Editing Gennady Zyuganov

{{short description|Russian politician (born 1944)}}
{{redirect|Zyuganov|other people with this surname|Zyuganov (surname)}}
{{family name hatnote|Andreyevich|Zyuganov|lang=Eastern Slavic}}
{{use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific_suffix = [[List of members of the 8th Russian State Duma|MP]]
|native_name      = {{nobold|{{lang|ru|Геннадий Зюганов}}}}
|image            = Gennady Zyuganov 2022-09-20 (cropped).jpg
|caption          = Zyuganov in 2022

|office      = Chair of the [[Union of Communist Parties – Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Union of Communist Parties]]
|term_start  = 22 January 2001
|term_end    = 
|predecessor = [[Oleg Shenin]]
|successor   = 

|office1      = General Secretary of the [[Communist Party of the Russian Federation]]
|term_start1  = 14 February 1993
|term_end1    = 
|predecessor1 = Valentin Kuptsov
|successor1   = 

|office3     = Member of the [[State Duma]] 
|term_start3 = 11 January 1994
|term_end3   = 

|birth_date  = {{Birth date and age|1944|6|26|df=y}}
|birth_place = [[Mymrino]], [[RSFSR]], [[USSR]]
|death_date  = 
|death_place = 
|party       = {{ubl |[[CPRF]] (from 1993) |[[CPSU]] (until 1991)}}
|spouse      = Nadezhda Vitalyevna
|children    = {{hlist |Andrey |Tatiana}}
|relatives   = [[Leonid Zyuganov]] (grandson)
|education   = {{ubl
 | [[Oryol State Pedagogical Institute]]
 | [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union#Party education system|CPSU Central Committee Academy of Social Sciences]]}} 
|occupation  = 
|awards      = {{ubl 
 | [[File:Order of Alexander Nevsky 2010 ribbon.svg|25px]] [[Order of Alexander Nevsky]]
 | [[File:Order badge of honor rib.png|25px]] [[Order of the Badge of Honour]]
 | [[File:By-order friendship of nations rib.png|25px]] [[Order of Friendship of Peoples (Belarus)]]
 | [[File:Hero of Labour Russia medal.svg|15px]] [[Hero of Labour of the Russian Federation]]
}}
|signature   = Signature of Gennady Zyuganov.png

|allegiance   = {{flag|Soviet Union}}
|branch       = [[Soviet Army]]
|serviceyears = 1963–1966
|rank         = [[Colonel]]
}}
{{Zyuganov sidebar}}
'''Gennady Andreyevich Zyuganov''' ({{langx|ru|Генна́дий Андре́евич Зюга́нов}}; born 26 June 1944) is a Russian politician who has been the [[General Secretary]] of the [[Communist Party of the Russian Federation]] and served as Member of the [[State Duma]] since 1993. He is also the Chair of the [[Union of Communist Parties – Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] (UCP-CPSU) since 2001. Zyuganov ran for President of Russia [[Electoral history of Gennady Zyuganov|four times]], most controversially [[Gennady Zyuganov presidential campaign, 1996|in 1996]], when he lost in the second round to [[Boris Yeltsin]].

==Early life and education==
Zyuganov was born in [[Mymrino]], a farming village in [[Oryol Oblast]], on 26 June 1944. The son and grandson of schoolteachers, he followed in their footsteps. His father fought at the Soviet-German front of WWII and returned home with serious injuries. After graduating from a secondary school, his first job was working there for one year as a physics teacher in 1961.<ref name="scilla.ru">{{Cite web |url=http://www.scilla.ru/works/pret08/zyuganov.html |title=Зюганов Геннадий Андреевич |access-date=2021-09-18 |archive-date=2021-09-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210918194744/http://www.scilla.ru/works/pret08/zyuganov.html  }}</ref><ref>[https://novostivl.ru/msg/7401.htm Зюганов получил от Путина манифест] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129220356/https://novostivl.ru/msg/7401.htm}} ''Новости Владивостока''</ref>

In 1962, Gennady enrolled into the Department of Physics and Mathematics of the [[Orel State University|Oryol Pedagogical Institute]]. From 1963 to 1966, he served in a Radiation, Chemical, and Biological Intelligence unit of the [[Group of Soviet Forces in Germany]]. Zyuganov joined the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Communist Party]] in 1966.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mk.ru/politics/interview/2012/08/09/735222-gennadiy-zyuganov-nasha-vlast-k-slozhnoy-politike-ne-gotova.html|title=Геннадий Зюганов: "Наша власть к сложной политике не готова"|author=Марина Озерова.|publisher=«[[Московский комсомолец]]» № 26011|date=2012-08-10|accessdate=2012-09-12 <!--DUPLICATE|title=Лидер КПРФ пророчит очень непростую осень и сложную зиму--> |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130417044635/http://www.mk.ru/politics/interview/2012/08/09/735222-gennadiy-zyuganov-nasha-vlast-k-slozhnoy-politike-ne-gotova.html|archivedate=2013-04-17}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://kprftula.ru/photo/715/ |title=КПРФ Тула — Коммунисты провели стол по поддержке пчеловодства, на котором выступил Г. А. Зюганов. Фоторепортаж<!-- Заголовок добавлен ботом --> |access-date=2020-07-27 |archive-date=2020-07-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727181404/http://kprftula.ru/photo/715/}}</ref>

