Biography. Inna friends about life in California and how not to forget the Russian language in America Mikhail friends

Russia 22x20px Russia

Alexander Abramovich Friends(May 10, 1955, Leningrad) - Soviet and Russian player of mind games. Master of the game "What? Where? When? "(ChGK), winner of the Diamond Owl prize, as well as a six-time winner of the Crystal Owl prize, three-time world champion in the sports version of ChGK, director of the St. Petersburg branch of the International Association of Clubs of ChGK. A multiple participant in the television games "Brain Ring" and "Own Game", in which he established a number of achievements.

By profession - system engineer; He served as the head of television programs for the St. Petersburg channel "STO".

Biography

Alexander Druz was born on May 10, 1955 in Leningrad. In a Jewish family.

In 1972 he graduated from the Leningrad secondary school No. 47 named after. K. D. Ushinsky. In 1975 he graduated from the Leningrad Industrial and Pedagogical Technical School of PTO with a degree in electrical engineering, master of industrial training. In 1980 he graduated with a degree in systems engineering. He was in the construction business. Since 1991, Alexander Druz has been teaching schoolchildren. He worked at the 171st French gymnasium and at the Physics and Mathematics Lyceum No. 239. He repeatedly organized school tournaments in the ChGK of urban and international significance.

For merits in the field of education he was awarded the medal "In memory of the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg".

Mind games

In 2009, as a legionnaire, he played for the Nikita Mobile TeTe team at the championships of Uzbekistan in Brain Ring (1st place) and in What? Where? When?" (2nd place), then at the I Open Cup of Tashkent (1st place in "What? Where? When?" and "Brain Ring", as well as in the overall standings - 2nd place in the erudite quartet) and Connoisseur-2009 in Eilat (including 2nd place at the Olympic tournament in "What? Where? When?"). In the same year, he played for the Great Britain national team at the Nations Cup in the game “What? Where? When?" in Kirov.

In 2010, he also played several times for the Nikita Mobile TeTe team, which won the VII Uzbekistan Championship, and then the VIII World Championship in the city of Eilat (Israel). In 2011 and 2012, this team won the national championship without a Master, but at the IX and X World Championships of those years, he joined the NMTT team. In Odessa (2011), together with the team, he became a silver medalist, and in Saransk (2012) - gold (becoming the only three-time world champion in the game "What? Where? When?").

According to the IAC ChGK website, he is one of the 11 players who took part in all ten world championships in sports “What? Where? When?" .

A family

  • Wife Elena Druz is a doctor,
  • Two daughters: Inna and Marina, both also play What? Where? When? ” and were awarded with Crystal Owls.
  • Granddaughter Alice (born 2008).
  • Granddaughter Alina (born 2011) [ ] [[C:Wikipedia:Articles without sources (country: Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#property" was not found. )]][[C:Wikipedia:Articles without sources (country: Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#property" was not found. )]]
  • Ansley's granddaughter (b. 2014)
  • Granddaughter Roni (born 2016)

Both daughters studied at the Physics and Mathematics Lyceum No. 239, where Alexander Druz still trains youth teams of experts, and also holds games “What? Where? When?" in a modified format for the entire school.

Write a review on the article "Friend, Alexander Abramovich"

