A little boy was born and raised in love. Received a good education. I learned all the good and not so good. And he was able to transform knowledge into a completely unpredictable result. What happened is not everyone likes. He does not strive to be smooth and predictable. His fame and eccentricity of views speak of a powerful willpower and unbending character.
A family
Family always leaves a deep mark on a person’s life. This is a kind of start. The further trajectory of the development of fate depends on what the beginning was. Ardov Mikhail Viktorovich was born in a creative family. His father, Victor Efimovich Zigberman, was a writer. At one time he was forced to take another 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, his 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 absorbed by little Misha along with mother's milk. But he did not want to become an artist. I decided to follow in the footsteps of my father. And he became a writer and publicist.
Childhood and youth
The year for birth was not the best. 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. Michael begins his independent life at a new address. He spent the sixties in Golikovsky Lane. One thing remained the same: Moscow.
Childhood passed like all peers in the difficult military and first post-war years. In the last military year of 1944, he goes to first grade at one of the schools in Zamoskvorechye. 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.
In 1954, Ardov received a certificate and entered the MGBI (Moscow State Library Institute) named after Molotov. He studied there for long, something went wrong, I had to quit school. The next year he becomes a student at Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov. The faculty of journalism has become for the young man exactly what the soul lay for. In 1960, he received a diploma and the profession of a writer.
Professional way
The young specialist did not look for work for long, starting to work as an editor on All-Union Radio. The work is fascinating, but I wanted to write. In 1962, Mikhail Ardov became a professional writer and wrote selflessly and a lot. The result of his career is his membership in the Committee of Moscow playwrights.
Spiritual development
The year 1964 abruptly changed the views of the writer. He is baptized in 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 churches. Since 1967, he has served as a subdeacon in the church “All Who Sorrow for Joy” on Ordynka. To worship the icon of the Mother of God comes a huge number of believers. The young deacon on Bolshaya Ordynka attracted with his eccentricity.
Two days in 1980 were turning points in the fate of this man. A week before Easter on Palm Sunday, Mikhail Ardov was ordained deacon in the church of St. Innocent in Yaroslavl. A week after this important event, on Easter, Metropolitan John (Wendland) ordained him priest.
With the blessing of Metropolitan Mikhail Ardov, Archpriest, he goes to serve in village parishes. Small villages of the Yaroslavl diocese, then the Moscow Region diocese of Moscow. Thirteen years of service as a priest passed unnoticed in the parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate.
Break
1993 year, summer. An unforeseen event occurs: Priest Mikhail Ardov breaks off legal relations with the Moscow diocese. Foreign Orthodoxy is becoming closer to him. He is appointed clergyman of the Suzdal diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (Russian Orthodox Church Abroad). The diocese was headed by Bishop Valentin (in the world of the Rusans). Together with his mentor, Mikhail goes into schism.
In 1995, he became a cleric of the ROAC (Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church). Until 1998, this organization had a different name: Russian Orthodox Free Church. The ROAC is considered independent of the ROCA both administratively and canonically. At the head of the church was its organizer and spiritual mentor, His Grace Valentin.
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 a true Christian is unacceptable 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 shows. There is another proof: sport is the care of the body, of the flesh. A true believer must take care of spiritual exaltation.
Mikhail Ardov (archpriest) is distinguished by special views on the Orthodox Church. He believes that the Russian Orthodox Church 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 according to one 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 the new assistant to the CPSU - the church. Moreover, he gives evidence of his point of view. Both organizations have similar features: church councils are party congresses; heretics are enemies of the people. There are heroic martyrs and leaders: the Patriarch is the Secretary General.
Conflict of 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 newspaper Izvestia, he expressed his negative attitude to the restoration of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, which was initiated by Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov. Father Michael publicly promised never to cross the threshold of a resurrected temple.
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 aroused sharp criticism of the Deputy Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin. The live meetings have become an arena for discussions between Mikhail Ardov and Deacon Andrei Kuraev. Ardov considers both of them to be “the ideologists of the Moscow patriarch”. The September broadcast of 2006, one of the New Times program on Friday, found a response in the print media and caused a great resonance in society.
Literary Achievements
All years of service to God do not leave the literary field priest Michael Ardov. The biography of many celebrities is reflected in his works. The life and career of the poetess Anna Akhmatova, he presented in all its greatness and diversity. Not only Akhmatova, but also other giants-creators interested the publicist. The names of his books eloquently speak of the content: “The legendary Horde. Portraits "," Great soul. Memories of Dmitry Shostakovich. "
The author was able to describe in an accessible way, to interest the reader in the plot. To read and discuss the main ideas of such books as “Little things arch ..., proto ... and simply priestly life”, “Common truths”, has become a necessary need of thinking intelligentsia.
The result of today
As if Mikhail Ardov had been striving for this all his life. The biography of the son of creative parents, the journalist is full of sharp turns. Today he is the rector of the church in the name of 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 clergyman (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 his opinion, and find support for his searches.