He returned to the teachers' college in 1966. Three years older than most members of his class, he was already a party member and a popular college athlete. On his return, he married his wife, Nadezhda. He completed his degree in 1969.<ref name="scilla.ru" /><ref name="ria.ru">[http://ria.ru/culture/20081107/154601602.html Выпускники КВН: от Зюганова до Пельша] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809091311/http://ria.ru/culture/20081107/154601602.html}} // [[РИА Новости]], 07.11.2008</ref>

==CPSU career==
Zyuganov taught mathematics but soon turned to [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] work in Oryol Oblast, beginning in 1967. He became the [[General Secretary|First Secretary]] of the local [[Komsomol]] and the regional chief for ideology and propaganda. He emerged as a popular politician in the area. Among many other functions, Zyuganov organized parties and dances as a local Komsomol leader while he was rising through the ranks of the party. Zyuganov rose to be second secretary, or second in command, of the party in Oryol.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://tass.ru/encyclopedia/person/zyuganov-gennadiy-andreevich | title=Зюганов, Геннадий Андреевич }}</ref>

He enrolled at an elite party school in [[Moscow]], the Academy of Social Sciences in 1978, completing his [[Education in Russia#Post-graduate levels|doctor nauk]], a post-doctoral degree, in 1980. He then returned to Oryol to become regional party chief for ideology and propaganda until 1983. In 1983, he was given a high-level position in Moscow as an instructor in the Communist Party [[Propaganda in the Soviet Union|propaganda]] department.<ref name="scilla.ru" /><ref name="ria.ru"/>

Zyuganov emerged as a leading critic of Soviet leader [[Mikhail Gorbachev]]'s ''[[perestroika]]'' and ''[[glasnost]]'' in the party's [[agitprop|Agitation and Propaganda division]] (later the Ideological division), a hotbed of opposition to reform. As the party began to crumble in the late 1980s, Zyuganov took the side of hard-liners against reforms that would ultimately culminate in the end of CPSU rule and the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]]. In May 1991, he [[Architect amidst the Ruins|published a fiercely critical piece]] on [[Alexander Nikolaevich Yakovlev|Alexander Yakovlev]].

==Head of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation==
Zyuganov wrote several influential papers in the early 1990s attacking [[Boris Yeltsin]] and calling for a return to the [[socialism]] of the pre-Gorbachev days. In July 1991, he signed the "[[A Word to the People]]" declaration. As the Communist Party of the Soviet Union fell into disarray, Zyuganov helped form the new [[Communist Party of the Russian Federation]] (CPRF), and became one of seven secretaries of the new group's Central Committee. In 1993, he became its chairman. Outside observers were surprised by the survival of Zyuganov's Communist Party into the post-Soviet era.

Zyuganov emerged as post-communist Russia's leading opposition leader. He argued that the collapse of the Soviet Union led to a decline in living standards, that economic power was left concentrated in the hands of a tiny share of the population, that violent crime increased, and that the Soviet collapse allowed ethnic groups throughout Russia to embark on campaigns, sometimes violent, to win autonomy. 

Russians who felt left behind in the new Russia emerged as Zyuganov's supporters, including a number of workers, clerks, bureaucrats, professionals, and the elderly. As Zyuganov succeeded in combining Communist ideas with Russian [[nationalism]], his new Communist Party of the Russian Federation joined hands with numerous other left-wing and right-wing nationalist forces, forming a common "national-patriotic alliance."

In the 1993 and 1995 parliamentary elections, the newly revitalized Communist Party of the Russian Federation made a strong showing, and Zyuganov emerged as a serious challenger to President Yeltsin.

===1996 presidential campaign===
{{main|Gennady Zyuganov presidential campaign, 1996}}
[[File:Red belt in Russian 1996 presidential elections.svg|thumb|300px|The results of the second round of the 1996 elections. Red highlighted regions where Zyuganov won]]

Zyuganov entered the [[1996 Russian presidential election|1996 presidential election]], as the standard-bearer of the Russian Communist Party. Co-opting Russian nationalism, he attacked the infiltration of [[Western culture|Western]] ideals into Russian society and portrayed Russia as a great nation that had been dismantled from within by traitors in cahoots with Western capitalists, who sought the dissolution of Soviet power to exploit Russia's boundless resources.