Notes

Links

  • LJ-author - Alexander Druz in LiveJournal

An excerpt characterizing Friends, Alexander Abramovich

But the baby did not have time to answer ... Something worse than our first "acquaintance" jumped out from behind the dense trees. It was something incredibly nimble and strong, with a small but very powerful body, every second throwing out a strange sticky "net" from its hairy belly. We didn’t even have time to utter a word when both of them got into it together ... Stella, with a fright, became like a small disheveled owlet - her big blue eyes looked like two huge saucers, with splashes of horror in the middle.
I had to urgently come up with something, but for some reason my head was completely empty, no matter how hard I tried to find something sensible there ... And the “spider” (we will continue to call it that, for lack of a better one) in the meantime is quite dragged us, apparently, to his nest, preparing to "supper" ...
– Where are the people? Almost suffocating, I asked.
- Oh, you saw - there are a lot of people here. More than anywhere... But they are, for the most part, worse than these beasts... And they won't help us.
- And what do we do now? - mentally "chattering my teeth," I asked.
“Remember when you showed me your first monsters, you hit them with a green beam? - already again with might and main mischievously sparkling eyes, (again, recovering faster than me!), Stella asked fervently. - Let `s together?..
I realized that, fortunately, she was still going to give up. And I decided to try, because we still had nothing to lose ...
But we didn’t have time to strike, because at that moment the spider stopped abruptly and we, feeling a strong push, flopped to the ground with all our might ... Apparently, he dragged us to his home much earlier than we expected ...
We found ourselves in a very strange room (if, of course, it could be called that). It was dark inside, and complete silence reigned ... There was a strong smell of mold, smoke and the bark of some unusual tree. And only from time to time some faint sounds were heard, similar to groans. As if the "suffering" had no strength left at all ...
- Can't you light it up somehow? – I quietly asked Stella.
“I already tried, but for some reason it doesn’t work ...” the little girl answered in the same whisper.
And right in front of us, a tiny fire lit up.
“That's all I can do here. - The girl sighed sadly.
In such a dim, sparse light, she looked very tired and seemed to have matured. I kept forgetting that this amazing miracle child was only five years old! she is still a very tiny girl, who at the moment should have been terribly scared. But she courageously endured everything, and was even going to fight...
- Look who's here. the little girl whispered.
And peering into the darkness, I saw strange “shelves” on which, like in a dryer, people were lying.
- Mom? .. Is that you, mom ??? – quietly whispered a surprised thin voice. - How did you find us?
At first I did not understand that the child was talking to me. Having completely forgotten why we came here, I only then realized that they were asking me specifically when Stella pushed me hard with her fist in the side.
“But we don’t know what their names are!” I whispered.
Leah, what are you doing here? – sounded already male voice.
- I'm looking for you, daddy. - Stella mentally answered in Leah's voice.
– How did you get here? I asked.
“Surely, just like you ...” was the quiet answer. – We were walking along the shore of the lake, and did not see that there was some kind of “failure” ... So we fell there. And there this beast was waiting... What are we going to do?
- Leave. I tried to answer as calmly as possible.
– And the rest? Do you want to leave them all? Stella whispered.
“No, of course I don’t! But how are you going to get them out of here?
Then some strange, round hole opened and a viscous, red light blinded his eyes. Head squeezed with ticks and deathly wanted to sleep ...
- Hold on! Just don't sleep! Stella screamed. And I realized that it had some kind of strong effect on us. Apparently, this terrible creature needed us completely weak-willed so that he could freely perform some kind of his own “ritual”.
“We can’t do anything ...” Stella muttered to herself. - Well, why doesn't it work? ..
And I thought she was absolutely right. We were both just kids who, without thinking, embarked on very life-threatening journeys, and now did not know how to get out of it all.
Suddenly Stella took off our superimposed "images" and we again became ourselves.
- Oh, where is mom? Who are you?... What did you do to your mother?! the boy hissed indignantly. "Get her back immediately!"
I really liked his fighting spirit, bearing in mind the hopelessness of our situation.
“The thing is, your mother wasn’t here,” Stella whispered softly. - We met your mother where you "fell" here from. They are very worried about you, because they cannot find you, so we offered to help. But, as you can see, we weren't careful enough, and ended up in the same terrible situation...
– How long have you been here? Do you know what they will do to us? I asked quietly, trying to speak confidently.
- We recently ... He always brings new people, and sometimes small animals, and then they disappear, and he brings new ones.
I looked at Stella in horror.
- This is a real, real world, and a very real danger! .. This is no longer the innocent beauty that we created! .. What are we going to do?
- Leave. - Again stubbornly repeated the baby.
We can try, can't we? Yes, and grandmother will not leave us if it is really dangerous. Apparently, we can still get out on our own if she doesn't come. Don't worry, she won't leave us.
I would like her confidence! .. Although usually I was far from shy, but this situation made me very nervous, because there were not only us, but also those for whom we came to this horror. And how to get out of this nightmare - I, unfortunately, did not know.
- There is no time here, but it usually comes at the same interval, approximately as there were days on earth. - Suddenly the boy answered my thoughts.
– Has it already been today? - Stella asked, obviously delighted.
The little girl nodded.
- Well, let's go? - she looked at me carefully and I realized that she was asking to “put on” my “protection” on them.
Stella was the first to stick her red head out...
- Nobody! she rejoiced. - Wow, what a horror! ..
Of course, I could not stand it and climbed after her. It really was a real “nightmare” there!.. Next to our strange “place of confinement”, in a completely incomprehensible way, human beings hung upside down in “bundles” ... They were hung by their legs, and created, as it were, an inverted bouquet .
We got closer - none of the people showed signs of life ...
- They are completely "pumped out"! Stella was horrified. “They didn’t even have a drop of vitality left! .. That’s it, let’s run away !!!
We rushed as fast as we could, somewhere to the side, absolutely not knowing where we were running, just to get away from all this blood-freezing horror ... Without even thinking that we could again fall into the same, or the same even worse, damn...
It suddenly got dark. Blue-black clouds rushed across the sky, as if driven by a strong wind, although there was no wind yet. In the depths of the black clouds dazzling lightning flashed, the peaks of the mountains blazed with a red glow... Sometimes swollen clouds were torn apart by evil peaks and dark brown water flowed from them like a waterfall. This whole terrible picture was like the most terrible of the terrible, a nightmare ....
- Daddy, darling, I'm so scared! - the little boy squealed thinly, forgetting his former militancy.
Suddenly, one of the clouds “broke”, and a dazzlingly bright light blazed out of it. And in this light, in a sparkling cocoon, the figure of a very thin young man, with a face as sharp as a knife blade, was approaching. Everything around him shone and glowed, black clouds “melted” from this light, turning into dirty, black shreds.
- Blimey! Stella screamed happily. - How does he do it?
- Do you know him? I was indescribably surprised, but Stella shook her head negatively.


