A little boy was born and raised in love. Received a good education. Learned all the good things and not so much. And he was able to process knowledge into a completely unpredictable result. What happened is not to everyone's liking. It does not strive to be smooth and predictable. His fame and eccentricity of views speak of a mighty willpower and unbending character.
Family
Family always leaves a deep mark on a person's life. It's kind of a start. From what the beginning was, the further trajectory of the development of fate depends. Ardov Mikhail Viktorovich was born in a creative family. His father, Viktor Efimovich Zigberman, was a writer. At one time, he was forced to take a different surname - Ardov. Mom is a famous actress Olshevskaya Nina Antonovna. The family had three sons, as in a Russian folk tale. In addition to Mikhail, brother Boris and half-brother Alexei Batalov grew up in the family. Both brothers chose the path of their mother, became actors.
Creative impulses were in the air and were assimilated by little Misha along with mother's milk. But to become an artistdidn't want to. Decided to follow in the footsteps of his father. And he became a publicist writer.
Childhood and youth
The year for birth was not the most successful. Mikhail Ardov was born in Moscow on October 21, 1937. The family has not lived in one place since the birth of the baby. From Lavrushinsky Lane in 1938 they left for Bolshaya Ordynka, exchanging an apartment. Here he came of age. Mikhail begins his independent life at a new address. He spent the sixties in Golikovsky Lane. One thing remained unchanged: Moscow.
Childhood passed like all peers in the difficult war and the first post-war years. In the last war year of 1944, he goes to the first grade in one of the schools in Zamoskvorechye. She has been studying at this school for three years. Then the parents transfer the boy to school number 12, which was located in Staromonetny Lane in the Yakimanka area. The second school was the last one.
In 1954, Ardov received a certificate and entered the Molotov Moscow State Library Institute. He did not study there for long, something went wrong, he had to quit his studies. The following year, he becomes a student at Moscow State University named after M. V. Lomonosov. The Faculty of Journalism became for the young man exactly what the soul lay for. In 1960, he received a diploma and the profession of a writer.
Professional path
The young specialist did not look for a job for long, starting to work as an editor at the All-Union Radio. The work is exciting, but I wanted to write. In 1962, Mikhail Ardov became a professional writer and wroteselflessly and a lot. The result of his creative path is his membership in the Committee of Moscow Playwrights.
Spiritual development
1964 dramatically changed the views of the writer. He is baptized into the Orthodox faith. By the end of the sixties, Mikhail Ardov completely abandoned journalism, ceased to appear in bohemian companies. Three years after baptism, he was churched. Since 1967, he has served as a subdeacon in the church "Joy of All Who Sorrow" on Ordynka. A huge number of believers come to bow to the icon of the Mother of God. The young deacon on Bolshaya Ordynka attracted his eccentricity.
Two days in 1980 became a turning point in the fate of this man. A week before Pascha on Palm Sunday, Mikhail Ardov was ordained a deacon in the church of St. Innocent in Yaroslavl. A week after this important event, on Easter, Metropolitan John (Wendland) ordained him to the priesthood.
With the blessing of Metropolitan Mikhail Ardov, archpriest, goes to serve in the village parishes. Small villages of the Yaroslavl diocese, then the Moscow region of the Moscow diocese. Thirteen years of regular service as a priest in the parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate flew by.
Gap
1993 summer. An unforeseen event occurs: priest Mikhail Ardov breaks off legal relations with the Moscow diocese. Orthodoxy abroad becomes closer to him. He is appointed clergyman of the Suzdal diocese of ROCOR (Russian Orthodox Church Abroad). Bishop Valentine headed the diocese (in the worldRusantsev). Together with his mentor, Mikhail goes into a split.
In 1995 he became a cleric of the ROAC (Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church). Until 1998, this organization had a different name: the Russian Orthodox Free Church. The ROAC is considered to be independent of the ROCOR both administratively and canonically. At the head of the church was its organizer and spiritual mentor, His Grace Valentine.
Special Views
Father Michael has his own point of view on many things. This is very clearly seen in relation to the Olympic Games and sports in general. He believes that it is unacceptable for a true Christian to engage in physical education, and even more so in sports. He finds an explanation for this in the Holy Scriptures: a Christian should not attend mass spectacles. There is another proof: sport is caring for the body, for the flesh. A true believer should take care of spiritual ex altation.
Mikhail Ardov (Archpriest) has special views on the Orthodox Church. He believes that the ROC interacts too closely with secular authorities. Father Michael explains this in a peculiar way. In his opinion, the modern Orthodox Church was formed during the Great Patriotic War to unite the people of the USSR against fascism. Stalin created two organizations on the same model - the CPSU and the Russian Orthodox Church. When the party alone could not resist the Wehrmacht troops, support was required. The difficult year of 1943 was the year of the birth of a new assistant to the CPSU - the church. At the same time, he provides evidence for his point.vision. Both organizations have similar features: church councils are party congresses; heretics are the enemies of the people. There are martyrs-heroes and leaders: the Patriarch is the General Secretary.
Conflict between official and autonomous churches
Archpriest Mikhail Viktorovich Ardov does not consider it necessary to hide his views. And openly expresses them. Back in the nineties, through the Izvestia newspaper, he expressed his negative attitude towards the restoration of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, which was initiated by Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov. Father Mikhail publicly promised never to cross the threshold of the resurrected church.
The beginning of the twenty-first century was marked by open criticism of the Russian Orthodox Church. In 2006, the activities of the ROAC headed by him provoked sharp criticism from the Deputy Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin. Live meetings became an arena for discussions between Mikhail Ardov and Deacon Andrey Kuraev. Ardov considers both of them “the ideologists of the Moscow Patriarch.” The September 2006 broadcast of one of the Friday programs "New Times" found a response in the print media and caused a great resonance in society.
Literary achievements
Priest Mikhail Ardov has not left the literary field all the years of serving God. The biography of many celebrities is reflected in his works. He presented the life and creative path of the poetess Anna Akhmatova in all its grandeur and diversity. Not only Akhmatova, but also other giants -the creators were interested in the publicist. The titles of his books speak eloquently about the content: “Legendary Ordynka. Portraits”, “Great soul. Memories of Dmitri Shostakovich.”
The author managed to describe in an accessible way, to interest the reader in the plot. Reading and discussing the main ideas of such books as "Little Things of the Arch.., Proto… and Simply Priestly Life", "Common Truths", has become a necessary need for the thinking intelligentsia.
Today's summary
As if Mikhail Ardov had been striving for this all his life. The biography of the son of creative parents, a journalist is full of sharp turns. Today he is the rector of the church in the name of the Tsar Martyr Nicholas II and all the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia, which is located at the Golovinsky cemetery in Moscow. He is a cleric (archpriest) of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church.
He is known first as a Soviet, and then as a Russian memoirist and publicist. His works are read not only by believers. Ardov's extraordinary publications help to consider the opponent's position, form one's opinion, and find support for one's searches.