Hungarian-American billionaire [[George Soros]], along with Russian oligarchs such as [[Boris Berezovsky (businessman)|Boris Berezovsky]], [[Vladimir Gusinsky]], [[Mikhail Khodorkovsky]], [[Anatoly Chubais]], and others feared a Communist resurgence in Russia while witnessing Zyuganov present himself as a kinder, gentler Communist while attending the [[World Economic Forum]] at [[Davos]] in 1996. Chubais recalled, stating "I saw many of my good friends, presidents of major American companies, European companies, who were simply dancing around Zyuganov, trying to catch his eye, peering at him. These were the world's most powerful businessmen, with world famous names, who with their entire appearance demonstrated that they were seeking support of the future president of Russia, because it was clear to everyone that Zyuganov was going to be the future president of Russia, and now they needed to build a relationship with him. So, this shook me up!".<ref name="Rothkopf 268">{{cite book |last=Rothkopf |first=David |date=3 March 2009 |title=Superclass: The Global Power Elite and the World They Are Making |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |page=268 |isbn=978-0374531614 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F4ZymAEACAAJ |access-date=24 July 2018 |archive-date=1 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801221439/https://books.google.com/books?id=F4ZymAEACAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The oligarchs set aside their differences and held several private meetings in Davos hotel rooms, where they strategized how to defeat the perceived Zyuganov threat. The result was the "Davos pact", an agreement between Chubais and the oligarchs that he would lead an anti-Communist campaign against Zyuganov, that they agreed to fund. The subsequent months saw a massive media offensive as "money poured into advertising campaigns, into regional tours, into bribing journalists", all supported by the oligarchs who owned the major media. Yeltsin's subsequent victory in that election can be traced back to the events that took place in Davos between Chubais and those Russian oligarchs.<ref name="Rothkopf 268"/>

In the election on 16 June, Zyuganov finished second with 32%, trailing only Yeltsin, who captured 35%. Yeltsin gained from the elimination of the many smaller parties, as well as the support of [[Alexander Lebed]], and eventually won the two-man showdown by 53.8% against 40.7%.

It has been alleged that Yeltsin may not have legitimately won the 1996 presidential election, but instead employed electoral fraud. Some results, largely from Russia's ethnic republics of [[Tatarstan]], [[Dagestan]] and [[Bashkortostan]], showed highly unlikely changes in voting patterns between the two rounds of voting.<ref name=calmit>{{cite web |url=http://vote.caltech.edu/sites/default/files/vtp_wp63.pdf |title=Russian Elections: An Oxymoron of Democracy |work=[[CALTECH]]/[[MIT]] VOTING TECHNOLOGY PROJECT |date=March 2008 |pages=2–7 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303223239/http://vote.caltech.edu/sites/default/files/vtp_wp63.pdf |archive-date=3 March 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lZh-YUxeldYC&pg=PA33 |title=Democracy Derailed in Russia: The Failure of Open Politics |author=M. Steven Fish |date=2005 |page=33|publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781139446853 }}</ref> At a meeting with opposition leaders in 2012, then-president [[Dmitry Medvedev]] was reported to have said, "There is hardly any doubt who won [that race]. It was not Boris Nikolaevich Yeltsin."<ref name=timstl>{{cite magazine |url=http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2107565,00.html |title=Rewriting Russian History: Did Boris Yeltsin Steal the 1996 Presidential Election? |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=24 February 2012 |last1=Shuster |first1=Simon |access-date=17 May 2017 |archive-date=21 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211121014909/http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2107565,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

===After 1996 election===
{{BLP unreferenced section|date=June 2020}}
After the [[1999 Russian legislative election|December 1999 parliamentary elections]], the number of Communist seats in the Duma was reduced. Communist support started to decline, given the widespread electoral support at the time for the government's invasion of [[Chechnya]] in September 1999 and the popularity of Yeltsin's new prime minister, [[Vladimir Putin]], who was widely seen as Yeltsin's heir apparent.

===2000 presidential campaign===
{{main|Gennady Zyuganov presidential campaign, 2000}}

{{expand section|date=October 2018}}
Zyuganov placed a distant second behind Vladimir Putin in the [[2000 Russian presidential election|March 2000 presidential election]].{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

===After 2000 election===
[[File:Vladimir Putin with Gennady Zyuganov 7 February 2002.jpg|thumb|[[Vladimir Putin]] and Zyuganov]]
[[File:Dmitry Medvedev 17 June 2008-1.jpg|thumb|[[Dmitry Medvedev]] and Zyuganov]]

Zyuganov has additionally served as the Chairman of the [[Union of Communist Parties – Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] (UCP-CPSU) since 2001, replacing [[Oleg Shenin]].