Alexander Druz since his appearance on television in 1981 in the game “What? Where? When?" very quickly became popular and recognizable. In it, in an incomprehensible way, restraint coexisted with the excitement of a real player. Of course, the intellectual had many admirers. But it can be confidently called monogamous. He has known his wife for more than half a century, and in September 2018 he will celebrate 40 years since the wedding.

school love


They met in first grade. It cannot be said that they instantly became friends, and then the school friendship grew into love. They just studied together for 2 years, and after that Elena's family moved to another area. But the girl's mother believed that Alexander was a very good boy, so he should be invited to visit. And for a couple of years, Sasha Friends regularly went to Elena's birthday. And he invited her to his birthday parties, respectively.

True, Lenochka did not understand why Friends were visiting. While all the children happily played and talked, Sasha picked up a book, sat in a corner and spent all the time in the company of a book.


Their connection was soon interrupted, but Sasha kept the girl's home phone number in his notebook. And when, after a few years, I decided to congratulate all the girls I knew on International Women's Day, I called Lena. He was curious about how much his childhood friend had changed and proposed to meet.

Elena later recalled how she could not wait for the end of the date. Sasha just told her non-stop jokes. But she still went on a second date. She does not hide now: at first she simply used Alexander. He helped her to do physics, and during the dates in St. Petersburg he talked a lot and interestingly about the sights of his native city.


But somehow imperceptibly, the relationship grew from friendly to romantic. By the end of school, they both no longer doubted: it was love. But they were in no hurry to go to the registry office.

A smarter approach to life


Alexander and Elena decided to get an education first and only after that start a family. Alexander did not immediately go to the institute through the competition, but entered the industrial-pedagogical technical school and only then graduated from the institute. Elena became a student of the First Medical. Although she dreamed of just teaching, she did not find the strength to resist the decision of her mother.

Surprisingly, Lena's mother, who treated Sasha so warmly in childhood, suddenly turned out to be almost his ideological enemy. She always adhered to communist views, while Alexander, for some reason, expressed seditious, in her opinion, thoughts. He was a clear supporter of dissidence.



But as a result, the daughter announced that Friends had proposed to her, and her mother simply had to come to terms with her choice. The future mother-in-law herself did not experience any particular joy about this.

The newlyweds settled with Elena, and here Alexander learned to show miracles of diplomacy. He didn't get into arguments or talk about politics. In addition, he tried to control that his mother did not watch those programs that led her to an exacerbation of her diseases. When she fell ill, he courted her without expressing displeasure.

"What? Where? When?" on TV and in real life


In 1979, the couple had a daughter, Inna, in 1982, Marina. For the first time in the program “What? Where? When?" Alexander Druz appeared in 1981. And almost immediately he gained unprecedented popularity. A simple systems engineer suddenly became a real star. However, he did not particularly monitor his rating. He liked to read, he liked to learn new things, and the game allowed him to skillfully use this knowledge.


