. The producer was a fan of handball, volleyball and athletics. I had to retire from professional sports due to a leg injury.

Yuri took his first steps as an administrator in his youth. In 1965, the man began collaborating with the rock group Sokol. Despite the obvious craving for show business, Aizenshpis received economic Education at the Moscow Economic and Statistical Institute.

Music and production

Yuri Shmilevich's career as a producer began while still studying at the institute. Collaboration with a rock band did not help achieve the desired heights. Then Aizenshpis went to prison for conducting illegal currency transactions. After leaving prison, the producer found himself in the perestroika world, which became the starting point for developing a career in show business.

Meeting Alexander Lipnitsky allowed Aizenshpis to become the director of the Interchance festival. Gradually, the man studied the basics of behind-the-scenes life, identified methods of influencing musicians, and later moved on to producing.

“Promote the artist - functional responsibility producer. And here any means are good. Through diplomacy, bribery, threats or blackmail,” said Yuri Shmilevich.

This approach to the matter turned out to be successful. From an ordinary producer, Aizenshpis quickly rose to the rank of show business shark. Yuri began helping performers who wanted to be on the big stage. Not everyone suited Aizenshpis. The producer, lighting the stars, chose artists who could “hook” the viewer. A prerequisite was the presence of a repertoire. To promote musicians, Yuri Shmilevich used the media and television.

In 1988, the Kino group fell into the hands of Aizenshpis. By this time, the musicians had already reached a certain level on their own, but a professional approach to promotion was required. Cooperation of two talented people- Yuri Shmilevich and - it bore fruit.

The fame of the producer and musician soared to unprecedented heights. Two years later, Viktor Tsoi dies. Aizenshpis takes out a loan of 5 million rubles and releases the musician’s posthumous album “Black Album”. The disc's circulation exceeded 1 million copies. The producer earned 24 million from this project.

Yuri Shmilevich's career developed rapidly. After “Kino” there was another group – “Technology”. In fact, Aizenshpis promoted the group from scratch. Young musicians became popular. For an unknown reason, after a year of working together, the paths of the producer and the wards diverge.

Already in 1992, Yuri Aizenshpis was recognized as the best producer in the country. A year after official recognition he meets Svetlana Gaiman, known under the pseudonym. They worked for several months, after which he began promoting the singer.

For 6 years, Yuri Shmilevich collaborated with a singer famous in the 90s. Collaboration led to the recording of 5 albums. Aizenshpis increased Vlad’s popularity and recognition significantly. The musician was invited to major concerts and events in Russia and the USA.

Yuri Aizenshpis' track record includes such stars as Nikita, the Dynamite group. The main achievement in the work of the producer was. Under the leadership of Yuri Shmilevich, they learned about the artist in Russia.

Aizenshpis described bright moments of life and work in books. The producer published “Lighting the Stars. Notes and advice from a show business pioneer,” “From a black marketeer to a producer. Business people in the USSR" and "Viktor Tsoi and others. How the stars light up." In memory of the producer, a program was broadcast on the TVC channel called “Wild Money.”

Personal life

Rumors constantly circulated around Aizenshpis. In show business they stated that the producer brought the so-called “blue lobby” into the work. Previously, women were brought to men for promotion; later, lovers of politicians and businessmen began to appear. More than once Yuri Shmilevich and the producer’s wards were called gay, but no official confirmation of the men’s orientation was found.

“Spending time in prison could have influenced Aizenshpis’s orientation,” the ex-husband suggested.

Numerous rumors did not prevent Yuri Shmilevich from living in a civil marriage with Elena Lvovna Kovrigina.

After the death of Aizenshpis, she quickly arranged her personal life by marrying director Leonid Goyningen-Güne. Yuri and Elena had a son, Mikhail. In 2014, a young man was taken into custody by the police due to drug use. During the search, Mikhail was found to have 1.5 grams of cocaine.

Death

Imprisonment had a negative impact on the producer's health. For a long time Yuri Aizenshpis hid what he had serious problems. Officially, the cause of death is myocardial infarction, but a number of diagnoses led to this, including cirrhosis of the liver, gastrointestinal bleeding, hepatitis B and C. The information that Yuri Shmilevich had AIDS, which led to death, is not documented.

Three days before his death, Aizenshpis felt unwell. Doctors decided to hospitalize the producer. After the manipulations, the condition improved, so Yuri Shmilevich persuaded the doctors to release him from the hospital. The producer wanted to see Dima Bilan receive the prestigious MTV-2005 music award.

