The Ministry of Culture of Russia is the federal executive body in charge of culture, art, and cinema. The department is headed by the Minister of Culture of Russia. Appointment to this position is by decision of the President of the Russian Federation and the government. The number of deputy heads of the department is determined by the government. The ministry has twelve departments.
Ministry formation
The department has a long history of reorganization. After the collapse of the USSR and the formation of the Russian Federation, five different structures were in charge of cultural and art issues.
These are cultural authorities.
| Period | Title |
| 1991—1992 | Ministry of Culture |
| 1992 | Ministry of Culture and Tourism
Ministry of Culture |
| 2004—2008 | Ministry of Culture and Mass Communications |
| from 2008 to the present | Ministry of Culture |
Similar transformations were made to form an effective system of executive authorities.
Persons who headed the department in 1991-2008
During this period, the department was headed by six people, which can be explained by the transition period after the collapse of the USSR and the formation of a new effective state management system. It was Shkurko A.I. from 1991 to 1992, Sidorov E.Yu. from 1992 to 1997, Dementieva N.L. from 1997 to 1998, Egorov V.K. from 1998 to 2000, Shvydkoy M.E. from 2000 to 2004, A. Sokolov from 2004 to 2008
Avdeev A.A. and Medinsky V.R. - ministers of culture of Russia. The list of persons holding this position includes only two names, because the department was created eight years ago on the basis of another executive authority.
Alexander Alekseevich Avdeev - former Minister of Culture of Russia. He took office in 2008. Before heading the ministry, for many years he was the ambassador of Russia to Bulgaria, France, the Principality of Monaco. After his dismissal in 2012 from his previous position, he became the Ambassador of Russia to the Vatican. Heading the ministry, Alexander Avdeev advocated increasing funding for the department. His merit is the establishment of close cultural contacts with Western countries. On the initiative of Alexander Alekseevich, the cross years of Russia and several European states were held: France, Spain, Italy, Germany. Many important architectural monuments were reconstructed when Avdeev held this position. We are talking about the Bolshoi Theater, the Naval Cathedral in Kronstadt and the Summer Garden in St. Petersburg.
Ministry today
After the resignation of the government in 2012, the executive body was headed by Vladimir Rostislavovich Medinsky. Studied a future politician at MGIMO. After completing his studies, he was listed as a correspondent in several information publications, later he moved to the US capital Washington, where he worked in the press office of the USSR, and later the Russian Federation. Vladimir Medinsky is one of the founders of the PR agency, called the Corporation I.
Since 1998, Medinsky began to engage in political activities. After the formation of the United Russia party, the future Minister of Culture of Russia became its member. Medinsky worked in the State Duma of the fourth and fifth convocation. In the period from 2010 to 2012, he was a member of the Commission under the President of Russia on countering the falsification of history.
Three years ago, he became chairman of the Russian Military Historical Society. Vladimir Medinsky is the author of several books on Russian history. The Minister several times became objects of close attention of the public. A lot of controversy in the press was around politician books.Some historians reproached Medinsky for deliberately distorting the facts, calling his works a direct “Kremlin order”. Many disagreements were around the minister’s dissertation, which he defended five years ago. Some members of the public considered this work an outspoken plagiarism.
The First Deputy Minister of Culture of Russia - Vladimir Vladimirovich Aristarkhov - has been in office since 2013. Besides him, the head of this executive authority has several other deputies: Pirumov G.U., Manilova A.Yu., Malakov N.A., Zhuravsky A.V., Obryvalin S.G.
To summarize
The Minister of Culture of Russia is a responsible position, since he bears personal responsibility to descendants for the preservation and dissemination of Russian traditions and values throughout the world. Therefore, at the head of the executive body of authority should be only good specialists who are aware of the responsibility assigned to them.