Over the years of playing at the club, he managed to win all conceivable and unimaginable awards, and also bring up a worthy replacement for himself. Both daughters of the intellectual very successfully began to play “What? Where? When?".

When asked how Alexander Abramovich and his wife developed the intellectual abilities of their daughters, both answer that no one did this on purpose. They just read books to them from the age of three months, and then they sent them to a good mathematical school.


Daughters say that parents always answered questions. Never in their lives have they been dismissed or referred to as being busy. Alexander Abramovich also taught girls to look for answers to questions on their own. They did not have bans on books, each read what she considered useful for herself.


Surprisingly, the eldest daughter Inna turned out to be a lover of books about the revolution, and the younger daughter did not share her sister's hobbies, preferring pirate romance and books about Robin Hood.
Inna and Marina (each of them has two daughters) raise their girls in the same way as they once raised them.

The secret of family happiness


Alexander Abramovich has repeatedly said in his interviews that Elena is his main prize in life. His wife believes that his constancy is from laziness. There is already a woman who is constantly nearby, comfortable and understandable. There is no need to do anything further, to conquer anyone.

Intellectual game "What? Where? When?" enjoyed great popularity. But why was its creator fired from television several times?

Alexander Druz - one of the smartest people in Russia, master of the program “What? Where? When?". Do you want to know where the hero of this article was born and studied? What is Alexandra? We are ready to provide you with comprehensive information about his person. We wish you happy reading!

Alexander Druz: biography. Childhood

He was born on May 10, 1955 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). Our hero was brought up in an educated and He has Jewish roots.

Alexander grew up as an obedient and inquisitive boy. He liked to draw and look at pictures in books. However, he also never refused to play with the guys in the yard.

School years

As a child, he read all the books that were in the house. We are talking not only about the works of the classics, but also about weighty encyclopedias. Friends Jr. has always had a good memory. He memorized large poems and excerpts from prose.

In adolescence, our hero began to show his character. He was not afraid to break the taboos. For example, his parents told him to come back at 9 pm. And he deliberately lingered for 30-40 minutes. Father and mother forbade their son to go swimming in the pond. But Alexander did not listen to them.

student life

After graduating from high school, our hero entered the local technical school. For 2 years he mastered the specialty "technician-electrician". Alexander Druz could build a successful career in this area. But he decided to get a higher education. Alexander's choice fell on the Institute of Railway Engineers. A talented and purposeful guy easily coped with the entrance exams. In 1980 he was awarded the long-awaited diploma.

For several years he worked as an engineer in the construction industry. Then Alexander Druz (see photo above) radically changed his occupation. Our hero took up the development of a television career.

"What? Where? When?"

For the first time, Alexander Druz appeared on the air of the legendary program for intellectuals in 1981. And before that, he applied for participation in the program several times. And one day his candidacy was approved.

Host "What? Where? When ”Vladimir Voroshilov immediately saw in him an intelligent person, an integral and comprehensively developed personality. The friend turned out to be a gambler. He repeatedly entered into disputes with the presenter and other experts, for which he was even expelled from the club. And only thanks to the demands of the audience, Friends were returned back.

Alexander Abramovich received the main award of the intellectual club - the "Crystal Owl" six times. In addition, he was one of the first to earn such a title as "Master of the Game."

Television career

"What? Where? When?" - not the only project in which Alexander Druz participated. The biography indicates that he "lit up" in several popular programs.

In 1990, Alexander Abramovich was invited to the Brain Ring intellectual show. Our hero could not miss such a chance. He managed to defeat all rivals and receive the Golden Brain award.

Since 1995, Druz has regularly participated in the program “Own Game” (NTV). He won in 22 games out of 35. No other connoisseur could boast of such a result. The first prize that Alexander won was a car of foreign assembly. Our hero had nothing to pay tax (35%) for him. Therefore, Druz took the reward in money. For the amount he received, he bought a Zhiguli. I must say that the car served him 7 years.

In May 2011, he tried himself as a presenter. We are talking about the program "Hour of Truth" on the channel "365 Days TV". Friends successfully coped with the tasks assigned to him.