The producer did not live to see the ceremony for two days. Aizenshpis's life was cut short at the age of 61. The funeral took place at the Domodedovo cemetery. The farewell ceremony was attended by artists, composers and other show business figures. Numerous photos of the grieving Dima Bilan spread across the Internet. The producer's grave is located next to his parents'.

Popular artist Dima Bilan Now he has no right to go on stage and release albums. On March 29, at a press conference at RIA Novosti, she spoke about this Elena Kovrigina, producer's widow Yuri Aizenshpis.

ON THIS TOPIC

At the beginning of the press conference, Elena Kovrigina announced that on the tenth day after the death of Yuri Aizenshpis, she turned to lawyer Pavel Astakhov with a request to prepare all the documents so that the producer’s son Misha Aizenshpis would take over the right of inheritance. Kovrigina was worried that her son’s rights would not be infringed.

The fact is that at the beginning of his creative activity, Victor Belan (Dima Bilan) signed a contract with producer Yuri Aizenshpis that the brand, image and repertoire of the artist “Dima Bilan” belonged to Aizenshpis’ production center “StarPro”. The contract also stated that if Dima Bilan breaks off relations with StarPro, then he is ineligible to compete for the next ten years. By Civil Code After the death of Yuri Aizenshpis, the StarPro company became the property of the son of producer Misha Aizenshpis.

Pavel Astakhov showed documents to journalists, confirming that the rights to the brand, image, and repertoire of Dima Bilan by right of direct inheritance belong to 15-year-old Misha Aizenshpis. Until the child reaches adulthood, his mother and guardian Elena Kovrigina will manage the son’s property.

According to Elena Kovrigina, she is not interested in show business and she does not intend to become involved with the artist Dima Bilan. She signed agreement with the Soyuzconcert company, to which the rights associated with the Dima Bilan project are transferred. Representatives of the Soyuzconcert company present at the press conference, in turn, stated that it is theoretically possible that they will transfer the Dima Bilan project to some Western company. Let us recall that a dispute over the rights to use the singer’s stage name flared up in September 2005 after the death of Aizenshpis. “Then Bilan disappeared from our field of vision and showed up with new owners. He left the company, believing that the death of Aizenshpis frees him from all contracts. But he has no right to just turn around and leave, because we're talking about about legally unresolved issues. This is business and nothing more,” Elena Kovrigina said at a press conference. In the fall of 2005, Elena Kovrigina negotiated with Dima Bilan’s new producer, Yana Rudkovskaya. The talk was about two million dollars, which, according to Kovrigina, Yuri Aizenshpis invested in Dima Bilan and equipment for his studio. Elena offered the new producers to reimburse the StarPro center for these costs. But the negotiations then suddenly stopped. There were no payments from Dima Bilan. The singer continued to perform, but did not respond to phone calls, and only once came to Kovrigina’s house and brought a pack of chips and a can of Coca-Cola for Misha. Elena also reported that Dima Bilan is still registered in the apartment that belonged to Yuri Aizenshpis.

By the way, Dima Bilan’s performance at the Eurovision Song Contest, like any other performances of the singer after the death of Aizenshpis, can also be interpreted as a violation of the law.

Elena Kovrigina explained her almost two-year silence by saying that during negotiations with a representative of the new producers and Dima Bilan, she promised not to make a fuss about this issue. And then I was preparing everyone necessary documents. Neither Elena Kovrigina nor Pavel Astakhov said whether penalties would be applied to Dima Bilan for non-compliance with contracts.

January 22nd, 2017

There was such a famous music producer who passed away not so long ago, but that’s not the point. Even if you have not heard of him, then perhaps as the conversation continues you will be interested in details about everyday life in the colonies of the Soviet Union.

Famous music producer Yuri Aizenshpis in Soviet time was convicted twice for currency transactions. In total, he served 17 years. But Aizenshpis realized his talent as a manager in the zone. On his first trip, he set up production at the construction of KrAZ, on the second, he managed a sawmill. Aizenshpis recalled that smart person He lived well even in the zone; his income was measured in thousands of rubles.

Here are the details...

Yuri Aizenshpis became a music producer at the age of 19. Then he studied to become an economist and worked at the Central Statistical Office. He combined music and service with currency transactions. In 1970, at the age of 25, he was imprisoned for the first time for 10 years for currency speculation. But he was released on parole for exemplary work in 1977. A year later he was convicted again under the same article and was released in 1988. In the book “From a black marketeer to a producer. Business People in the USSR,” he tells how his talent helped him become a manager in the colonies.

