Malour Sturua Honored Worker of Culture of the RSFSR, laureate of the V.V. Vorovsky Prize, laureate of the Alexei Tolstoy Prize, professor at the Hubert Humphrey Institute of Public Relations at the University of Minnesota (USA) Date of Birth: 10.04.1928 Country: USA

1. Early Life and Family Background
2. Education and Early Journalism Career
3. The London Years
4. The New York Years
5. Return to Washington and Academia
6. Journalistic Legacy

Early Life and Family Background

Mélór Sturuá was born on April 10, 1928, in Tbilisi, Georgia. His father, Georgy Sturuá, was an old Bolshevik who had spent many years in prison. His mother, Nina Sturuá-Abuladze, came from an impoverished Georgian aristocratic family. His father's brothers (Mélór's uncles) fought alongside the Red Army in the capture of Tbilisi, while his mother's brothers (former tsarist officers) defended it as part of the Menshevik Guard. The marriage between Georgy and Nina was considered a misalliance on both sides. Only the birth of their first child, Mélór, reconciled the Georgian Montagues and Capulets.

Education and Early Journalism Career

Sturuá attended Tbilisi Secondary School No. 1, a renowned institution where many of Georgia's greatest poets had studied. It was there that the "germ of poetry" was instilled in him. Upon graduating high school with honors in 1944, he enrolled in the International Faculty of Moscow State University (later the Moscow State Institute of International Relations). However, his father's accusations of "Trotskyist sympathies" barred him from a career in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Instead, Sturuá ventured into journalism.

In 1950, Sturuá joined the staff of the newspaper "Izvestiya," where he remained for an unprecedented 53 years. Initially, he wrote short articles under the rubric "On the Topics of Foreign Life." When Alexei Adzhubei became editor-in-chief, Sturuá played a significant role in Adzhubei's innovations, including the launch of the supplement "Nedelya."

The London Years

In 1964, Sturuá was appointed as Izvestiya's correspondent in London. His tenure there saw him cultivate an extensive network of contacts in British high society and gain exclusive interviews with Queen Elizabeth II, Prime Minister Harold Wilson, and others. He covered the legendary 1966 England World Cup, capturing the attention of Soviet readers.

The New York Years

In 1968, Sturuá was transferred to New York as Izvestiya's correspondent. However, his extensive journalistic connections during the Cold War were perceived as "dangerous." He was recalled to Moscow in 1972 and became deputy editor of Izvestiya's foreign desk for five years. In 1979, he covered the fall of Saigon.

Return to Washington and Academia

In 1987, Sturuá was expelled from the United States by the American administration in retaliation for the expulsion of Newsweek correspondent Andrew Nagorski from Moscow. Upon his return, he became a member of Izvestiya's editorial board but was again banned from foreign travel. In 1990, he received an invitation from the Carnegie Foundation to become a senior associate and co-chair of the U.S.-Soviet project. He moved to Washington and continued to contribute to Izvestiya.

In 1992, Sturuá became a professor at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. He is the only Russian political scientist to have worked at all three major centers of American political science.

Journalistic Legacy

Sturuá has written tens of thousands of articles and published over 30 books, many of which have been translated into foreign languages. He has covered countless Soviet-American and Russian-American summits and interviewed numerous U.S. presidents. His work has earned him numerous awards, including the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, the Order of Friendship of Peoples, and the prestigious awards of the Union of Soviet and Russian Journalists.