Oleg Viktorovich Morozov

Oleg Viktorovich Morozov (Олег Викторович Морозов) is a Russian and former Soviet politician.

He has the federal state civilian service rank of 1st class Active State Councillor of the Russian Federation.

Ninella Georgievna, his mother, came originally from the Kursk region, but had studied in Kazan and was a graduate of "Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov University" (as it was known after 1925 during the Soviet era).

She worked throughout her life for the local Defence Industries Enterprise.

Morozov's parents were determined that the boy should go through the rest of his life equipped for "a real profession", and when, in 1971, the opportunity arose to move on to university his father urged him to obtain a practical degree, in a subject such as Engineering, Physics or Mathematics, but Morozov enrolled to study at the History-Philology faculty of the Kazan Federal University In 1976 Morozov graduated from the university with a so-called "red diploma" degree (indicating consistently high marks).

During the early 1980s, before entering mainstream politics, he was himself employed in the universities sector.

He is fluent in German.

Morozov was born at Kazan.

His father, Victor Stepanivich Morozov, came originally from a farming community in Izmaylovo, a village in the Baryshsky District.

Victor Stepanivich was a red army veteran of the Great Patriotic War, which he survived with medals and the rank of colonel, despite being twice wounded.

In 1980 Morozov was offered the position of a research assistant at the History-Philology faculty, a position which could be combined with study for a postgraduate degree.

The offer carried a virtual guarantee of a university job once the higher level degree had been obtained, and was also financially attractive in its own terms.

He accepted the offer and for the next few years, as a "pre-professor" ("доцентом"), combined his research and study with teaching students.

In 1980 he successfully defended his doctoral dissertation with the title "critical analysis of West German interpretations of socialist internationalism in theory and in practice" ("Критический анализ западногерманских интерпретаций теории и практики социалистического интернационализма") and received his doctorate.

Also in 1980 he was sent to teach at the university department for "Scientific communism" ("Научный коммунизм").

At around the same time he was awarded a "Candidate of Philosophical Sciences" ("кандидат философских наук") degree, an interim higher-level degree marking a significant step along the path to a full university professorship.

During 1983–84 he undertook a one-year internship in the department for Political Sciences at the University of Bonn in West Germany.

It was a highly unusual opportunity at the time: he appears to have been selected for it simply because he had been identified as "one of the department's most successful teachers".

On his return to Kazan in 1984, he settled to progressing what seemed likely to be a stellar career at the university.

There was an important dissertation to be completed.

A year later Perestroika arrived and across the Soviet Union a lot of the old assumptions began to shift in all sorts of ways - and at a speed - that few would have anticipated until the Gorbachev changes suddenly began.

In 1985 Morozov was elected to membership of the university party committee ("партком").

At around the same time, still only aged 29, Morozov was offered and accepted a university assistant-professorship in the department for "Scientific communism" ("Научный коммунизм").

Between 1985 and 1987 he served as a deputy secretary with the university party committee.

Later, at 33, he became the chief of the regional department for agitation and propaganda.

The Gorbachev changes since 1985 nevertheless meant that the gerontocracy was losing its monopoly of power and influence.

There were already large numbers of new faces around the Central Committee.

As soon as it became obvious that everything was "going well" Morozov's family joined him in Moscow.

Between 1987 and 1989 he headed up the Tartar regional committee department for the CPSU nationally, a position he held concurrently with the regional Agitprop headship.

In 1989 he accepted a new job, working now as an instructor at the Central Committee's Science and Education department.

Working directly for the Party Central Committee was in many respects a significant promotion, but it meant relocating to Moscow: that meant leaving the city which he loved and in which he had lived all his life.

It meant missing out on the company and support of many friends.

By 1991 Morozov was working as an assistant to the chief of staff of President Gorbachev.

His immediate superior in the government hierarchy was Valery Boldin, a leader among the government insiders who removed the president from office later that year.

The coup d'état took place during the holiday month of August while the Morozovs were out of town.

They were staying with friends in Volgograd.

He was a deputy in the State Duma between 1993 and 2012 and again since 2020.

From May 2012 till March 2015, he worked as head of the presidential office for domestic policy.

He supports the United Russia party.

He served as a member of the Federation Council between September 2015 and September 2020.