In November 2001, in an [[open letter]] to Putin ahead of the summit between the US and Russian presidents in the United States, Zyuganov said that Russia was betraying its national interests. "It is blindly following US policy which has been characterized recently by open aggression". Zyuganov criticized Putin for his decision the previous month to close a Cuban listening post that eavesdropped on US communications and a key naval base in Vietnam, as well as Russian support for Washington using bases in former Soviet [[Uzbekistan]] and [[Tajikistan]] for its [[Afghanistan|Afghan]] strikes. "Russia's national state and national interests may be betrayed" at the upcoming summit between Putin and US President [[George W. Bush]], Zyuganov warned.<ref>[http://lists.econ.utah.edu/pipermail/rad-green/2001-November/001596.html Russian Communist leader denounces Putin for US alliance.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021124152/http://lists.econ.utah.edu/pipermail/rad-green/2001-November/001596.html |date=21 October 2013 }}</ref>

On 23 September 2003, Zyuganov sent a deputy request to the Prosecutor General's Office and the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, in which he demanded to initiate an administrative case against Putin as an official of category "A" and to fine him in the amount of 22,500 rubles for conducting election campaigning outside the campaign period of the [[United Russia]] party.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sovross.ru/old/2003/106/106_1_5.htm |title=Зюганов потребовал оштрафовать Путина за попрание закона |trans-title=Zyuganov demanded that Putin be fined for violating the law |author=Press service of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation |publisher=[[Sovetskaya Rossiya]] № 106 (12449) |date=2003-09-23 |accessdate=2012-09-02 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120711042436/http://sovross.ru/old/2003/106/106_1_5.htm |archivedate=2012-07-11 |url-status=live}}</ref> However, the Chairman of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, [[Alexander Veshnyakov]], and the Chairman of the Federation Council, [[Sergey Mironov]], objected that they did not see anything illegal in the President's speech.<ref>Сергей Яковлев. Путина прервали 10 раз. Gazeta, (22 September 2003)</ref> The head of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation tried to file a complaint with higher authorities, but not a single court examined the complaint on its merits.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pravda.ru/news/politics/14-11-2003/16556-0/ |title=Зюганову запретили жаловаться на Путина |trans-title=Zyuganov was banned from complaining about Putin |publisher=[[Pravda.ru]] |date=2003-11-14 |accessdate=2012-09-02 |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130417105728/http://www.pravda.ru/news/politics/14-11-2003/16556-0/ |archivedate=2013-04-17 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2004, Zyuganov declined to run against Putin, who secured a [[2004 Russian presidential election|landslide reelection victory]].

===2008 presidential campaign===
{{main|Gennady Zyuganov presidential campaign, 2008}}

In October 2005, Zyuganov indicated that he would run for president in 2008, making him the second person to enter the race for the [[Kremlin]] following former Prime Minister [[Mikhail Kasyanov]]. According to one report, Zyuganov pledged to quadruple pensions and state salaries, should he be elected.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

In the [[2008 Russian presidential election|presidential election]] on 2 March 2008, Zyuganov garnered 17.76% of the vote and came in second to Medvedev's 70.23%.<ref name="BBC News">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7274001.stm|title=Medvedev 'to continue Putin work'|work=[[BBC News]]|date=3 March 2008|access-date=3 January 2008|archive-date=30 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191030133514/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7274001.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Post-2008===
On Zyuganov's 65th birthday in June 2009, the then Prime Minister Vladimir Putin presented him with a copy of the first Soviet edition of the [[Communist Manifesto]].<ref>[https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i0U4EoFaDjnGYUD_Trgw-uMi-C8Q "Putin gives Communist leader surprise birthday gift"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130222102653/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i0U4EoFaDjnGYUD_Trgw-uMi-C8Q |date=22 February 2013 }}, [[Agence France-Presse|AFP]], 29 June 2009.</ref> On the occasion of Soviet leader [[Joseph Stalin]]'s birthday on 21 December 2010, Zyuganov called for the [[Stalinism|re-Stalinization]] of Russian society in an open letter to President Medvedev.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/communists-lay-carnations-for-stalin/story-e6frfku0-1225974765203|title=Communists lay carnations for Stalin|agency=Agence France-Presse|date=22 December 2010|access-date=21 December 2010|archive-date=6 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160106170827/http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/communists-lay-carnations-for-stalin/story-e6frfku0-1225974765203|url-status=dead}}</ref>

After Putin's annual address to parliament on 20 April 2011, Zyuganov criticised it as inadequate in dealing with Russia's economic decline and warned that, "If the [parliamentary and presidential] elections are as dirty as before, the situation will develop along the [[Arab Spring|North African scenario]]."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://nationalpost.com/todays-paper/Putin+plan+disastrous+opponents/4652279/story.html|title=Putin plan disastrous, opponents say|agency=Agence France-Presse|date=21 April 2011|access-date=26 April 2011}}{{Dead link|date=January 2012}}</ref> Zyuganov denounced election irregularities in the [[2011 Russian legislative election|Russian legislative election of 2011]] but also expressed his opposition to the organizers of the [[2011 Russian protests|mass demonstrations of December 2011]] who he viewed as liberals who exploited unrest.<ref name=NYTCommunist/>