For five months in the Krasnoyarsk zone, I never touched a shovel or pickaxe. They could not work at a construction site either “for authority” or for money. I took more second. The parents promptly sent the starting advance amount, and then the foreman’s services were paid from “earned money.” For example, when you fulfill the plan norm, the foreman gives you orders for 160 rubles. If you work too hard to over-fulfill, for example, 200 rubles, then 80 goes to the zone for “wait”, and 120 goes to your personal account. After taxes, 100 remain. Of these, 50 go to you, and 50 to the foreman. No more than 10% of all prisoners participated in such a conspiracy, since the construction of the facility was also required. Not everyone knew how to find “paths” to the hillock, and even fewer could competently implement a scheme for transferring money home and back. Well, some work addicts simply worked like elephants and went home rich people. Just before I arrived in the zone, one such hard worker was released from there, having earned 5,000 rubles in two years!

This turned out to be an unexpected discovery: you can earn good money through forced labor. Not as significant as in foreign exchange transactions, but more than in research institutes. At the same time, only a maximum of 15 rubles per month was allowed to be spent in a kiosk shop: a basic amount of 9 rubles + 4 production rubles (if you meet the production norm) + 2 incentives, if you worked well and did not disturb the order. In general, it was sparse, and only two food parcels of 5 kg per year were allowed. However, the conditions and opportunities for quality food here turned out to be much better. All you had to do was apply a little intelligence and imagination, and correctly take into account local specifics.

And the specific thing was that when the cordon was removed, anyone could enter the territory of the facility under construction. And hide vodka, money, food - whatever you want - in one of the many secluded places! All you had to do was have money, not on a card, but in real money. The worked out financial scheme was as follows: money was transferred from the card to Moscow to my parents, then sent by reverse telegraphic transfer to a free resident of Krasnoyarsk, and then forwarded to me. As a rule, civilians who worked next to us. And although there were about 50 supervisors snooping around the entire construction site, although freemen were strictly forbidden to have contact with prisoners, it was not possible to detect numerous violations. And why, if it benefits everyone?

The zone built a large Komsomol shock construction project - KrAZ, Krasnoyarsk Aluminum Plant. Meanwhile, my career also took off: from a workshop worker, I rose to become an assistant in the plant management. An engineering position whose main functions are accounting and labor organization. Every day I kept track of the payroll, I knew exactly who was in which detachment and in which brigade, what term they received and for what they received it. At the request of the superiors, I instantly gave out information about where this or that prisoner was currently located - in the isolation ward, hospital or at work. If at work, then where exactly, what he does, what are his performance indicators. My statistical education has been of great use to me!

I was given a separate office, which I soon hung with graphs of operational reports, numbers of work output, labor productivity and other numerical characteristics. And I did this job better than many experienced business executives, of whom there were also plenty in the zone: both in the noisy business of the Ocean store and in the illegal export of diamonds to Israel. Although the salary was the same as that of an ordinary Soviet engineer - 120 rubles.

A high position also entailed certain life benefits, which in any zone are given to only a few of the most significant prisoners in the structure. I had lunch separately, which was much tastier and more nutritious than the others, sometimes I cooked it myself in the office on a small electric stove. He even organized feasts! My menu always included scarce products. Through the civilian staff, I was actively in contact with the will, and sometimes even asked the senior warden to bring vodka and sausages. The contractors who were subordinate to me could take a person from one part of the zone to another, from residential to industrial. And not alone, but with a load. Do you understand how you can benefit from this?

The zone's leadership did not pay attention to the petty abuses of the contractors, and their privileged position was easily explained. This includes construction, repairs, and crafts—prison crafts. Checkers and chess, pens, knives, lighters - the need for cunning inventions. And to your home, and big man give it away, maybe sell it at the market. Consumer goods are a completely separate topic in the life of the zone, one of the sources of money and concessions, and if you are handy, you will not be lost. Of course, only 15-20 people are in a privileged position, no more. Their jobs are closed at the expense of the main production, and they live like chocolate - no checks, no regime.

When I sat down for the second time, the word “colony” had already become slang; correctly this institution should have been called “ITU”. The ITU was headed by a chief and a number of his deputies: for operational work, political and educational, for production and for general issues. Each deputy had departments, and the deputy for production was also the director of the plant where the prisoners worked. The plant produced furniture and garden houses, but the main product range was housing for Soviet televisions.

More than 30 people were crammed into the large office of the head of the correctional facility - heads of all detachments, heads of various services. There, distribution took place among detachments and workshops. They called me on the carpet. I said that I was an engineer-economist by training and had serious work experience. He did not hide his ambitions and readiness for the most responsible positions. In general, I inspired such trust that I was immediately appointed head of the assembly shop.

