Born in 1950 in Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, Soviet Union, Yuri spent his life devoted to individuals' freedom until he passed away in Chicago on January 25, 2023.
Yuri had a vibrant youth. As a child, he attended music school, specializing in piano. Although he ultimately decided not to pursue piano, his love of music, specifically the classical works of Tchaikovsky, Bach, and Chopin, stayed with him his entire life.
Yuri began his studies at Kazan State University before transferring to Moscow State University, where he completed his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in Labor Economics. Later, after holding several prominent positions in research, educational and financial institutions, he joined Gorbachev's economic advisory board, focusing on designing and implementing the perestroika reforms. During his tenure at the USSR's International Labor Organization, he traveled and worked throughout Europe, a cosmopolitan theme he would carry on throughout his life.
Always critical of the Soviet system, Yuri was drawn to Western writings by Ludvig Von Mises and Friedrich Hayek.
Graham Greene, Robert Service, Thomas Wolf, and William Faulkner were his favorite authors for their deep understanding of drama and the complexity of life. Later, in the United States, his favorites grew to include the farce of Leslie Nielsen movies.
In 1989, while on a Soviet official business trip to Finland, Yuri made an impromptu dash for the United States, ultimately successfully defecting from the USSR. After various intelligence debriefings in Germany, he made his way first to New York City and then to Washington, D.C., where he became a fellow of the Institute of Peace. While in DC, he testified before Congress and appeared on multiple news outlets, including Fox News, CNN, and C-SPAN, discussing the inanities of the USSR and communism. In one of his proudest and happiest moments, Yuri became a United States citizen in 1995.
Driven by his passions for speaking and teaching, Yuri moved to Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 1991 to begin as a Professor of Economics at Carthage College, where he remained until his passing. In his three-decade tenure at Carthage, Yuri became well known for his lectures, commitment to his students, and student trips to exciting and often out-of-the-way places. These trips included meeting with local communities, educational organizations, and government officials. Yuri said his student tours to Cuba "were the best way to inoculate young minds against the evils of communism." Yearly family trips were just as action-packed.
Yuri believed to his core that individual liberty and property rights were the natural foundations of human existence. He wrote two books, co-authored nine books, and wrote over three hundred articles exposing the horrors of totalitarianism. Yuri befriended the giants of libertarian thought, Murray Rothbard and Hans-Hermann Hoppe, from the Austrian School of Economics and was humbled to become a Senior Fellow at the Mises Institute.
Yuri's knowledge of economic thought, world history, and human nature was exceptional. He gave hundreds of speeches at universities and colleges in the US and abroad. Additionally, he spoke at numerous worldwide military installations to senior officials in intelligence agencies and the Department of Defense. His humor and personal stories touched the lives of many worldwide with the ideals of freedom and his critique of authoritarianism.
Yuri will be remembered for his vividly amusing and wise stories about his life and the historical events he witnessed. He was loved by all and will be missed dearly as a husband, father, brother, son, friend, and professor.
Yuri is survived by his wife Rita, whom he met in Lithuania in 2002, and their two children, Laura and Stanley. He is also survived by his older daughters, Alexandra and Hannah, his sister Natalia, and his mother, Olga.