The communist party played only a minor role in the protests, with one of its speakers, who called for restoration of Soviet power, being booed off the stage. Party rallies on 18 December 2011, in protest of election irregularities in Moscow and St. Petersburg were attended by only a few thousand, mostly elderly, party supporters. According to ''The New York Times'', it is questionable that Zyuganov, due to his age and association with Soviet policies, will be able to capitalize on the opportunity presented by popular disgust with the Putin regime, or mobilize mass popular support for his party.<ref name=NYTCommunist>{{cite news|title=Where Communists See an Opening, Many Russians See a Closed Door|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/21/world/europe/communists-solidify-opposition-role-in-russia.html|access-date=22 December 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=20 December 2011|author=David M. Herszenhorn|quote=He, [Gennadi A. Zyuganov], has joined in popular protests against Mr. Putin's government, while seeking to block the rise of the liberal reformers leading those rallies by denouncing them as a subversive threat to Russia's future.|archive-date=22 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111222011251/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/21/world/europe/communists-solidify-opposition-role-in-russia.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Moscow rally 1 May 2012 19.JPG|thumb|left|270px|Communist protesters with a sign portraying an "order of dismissal" for [[Vladimir Putin]] for "betrayal of the national interests", Moscow, 1 May 2012.]]
Zyuganov is a harsh critic of President [[Vladimir Putin]], but states that his recipes for Russia's future are true to his Soviet roots. Zyuganov hopes to renationalise all major industries and he believes the USSR was "the most humane state in human history".<ref>{{cite news|date=9 February 2012|title=Kremlin has plan B for poll run-off|url=https://www.ft.com/content/3c6abd0c-5309-11e1-8aa1-00144feabdc0|work=Financial Times|access-date=19 December 2020|url-access=subscription|archive-date=11 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111003631/https://www.ft.com/content/3c6abd0c-5309-11e1-8aa1-00144feabdc0|url-status=live}}</ref> On 29 November 2008, in his speech before the 13th Party Congress, Zyuganov made these remarks about the state that Russia under Putin was in:

<blockquote>Objectively, Russia's position remains complicated, not to say dismal. The population is dying out. Thanks to the "heroic efforts" of the Yeltsinites the country has lost 5 out of the 22 million square kilometers of its historical territory. Russia has lost half of its production capacity and has yet to reach the 1990 level of output. Our country is facing three mortal dangers: de-industrialization, de-population and mental debilitation. The ruling group has neither notable successes to boast of, nor a clear plan of action. All its activities are geared to a single goal: to stay in power at all costs. Until recently it has been able to keep in power due to the "windfall" high world prices for energy. Its social support rests on the notorious "vertical power structure" which is another way of saying intimidation and blackmail of the broad social strata and the handouts that power chips off the oil and gas pie and throws out to the population in crumbs, especially on the eve of elections.<ref>[http://kprf.ru/party_live/61739.html Political Report of the CPRF Central Committee to the 13th Party Congress] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214184506/http://kprf.ru/party_live/61739.html |date=14 February 2012 }}, by G.Zyuganov, 29 November 2008.</ref></blockquote>

The CPRF cherishes the rule of Joseph Stalin.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ria.ru/20190404/1552382644.html |title=Зюганов отреагировал на слова генсека НАТО о Сталине |date=4 April 2019 |access-date=24 August 2021 |archive-date=24 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210824185835/https://ria.ru/20190404/1552382644.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Zyuganov and the party support social conservatism and voted in favor of the ban on the "promotion of non-traditional sexual relations to minors", commonly known as the [[Russian gay propaganda law]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rbc.ru/politics/23/10/2015/5629f3689a7947066e293618 |title=В КПРФ предложили арестовывать совершивших каминг-аут гомосексуалистов |date=23 October 2015 |access-date=24 August 2021 |archive-date=10 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210810143654/https://www.rbc.ru/politics/23/10/2015/5629f3689a7947066e293618 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://themoscownews.com/politics/20140129/192192050-print/Russian-State-Duma-Possessed-printer-or-executor-of-the-peoples.html|title=Russian State Duma: 'Possessed printer' or executor of the people's will?|last=Antonova|first=Natalia|date=29 January 2014|work=themoscownews.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301042652/http://themoscownews.com/politics/20140129/192192050-print/Russian-State-Duma-Possessed-printer-or-executor-of-the-peoples.html|archive-date=1 March 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.euronews.com/2013/06/11/russian-mps-vote-overwhelmingly-to-outlaw-gay-propaganda|title=Russian MPs vote overwhelmingly to outlaw gay 'propaganda'|date=11 June 2013|publisher=[[EuroNews]]|access-date=19 December 2020|archive-date=12 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112041358/https://www.euronews.com/2013/06/11/russian-mps-vote-overwhelmingly-to-outlaw-gay-propaganda|url-status=live}}</ref>

===2012 presidential campaign===
{{main|Gennady Zyuganov presidential campaign, 2012}}
[[File:RIAN archive 910756 Young Pioneer induction ceremony held on Moscow's Red Square.jpg|right|thumb|Zyuganov campaigning on [[Red Square]]]]

In September 2011, Zyuganov again became the CPRF's candidate for the [[2012 Russian presidential election|2012 presidential election]]. According to Zyuganov, "a gang of folks who cannot do anything in life apart from dollars, profits and mumbling, has humiliated the country" and called for a new international alliance to "counter the aggressive policies of imperialist circles."{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

In the 2012 Russian presidential election on 4 March 2012, Zyuganov once again came in second place by receiving 17% of the vote.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sobesednik.ru/news/20120305-itogi-vyborov-prezidenta-2012-vladimir-putin-nabiraet-okolo-64|title=Результаты выборов президента-2012: Владимир Путин набирает около 64% Источник|date=5 March 2012|website=sebesednik.ru|language=ru|trans-title=2012 presidential election results: Vladimir Putin gains about 64%|access-date=19 December 2020|archive-date=12 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180112160305/https://sobesednik.ru/news/20120305-itogi-vyborov-prezidenta-2012-vladimir-putin-nabiraet-okolo-64|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Political views==
{{Main|Political positions of Gennady Zyuganov}}
[[File:Николай Харитонов и Чжан Ханьхуэй.jpg|thumb|Zyuganov in the background of [[Nikolay Kharitonov]] meeting with [[Zhang Hanhui]] in June 2021]]
[[File:The 2nd International Parliamentary Conference Russia–Africa, 19-20 March 2023.jpg|thumb|Zyuganov, [[Alexey Nechayev]] and [[Leonid Slutsky (politician)|Leonid Slutsky]] at the "Russia-Africa" parliamentary conference in Moscow on 20 March 2023]]

According to Zyuganov, [[Jesus Christ]] [[Christian communism|was the first communist]], claiming that [[Christian socialism|the Bible may be read through a socialist perspective]].<ref name=orthodox_communism>{{in lang|ru}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20150512205651/http://argumentua.com/stati/pravoslavnyi-kommunizm-v-fashistkoi-rossii-kto-stoit-za-spinoi-putina Christian Orthodox Communism in the Fascist Russia: who stands behind the back of Putin]. "Argument". 25 July 2014</ref>

After Russia was sanctioned for systematic doping in the run-up to the [[2018 Winter Olympics]], Zyuganov proposed sending Russian fans to the Games with a Soviet [[Victory Banner]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.mk.ru/politics/2018/01/30/zyuganov-predlozhil-otpravit-na-olimpiadu-bolelshhikov-so-znamenem-pobedy.html|title=Зюганов предложил отправить на Олимпиаду болельщиков со знаменем Победы|date=30 January 2018|work=mk.ru|access-date=5 February 2018|language=ru}}</ref>

He is considered by Russian scholars as a [[neo-Eurasianist]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Yale |last=Richmond|authorlink=Yale Richmond|date= 2008 |title=From Nyet to Da: Understanding the New Russia|location=Boston|publisher=[[Intercultural Press]]}}</ref>

In August 2022, Zyuganov declared that the [[Marxist reformism|reformist]] Soviet leader [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] was a leader whose rule brought "absolute sadness, misfortune and problems [for] all the peoples of our country".<ref>{{cite news |date=31 August 2022 |title=Praise and Blame: How Russia Reacted to the Death of Gorbachev |work=The Moscow Times |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/08/31/praise-and-blame-how-russia-reacted-to-the-death-of-gorbachev-a78690}}</ref>

===Ukraine===
Following the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]], the CPRF published a statement in support of the invasion and accused [[NATO]] of planning "to enslave Ukraine" and thus creating "critical threats to the security of Russia". It called for the [[Anti-Ukrainian sentiment|"demilitarization and denazification" of Ukraine]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The People of Ukraine Must Not Be a Victim of World Capital and Oligarchic Clans. Statement of the CPRF CC Presidium – Communist Party of the Russian Federation |url=https://cprf.ru/2022/02/the-people-of-ukraine-must-not-be-a-victim-of-world-capital-and-oligarchic-clans-statement-of-the-cprf-cc-presidium%ef%bf%bc/ |access-date=2022-02-28 |language=en-US}}</ref>

