Igor Bunin

Igor Mikhailovich Bunin, historian, political scientist, President of the Centre for Political Technologies, Head of the Joint Department with Centre for Political Technologies at HSE Faculty of Social Sciences, and one of the pioneers of Russian political technologies, passed away on Saturday, May 12. He was 72.

‘My life has always been connected with politics,’ used to say Igor Mikhailovich. It is worth adding that it was connected with entrepreneurship as well.

The first research interests of Igor Bunin included French entrepreneurship and French politics. In 1973 he defended his dissertation for the degree of Candidate of Historical Sciences on ‘The Evolution of Business Unions in France’ at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations, the USSR Academy of Sciences, where he worked until 1982. Between  1982 and 1992, Igor Bunin was a leading researcher at the Institute of Comparative Political Science and Working Movement of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and defended another dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Political Sciences entitled ‘Social party in French society in the 1980s.’

In the 1990s, Igor Bunin switched his focus to Russian entrepreneurship and Russian politics, but not only as a researcher, but also as a practitioner.

In 1992 Igor Bunin became Director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies ‘Expertise’, a leading expert at the Gorbachev Foundation, and in August 1993 — General Director of the ‘Centre for Political Technologies’ Foundation.

This was the time when Bunin, using his knowledge of French politics, started developing recommendations, including ones concerned with the most relevant and pressing issues of domestic policy, for the political leaders of the country.

The Centre for Political Technologies under his supervision has become one of the leading players in the field of political consulting in Russia.

Today, the Centre for Political Technologies is not only a team that has implemented dozens of election campaigns and carried out many projects in the field of research and consulting commissioned by government, private and public organizations, but is also a unique school of applied research in various fields of social sciences, with their own methods and approaches to solving both research and management problems.

The desire of Igor Mikhailovich to pass  on his experience to the younger generation led to the establishment of the Joint Department with Centre for Political Technologies at HSE Faculty of Social Sciences in May 2015. Students got the opportunity to not only receive unique first-hand knowledge from the best Russian specialists, but also to participate in the current projects of the Centre. The course ‘Political technologies in Russian politics’ delivered with the participation of Igor Bunin during the third year of studies in political science, always aroused great interest among students.

Right up to his last days Igor Mikhailovich remained an active, cheerful and forward-thinking man respected and admired by his colleagues. Two awards — the Russian Order of Friendship (2016) and the French Order of the Legion of Honour (2017) - are evidence of Igor Bunin's achievements in both the Russian and international scientific community.

Igor Bunin's passing is a great loss for Russian political science, for all his colleagues and students. HSE administration would like to express their sincere condolences to Igor Bunin’s family and friends.

Higher School of Economics

• Order of Friendship (Russia, 2016);
• Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honour (France, 2017).