This is how I, a simple Soviet prisoner, found myself in a leadership position. My responsibilities primarily included implementing the plan, visiting operational operations, and working closely with the administration and with convicts. We had to put pressure on the Bugors, who, by local standards, are very serious comrades. I had to argue with the administration, proving that I was right. I had to work a lot.

The quality of leadership is determined not so much by knowledge and education, but by experience and a special mindset and character. I not only had an understanding of statistics, accounting, and economic assessment of the situation, but also possessed the qualities of a leader, enviable energy and activity. I was interested in psychology and philosophy and successfully applied my knowledge in practice. Whether a tramp, a criminal, an authority figure or a hard worker - I found with everyone mutual language and had good relationships. And, of course, the life and prison experience that I have already gained. At the same time, I always preferred to remain myself and do things according to my own understanding. So, for example, during all the years in captivity I did not make a single tattoo, considering it below my aesthetic principles.

My new status- head of the assembly shop, my employees - 300 people. Our workshop received numerous wooden parts, covers, bottoms, and reflectors. They had to be processed, adjusted, glued and pre-polished before final varnishing, which was no longer carried out by us. Clean the shirt. If there is a crack, open it with a scalpel, push the emulsion in there and “fry” it with an iron. Practically surgery. Each prisoner had to give out 26 such boxes every day. And then the Quality Control Department begins to meticulously inspect them, outline all sorts of shortcomings and defects with white chalk, and sometimes reject up to half of the products.

The main and immediate task I saw was clearing the area from the rubble of defective products. 70% of the usable space was occupied by tall catacombs from floor to ceiling. Narrow corridors pierced them like ant passages, with the last rows often containing large “pockets”. There, the prisoners organized secluded rookeries, where they did God knows what. And I attacked the marriage with a powerful attack, and its number began to decrease. But all this horror accumulated over the years, passed from one boss to another along the balance sheet, and the numbers no longer corresponded to reality.

The director of the enterprise could not be happier and encouraged me in every possible way. And if earlier the workshop had difficulty fulfilling the daily plan, now other important nomenclature indicators that characterize economic activity: efficiency, productivity.

I also minimized theft, but in the zone they steal everywhere and everything. They steal what is needed and what is not needed, what is bad and what is good. It seems like there are fences and castles all around, thorns and security - don’t believe your eyes! Logs and plywood, boards and nails, fine and coarse sandpaper - if it can be dragged, it will be dragged. Go to the village, which is in the zone, and there you will certainly find a lot of everything stolen from behind bars. This has never happened to me, complete control over the storekeepers, no one will steal or take anything away. At night everything was locked with massive bolts, so even a mouse couldn’t get through.

All visiting inspections marked my workshop against the background of all others. Everything was flying for me, like on a conveyor belt, no one stood idle, no one was idle, everything was ticking like a clock. I received guests and inspectors in my personal account, with magnificent furniture made of mahogany veneer, treated them to good tea with delicious sweets, and for some time the sense of who was who was lost.

The workers in the assembly shop constantly felt my care; I was practically their own father. It manifested itself not only in beautiful locker rooms, cozy showers and simply in clean production. I encouraged and supported their diligence and ingenuity in every possible way: if they met the production quota, they got the opportunity to shop for an additional 3-4 rubles in a stall, if they exceeded the plan, I signed lists for additional tea. Up to 5 packs per month. He tried to ensure that they wore high-quality workwear; almost all working workers wore a shiny melustin uniform.

Of course, high status brought me certain dividends. Good food, free movement from working area to the living quarters and back, the opportunity not to attend roll calls, unlimited contacts with civilians. I was granted visits of maximum duration twice a year for three days.

Then I began to step on the sawdust, made several improvement proposals, and even found buyers to whom I sent a hundred or even more wagons of compressed sawdust. The total economic effect of my innovations amounted to several million rubles, that is, even if I caused damage to the country with my speculation, now I have more than covered it.

I completely cleared the area of ​​waste, and the village began to experience a shortage of firewood. After all, previously a truckload of wood was taken out of the zone gates for just a bottle of vodka! They even got angry at me, but I continued to do my job. For the implementation of rationalization proposals, I received a certificate from the Minister of Internal Affairs of Mordovia and a number of patents. And if I had not been a prisoner, they would have nominated me for the title of Honored Innovator of the RSFSR. But very big monetary reward—10,000 rubles—I still got it after leaving the zone. And in the wild it was very useful to me.

sources

Yuri Shmilevich became famous while working with the legendary rock band Kino. Thanks to Aizenshpis, Russians became acquainted with the work of many talented people who to this day release hits and sell out audiences. He was called " godfather» Russian show business.