The party officially supported the [[Disinformation in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine#Effects|state-promoted narrative]] that Ukraine is governed by Ukrainian [[Banderite]]s and "neo-Nazis", who have been allegedly perpetrating genocide against Russian speakers of the [[International recognition of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic|separatist Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics]], and liberating Russian forces.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://kprf.ru/party-live/cknews/209010.html |title=Новые акты нацистского террора на Украине |publisher=Kprf.ru |date=2022-03-06 |accessdate=2022-03-15}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Зюганов Геннадий Андреевич |url=https://kprf.ru/party-live/cknews/208964.html |title=Г.А. Зюганов: Нет фашизму на нашей земле! |publisher=Kprf.ru |date=2022-03-04 |accessdate=2022-03-15}}</ref> The CPRF also accused the United States and NATO of deploying European fascist sympathizers and Middle Eastern terrorists to Ukraine to fight the Russian army.<ref>{{cite web|author=Зюганов Геннадий Андреевич |url=https://kprf.ru/party-live/cknews/208990.html |title=Фашисты из Европы и террористы с Ближнего Востока поддерживают нацистов-бандеровцев. Заявление Председателя ЦК КПРФ Г.А. Зюганова |publisher=Kprf.ru |date=2022-03-05 |accessdate=2022-03-15}}</ref> Two members out of 57 of CPRF's Duma caucus, [[Vyacheslav Markhayev]] and [[Mikhail Matveyev (politician)|Mikhail Matveev]], have expressed [[Anti-war protests in Russia (2022–present)|opposition to the war]], although they support the "protection of the people of Donbass".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2022/02/28/7326641/ |title=Third member of Derzhavna Duma condemns the war against Ukraine |publisher=Ukrayinska Pravda |date=2022-02-26 |accessdate=2022-03-02}}</ref>

Some younger members of the CPRF [[Anti-war protests in Russia (2022–present)|spoke publicly against the war]], condemning it as "[[Imperialism|imperialist]]" and contrary to [[Marxism–Leninism|Marxist–Leninist]] principles.<ref>{{cite news |title='Defending the Donbas is one thing. Bombing Kyiv is another'. Russia's Communist Party officially supports the war against Ukraine. But its younger members are speaking out. |url=https://meduza.io/en/feature/2022/06/10/defending-the-donbas-is-one-thing-bombing-kyiv-is-another |work=[[Meduza]] |date=10 June 2022}}</ref> In September 2022, Zyuganov called in the [[State Duma]] for a general mobilization.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cuesta |first=Javier G. |date=2022-09-15 |title=Putin's entourage demands 'full mobilization' for the war in Ukraine |url=https://english.elpais.com/international/2022-09-15/putins-entourage-demands-full-mobilization-for-the-war-in-ukraine.html |access-date=2022-09-26 |website=EL PAÍS English Edition |language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title="It's a war, not a special operation. We need mobilization," Russian Communist Party leader says |url=https://theins.info/en/news/254990 |access-date=2022-09-26 |website=The Insider |language=ru}}</ref>

==Personal life==
His wife, Nadezhda Zyuganova (née Amelicheva) graduated from History Department of [[Orel State University|Oryol Pedagogical Institute]]. They have two children: Andrey (1968) and Tatyana (1974).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vesti.ru/article/2238181|title=Зюганов Геннадий Андреевич|date=2 October 2009|website=vesti.ru|language=ru|trans-title=Zyuganov Gennady Andreevich|access-date=19 December 2020|archive-date=25 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125173330/https://www.vesti.ru/article/2238181|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://lenta.ru/lib/14160087/ |title=Biography of Gennady Zyuganov and children |access-date=5 March 2012 |archive-date=26 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126070415/https://lenta.ru/lib/14160087/ |url-status=live }}</ref> They have seven grandsons and one granddaughter.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://kprf.ru/personal/zyuganov|title=Зюганов Геннадий Андреевич|publisher=Communist Party of the Russian Federation|language=ru|trans-title=Zyuganov Gennady Andreevich|access-date=19 December 2020|archive-date=17 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201217025122/https://kprf.ru/personal/zyuganov|url-status=live}}</ref> 