Today a connoisseur and master “What? Where? When?" invited to shoot various programs, such as "So far, everyone is at home", "Guess the melody", "Evening Urgant" and so on. And there is nothing to be surprised. After all, we have an interesting personality with his views on life and deep knowledge in many areas.

Alexander Druz: family

Our hero wanted to marry once and for all his life. And so it happened. Friends met his future wife in the first grade. Elena was a noisy and sociable girl. And he had the exact opposite. The quiet and modest boy was afraid to confess his sympathy to the girl. Soon fate separated them. The parents transferred the girl to another school. The meeting of Elena and Alexander took place only after 7 years. A friend beautifully looked after his beloved: he gave flowers, showered him with compliments and invited him for walks around the city. In the 10th grade, their romance turned into a serious relationship.

In 1978, Alexander Druz and his fiancee Elena got married. The celebration was attended only by close friends and relatives from the side of the bride and groom. In 1979, the wife gave birth to Alexander's daughter Inna. The young father could not stop looking at the baby. He helped his wife take care of the baby. In 1982, there was another addition to the family. The second daughter was born, who was named Marina. For a long time, the couple dreamed of an heir. However, fate had its own way.

Alexander and Elena have been living together for over 37 years. Their daughters grew up and started families. Our hero and his wife are grandparents. They have three granddaughters - Ansley, Alina and Alice.

I always admire the game of experts "What? Where? When?", I really love two masters - Maxim Potashev and Alexander Druz. Where do experts work? Or has the game become their main occupation?

N. K o n o v a l o v a, Stavropol Territory

Friends - teleboss

“The GAME does not feed,” the master and four-time winner of the “Crystal Owl” Alexander Druz answered us. “All connoisseurs have their favorite work. Personally, I am the program manager of the St. of fate", on REN-TV the series "Agency", recently there was a series "Vovochka" - all of them were produced by our television company, however, I did not relate to all of them.

The daughters of Alexander Friends Inna and Marina, as you know, also appeared on the air of "What? Where? When?". “They are quite normal modern girls,” their father says about them. “Friends, discos, boys. Both are very fond of any extreme pastime: they are fond of horses, go on geek boats along the Neva and the Gulf of Finland. Inna graduated from St. Petersburg University of Economics and Finance , studies in graduate school and works in one of the largest St. Petersburg banks, and the youngest, Marina, switched to the 4th year of this university.

Dad, unlike daughters, is not such an extreme person. He prefers a quiet and relaxing holiday. Favorite places (except St. Petersburg): Paris, Amsterdam, Mikhailovskoye. He travels only with his wife Elena, whom he met in the 1st grade. “The mother-in-law claimed that we met even earlier, but I don’t remember that,” says Alexander. “From the 1st to the 3rd grade we studied together, then Lena moved to another school. And in the 9th grade I congratulated Lena since March 8, we met and have been together ever since."

Potashev - manager

SECOND MASTER "What? Where? When?" Maxim Potashev, 33, is the head of the analytical center at Kaspersky Lab, which develops anti-virus programs. “Fortunately, the game does not interfere with work,” Maxim said. “But it takes all the free time that I have. Does popularity interfere? working?!" We have to debunk this misleading impression.

Maxim's wife, like Friends' wife, is called Lena, and they met thanks to the game - Lena played in the Moscow club "What? Where? When?". But Potasheva's wife has never played on the air, and she does not come to the studio to cheer for her husband. “Lena is very nervous, this is transmitted, and I also start to worry, so we decided that it was better not to experiment,” says Maxim. “But recently at the world championship of the What? Where? When?", held in Baku, Lena played with me in the same team." The Potashevs have no children yet.

Burda - culinary specialist

And WHERE do the rest of the "What? Where? When?" experts work?

Rovshan Askerov - "Sport-Express" columnist.

Boris Burda is the host of a culinary program on Ukrainian television.

Fedor Dvinyatin - lecturer at St. Petersburg State University, Department of Philology.

Georgy Zharkov - Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychology of the Vladimir State Pedagogical University, member of the Expert Council on Youth Policy of the Administration of the Vladimir Region.

Sergey Tsarkov - Vice President of the Oleg Efremov Foundation, entrepreneur.

Victor Sidnev - director of Troitsk-Telecom, deputy of the Troitsk City Council of Deputies.

Have questions?

Report a typo

Text to be sent to our editors: