Alexander Bovin

Alexander Bovin (Russian: Александр Евгеньевич Бовин, transliteration: Alexandr Yevgenyevich Bovin) (9 August 1930 – 29 April 2004) was a Soviet and Russian journalist, political scientist and diplomat, notable for being the first Soviet, and then Russian ambassador to Israelafter the re-establishment of Soviet-Israeli diplomatic relations.

Biography

Early life and education

Alexander Bovin was born on 9 August 1930, in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg), USSR. After spending his childhood in different parts of the USSR, he completed school and enrolled at theRostov State University in Rostov-on-Don, graduating in 1953 with a degree in law. After his graduation, Bovin was appointed to the regional court of the city of Khadyzhensk, serving as a judge from 1953 to 1954 (according to his memories published in 2000, he had been the youngest judge in the USSR at the time of his appointment). He was again appointed to the same position in 1955, serving for another year.

In 1956, Bovin entered the graduate school (aspirantura) at Moscow State University, obtaining a Candidate of Sciences (Ph.D) degree inphilosophy in 1959.

Political and journalistic career

After earning his graduate degree in 1959, Bovin, who had joined the CPSU in 1952, started working as the "scientific consultant" for the philosophical section of the Communist, a CPSU magazine. He worked there until 1963, when he was appointed to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union as a political consultant as part of a group, which he later led. Bovin occupied this position until 1972. During his political career, he cooperated closely with Yuri Andropov, secretary of the Central Committee at that moment. He also served as the speechwriter for Leonid Brezhnev, the General Secretary of the Central Committee and leader of the USSR, for some years.

For many years Bovin appeared on Soviet Central Television with his weekly program, Mezhdunarodnaya Panorama ("the International Panorama"), where he presented his (and the Party's) view of the preceding week's world events.

Bovin was the object of heavy criticism from the party establishment for his position on the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, which he vocally opposed, instead praising the reforms in the CSSR that led to the Prague Spring. Discredited in the eyes of the Central Committee, Bovin was suspended from his office and transferred to the Soviet newspaper Izvestia, where he worked as a political commentator from 1972 to 1991, thus beginning his journalistic career.

Political commentary and position on Israe

Bovin again exhibited his independent, slightly oppositional political stance while working for Izvestia, mainly through his objective position on Israel, which at that time had no diplomatic relations with the USSR (those had been suspended after the Six-Day War in 1967), being officially regarded a strategic enemy and attacked in numerous "anti-Zionist" propaganda campaigns. Bovin's position was much more balanced, frequently justifying Israeli policy and criticizing the Arab governments officially allied with the USSR. This gave him a specific status in Israel even before being appointed as the Soviet ambassador, where he had a generally positive image, as opposed to most Soviet politicians and political theorists.

Diplomatic career

Partly because of his more balanced position, Bovin was appointed Soviet ambassador to Israel by Mikhail Gorbachev after the thorough social and political reforms in the USSR known as the Perestroika, which directly led to the re-establishment of diplomatic relations with Israel in 1991. He took this position in December 1991, after the dissolution of the USSR had already been in progress and the treaty liquidating the state had been signed. This led to the peculiar fact that Bovin served as Soviet ambassador for one week, before being accredited as a representative of the Russian Federation, which was the successor state to the USSR in terms of foreign policy: all Soviet ambassadors became Russian ambassadors who co-represented the other now-independent republics until those opened their own diplomatic missions and appointed officials. Bovin remained Russia's ambassador in Israel until March 1997, when he was replaced due to his age. His popularity in Israel was immense and he was generally viewed in a positive light by the Israeli public, despite being the representative of a nation that was perceived as being deeply opposed to the Jewish state, due to his aforementioned political stance. After his retirement, he returned to Russia and continued his career in journalism, working for Izvestia again and ultimately retiring in 2000.

Death

Bovin died on 29 April 2004, after a brain hemorrhage.

References and external links

• Alexander Bovin, "Notes from a non-professional Ambassador" (Записки ненастоящего посла, Zapiski nenastoyachego posla), Zacharov Publishing House, Moscow, 2001 (Russian only)
• The Times Online obituary on Bovin

1. Jump up^ Aleksandr Y. Bovin, 73, Who Twitted Kremlin, The New York Times, 5 May 2004