1. Aizenshpis’s parents are Jews. Maria Mikhailovna is a native Muscovite. Father, Shmil Moiseevich Aizenshpis, a Polish Jew, fled from Poland to the USSR, fleeing the Nazis, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War.

Little Yura with his parents

2. In his youth, Yuri Shmilevich was seriously interested in sports - volleyball, handball and athletics. However, at the age of 16 he suffered a serious leg injury and was forced to quit the sport.

3. At the age of 16, he already organized semi-underground concerts of the first Soviet rockers, and then became the administrator of the Sokol group, with which he even got a job at the Tula Philharmonic. Since the musicians toured a lot, Aizenshpis’s monthly income reached 1,500 rubles (Soviet ministers then received only a thousand).

4. Yuri Aizenshpis does not have a musical education. In 1968, he graduated from the Moscow Institute of Economics and Statistics with a degree in economic engineering.

5. In 1968, 23-year-old Aizenshpis resigned from the Philharmonic and went to work as a junior research fellow to the Central Statistical Office of the USSR with a salary of 115 rubles. But the “major”, who smelled of French perfume, rarely showed up at the workplace. His main income was currency fraud, as well as the purchase and sale of gold. Every evening he contacted big amount people - taxi drivers, prostitutes, waiters and even diplomats (for example, the son of the Indian ambassador). “The volume of transactions that I made,” said Aizenshpis, “reached up to a million dollars.” The underground millionaire was then only 25 years old.

The trial of currency traders in the USSR

6. In 1970, Aizenshpis was arrested for money fraud and spent a total of almost 18 years in “places not so remote.” Some of them are in the settlement. During all the years of imprisonment, he did not get a single tattoo.

Photo from the book “Lighting the Stars. Notes and advice from a show business pioneer"

7. In the “Krasnoyarsk-27” zone, there was brisk speculation in tea, sugar and vodka. Then he began to occupy leadership positions at local “construction sites of the century.” Once in a colony-settlement, he escaped from there to Pechory and, having charmed a local intellectual, began to live with her. He was exposed by a guest at home - a police colonel, but amazing luck and knowledge of psychology helped Aizenshpis out. He was transferred to another colony to a cushy job as a normalizer. And during his second imprisonment, Aizenshpis received a number of patents and even a letter from the Minister of Internal Affairs of Mordovia for his rationalization proposals.

8. From December 1989 until the death of Viktor Tsoi in 1990, he was the director and producer of the Kino group. He was one of the first to break the state monopoly on the release of records, releasing the “Black Album” in 1990 using money taken on credit.

Musicians of the group "Kino" and Aizenshpis at the presentation of the "Black Album". Source: wikimedia.org / by New Look Media Team

Viktor Tsoi and Yuri Aizenshpis

9. Yuri Shmilevich was the producer of such famous musical groups like "Technology", "Moral Code" and "Dynamite". Thanks to him, Russians recognized Linda, Vlad Stashevsky, Katya Lel, Nikita and pop singer Sasha.

Yuri Aizenshpis with members of the Dynamite group

Vlad Stashevsky and Yuri Aizenshpis

10. It is believed that it was Aizenshpis who brought the “blue lobby” into Russian show business. Allegedly, at first the cool guys brought their mistresses to the producer to promote their mistresses, and then they started bringing their lovers too. “Spending time in prison could have influenced Aizenshpis’s orientation,” says Alexander Stefanovich, ex-husband Alla Pugacheva.

11. Singer Dima Bilan, who conquered Eurovision, is the latest and probably the most successful project of producer Aizenshpis.

With Dima Bilan

12. Member of civil marriage with Elena Kovrigina. In 1993, the couple had a son, Mikhail. After the death of Yuri, Elena married the editor of a television program on the TNT channel, Leonid Gune.

With his wife Lena and son Misha

Yuri Shmilevich with his son Misha

13. Aizenshpis spoke rather disparagingly about his own income, saying that he earns exactly enough to provide for his family and pay telephone conversations. True, in exchange for the stolen Volvo, he nevertheless acquired two other cars - a Pontiac Bonneville and a Ford Explorer.

14. Yuri Aizenshpis died on September 20, 2005 from a myocardial infarction. He was buried near Moscow next to his parents at the Domodedovo cemetery.