===Sanctions===
In February 2022, Zyuganov, who voted for the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]], was placed on the sanctions list by the United States, Canada, Japan, United Kingdom, Australia and the European Union.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-02-28/sanctions-imposed-so-far-on-russia-from-the-u-s-eu-and-u-k |title=The Sanctions Imposed So Far on Russia From the U.S., EU and U.K. |first1=Daniel |last1=Flatley |first2=John |last2=Follain |first3=Alex |last3=Morales |orig-date=28 February 2022 |date=31 March 2022 |publisher=Bloomberg |access-date=2022-04-05}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=From: Global Affairs Canada |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2022/02/canada-imposes-additional-economic-measures-on-russia-in-response-to-russias-attack-on-ukraine.html |title=Canada imposes additional economic measures on Russia in response to Russia's attack on Ukraine |publisher=Canada.ca |date=2022-02-24 |access-date=2022-04-05}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2022L00192 |title=Autonomous Sanctions (Designated Persons and Entities and Declared Persons—Ukraine) Amendment (No. 4) Instrument 2022 |publisher=Legislation.gov.au |date= 25 February 2022|access-date=2022-04-05}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.newizv.ru/news/world/15-03-2022/gennady-zyuganov-and-viktor-vekselberg-fell-under-japanese-sanctions?amp=1 |title=Gennady Zyuganov and Viktor Vekselberg are sanctioned by Japan |publisher=En.newizv.ru |date=2022-03-15 |access-date=2022-04-05}}</ref><ref>[[Office of Foreign Assets Control]]. "Notice of OFAC Sanctions Actions" published 17 March 2022. {{Federal Register|87|15305}}</ref>

==Electoral history==
{{Main|Electoral history of Gennady Zyuganov}}

==See also==
* ''[[Architect amidst the Ruins]]''
* ''[[A Word to the People]]''

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{sister project links|c=Category: Gennady Zyuganov|d=yes|q=yes|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|wikt=no|s=no|species=no}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120208211452/http://www.zyuganov.kprf.ru/ Official site Gennady Zyuganov]{{in lang|ru}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160205062753/http://cprf.ru/ The Communist Party of Russia] {{in lang|ru}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090227160522/http://www.sras.org/cprf_central_committee_report_13th_party_congress Gennady Zyuganov's speech at the 13th Party Congress], SRAS
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090227160511/http://www.sras.org/communist_party_russian_federation_cprf Communism and the CPRF in Modern Russia], SRAS

{{s-start}}
{{s-hon}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Oleg Shenin]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=First Secretary of the Central Committee of the<br />[[Union of Communist Parties – Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Union of Communist Parties]]|years=2001–present}}
{{s-inc}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Valentin Kuptsov]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=First Secretary of the Central Committee of the<br />[[Communist Party of the Russian Federation]]|years=1993–present}}
{{s-inc}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Nikolai Ryzhkov]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Communist Party of Russian Federation|Communist Party]] presidential candidate|years=[[1996 Russian presidential election|1996]] ([[1996 Russian presidential election#Second round results by federal subject|2 rnd]]), [[2000 Russian presidential election|2000]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Nikolay Kharitonov]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Nikolay Kharitonov]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Communist Party of Russian Federation|Communist Party]] presidential candidate|years=[[2008 Russian presidential election|2008]], [[2012 Russian presidential election|2012]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Pavel Grudinin]]}}
{{end}}

{{Communist Party of the Russian Federation}}
{{Candidates in the Russian presidential election, 1996}}
{{Candidates in the Russian presidential election, 2000}}
{{Candidates in the Russian presidential election, 2008}}
{{Candidates in the Russian presidential election, 2012}}{{8th Russian State Duma}}{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zyuganov, Gennady}}
[[Category:Gennady Zyuganov| ]]
[[Category:1944 births]]
[[Category:Anti-American sentiment in Russia]]
[[Category:Anti-poverty advocates]]
[[Category:Anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Russia]]
[[Category:Candidates in the 1996 Russian presidential election|Zyuganov]]
[[Category:Candidates in the 2000 Russian presidential election|Zyuganov]]
[[Category:Candidates in the 2008 Russian presidential election|Zyuganov]]
[[Category:Candidates in the 2012 Russian presidential election|Zyuganov]]
[[Category:Christian communists]]
[[Category:Communist Party of the Russian Federation presidential nominees|Zyuganov]]
[[Category:Communist Party of the Russian Federation members|Zyuganov]]
[[Category:Communist Party of the Soviet Union members|Zyuganov]]
[[Category:Council of Europe people]]
[[Category:Eurasianists]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Neo-Stalinists]]
[[Category:People from Oryol Oblast]]
[[Category:Russian communists]]
[[Category:Russian conspiracy theorists]]
[[Category:Russian individuals subject to European Union sanctions]]
[[Category:Russian individuals subject to United Kingdom sanctions]]
[[Category:Russian individuals subject to U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions]]
[[Category:Russian Marxists]]
[[Category:Russian nationalists]]
[[Category:Soviet Army officers]]
[[Category:First convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation)]]
[[Category:Second convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation)]]
[[Category:Third convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation)]]
[[Category:Fourth convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation)]]
[[Category:Fifth convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation)]]
[[Category:Sixth convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation)]]
[[Category:Seventh convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation)]]
[[Category:Eighth convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation)]]
[[Category:Anti-Americanism]]
[[Category:Anti-LGBTQ activists]]