He is awarded the prize for the book about science fiction writers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky and his protection of St. Petersburg architectural heritage

Press Release, 12.06.2023

Photo: Boris Vishnevsky / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

Boris Vishnevsky, Deputy Chairman of the Yabloko Party, won the Petropol Prize. He is awarded the prize for the book about science fiction writers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky and his protection of St. Petersburg architectural heritage. The Prize is awarded annually for achievements in the field of culture and art, and philanthropy.

The Petropol Prize was established in 1999, the year of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, and is awarded for achievements in the field of culture and art. The laureates of the previsous years were such outstanding figures in the field of culture and art as writer Andrei Bitov, sculptor Mikhail Shemyakin, actress Alisa Freindlikh, musicians Yuri Shevchuk and Boris Grebenshchikov, actors Sergei Yursky and Oleg Basilashvili, writer Daniil Granin, film director Eldar Ryazanov, violinist Sergei Stadler and many others.

Boris Vishnevsky wrote about the award ceremony in his Telegram channel:

“Speaking after the award ceremony, I said that when one reads the books by the Strugatsky brothers again now, one gets scary, because one realizes that we live in the [antiutopian] worlds described by them, as in the world of the Prisoners of Power book, under continuous radiation from the Propaganda Towers, which only a small minority can resist, or in the world from the Hard to Be a God book, where faithful rather than smart people are needed, and five years in prison rather than five strikes with a rod are given for an unenthusiastic way of thinking.

That I hope that we will see a return to a normal world, calm, kind, bright and safe, where the country is not a “besieged fortress” any more, and there are not “enemies around”, but friends.

I wish peace to all. And I wish you to take care of yourself and your loved ones and remain human.

I was taught to reduce the amount of evil in the world and increase the amount of good.

This is what I have been trying to do to the best of my ability.”

BORIS VISHNEVSKY

is Deputy Chairman of the Yabloko Party, member of the Yabloko Federal Political Committee and Bureau, and an MP of the Yabloko faction in the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg