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Дивильковские

воспоминания о семье и эпохе

Sergey Ivanovich Divilkovskiy — a hereditary diplomat. He was born in 1930 in Paris. In 1954, after graduating from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, he began working at the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was on long-term assignments in Canada (1960-1965) and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (1967-1970).

During his time in Vietnam, as First Secretary and later as Counselor of the Soviet Embassy, he acted as a liaison between the embassy and the leadership of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, which led the resistance to the U.S. aggression in that country. From 1970, he was a Referent in the Department of the CPSU Central Committee for Relations with Communist and Workers' Parties of Socialist Countries.

In 1980, he was sent as a Counselor to the Permanent Mission of the USSR to the United Nations in New York, where he acted as the representative of the International Information Department of the CPSU Central Committee ("Information Counselor"). In 1982, he was transferred to the same position at the Soviet Embassy in the USA (Washington), and simultaneously became the head of the embassy's press group.

Upon his return from the United States in 1985, he worked for a time in the International Information Department, and from 1986 in the International Department of the CPSU Central Committee as a consultant. In 1989, by personal order of the "chief ideologist" of the CPSU and "architect of perestroika," Politburo member A.N. Yakovlev, he was removed from the department's staff. (A.I. Polyansky, "From the Life of Intelligence Officers").

He was awarded the Order of Friendship of Peoples and medals of the USSR.

After retiring, he actively participated in the public life of the Kievsky and Dorogomilovsky districts of Moscow, serving as a member of the district committees of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. He was also engaged in literary work and raised his grandchildren.

Sergey Ivanovich Divilkovskiy passed away on January 9, 2019, at Clinical Hospital No. 1. He is buried at the Kuntsevo Cemetery in Moscow.

This page contains the memories of S.I. Divilkovskiy about his family and era.

Life and Death of Anatoly Avdeevich Divilkovskiy. Part 1

Anatoly Avdeevich Divilkovskiy, in his youth, was a professional revolutionary, one of those who fanned the flames of anger and rebellion from the spark of popular discontent...

My Gentle Bolshevine

Maria Petrovna Yasneva-Golubeva, my maternal grandmother, shared the same faith as my grandfather Anatoly Avdeevich Divilkovskiy and was no less renowned than he in the RSDLP and the RCP. In fact, she embarked on the path of 'overthrowing established authorities and order' much earlier than he did.

Shots in Lausanne

On May 10, 1923, in the quiet and prosperous Lausanne, on the shores of Lake Geneva, seven gunshots rang out in the quickly emptying restaurant 'Cécile' just before closing. The echo of those shots reverberated across Europe, silencing for two whole decades any expressions of willingness for peace and good neighborly relations that Swiss and Soviet statesmen and diplomats may have wished to exchange

Into a beating heart...

The break had long ended, and the bell for class had already rung, but the teacher still hadn’t shown up. The usual joyful excitement that arises in such situations was building up in the classroom—held back for the moment, but ready to burst out any second with a triumphant: "The physics teacher is sick again, no class today, hooray!"

At Cold War and in a Hot Spot

I loved and still love my country. My country is Great Russia, the Soviet Union. It no longer exists, but I continue to love that country more than any other in the world. I also love the present, "diminished" and plundered Russia that remains from the former one, just as a son loves his mother, even when she is sick and humiliated.

America From Above, Below, Side, and Up Close. Part 2

A fortunate turn of events allowed me to change roles in January 1980, when I traveled to New York to join the Permanent Mission of the USSR to the UN as an Information Counselor—a designate of the International Information Department (foreign policy propaganda) of the CPSU Central Committee.

Life and Death of Anatoly Avdeevich Divilkovskiy. Part 2

After the Central Control Commission's resolution on May 30, 1922, and amid the worsening illness of V.I. Lenin, my grandfather's fate was sealed. He came under increasing pressure, initially from Moscow's, and later from higher: party and Soviet authorities.

Ivan and Lelya

Lelya, Lelya! Where is Lelya Golubeva? Has anyone seen Lelya Golubeva? Lelya, where have you disappeared to?! The boss is calling for you!”

Into the small room, where three young women and two men, about twenty to twenty-five years old, were bent over typewriters and papers, entered a delicate-looking girl with short, light chestnut hair

Ivan and Lelya (continued)

The steamship Berengaria, one of the most comfortable liners of the British shipping company Cunard, was nearing the end of its latest transatlantic voyage on the London–New York route.

Less than two days remained until arrival at the destination port. The weather was worsening: the Gulf Stream was left behind, the ship entered the cold current zone, the wind grew stronger and crisper, and the sea became more turbulent...

A Warrior and a Worker of Emergency Aid

A compassionate individual, an excellent surgeon, a talented administrator, and an tireless public figure, he dedicated over twenty years of his life to working at the N.V. Sklifosovsky Emergency Care Institute, including nearly sixteen years as its director.

America From Above, Below, Side, and Up Close. Part 1

About a month after my arrival in Ottawa (this was in December 1960), John F. Kennedy assumed office as President of the United States. Just as it was for the people of the U.S., it was the number one political event for most Canadians, and therefore for us at the embassy as well.

Envoys with a White Flag

In the final stage of relations between the USSR and the USA, there was an episode that essentially marked the Kremlin leadership's concession on the main front of the Cold War—the realm of ideas and principles

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