His paternal grandfather was from Bessarabia. Worked for Theatre magazine; 1991-1993: Headed the Kultura publishing group; 1993-1997: Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation; 1997: Appointed Editor-in-Chief and Deputy Chairman of the All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (VGTRK); 1998- 2000: Chairman of VGTRK; 2000-2004: Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation. After the reform of the Minister of Culture in 2004, was appointed Head of the Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography. Mikhail Shvydkoy B: September 5, 1948, Kant, Kyrgyzstan Special Representative of Russian President on International Cultural Cooperation. Mikhail Shvydkoy was one of the founders of the Kultura television channel in n, Russia and was its Chief Editor in the short period from autumn 1997 to the beginning of 1998. In 23 October 2008: Elected President of the Russian Academy of Television .3 at an extraordinary meeting. September 2008: Awarded the Order For Merit to the Fatherland", IV Class "for his enormous contribution to the development of Russian culture and the many years of productive work". October 2009: Awarded the "Italy in the World" prize. Mikhail Shvydkoy holds the degree of Doctor of Fine Arts and is a member of the Russian Academy of Humanities and the Union of Russian Writers, the Union of Theatre Workers of the Russian Federation and the Russian Union ofJournalists. He is a recipient of the State Prize of the Russian Federation for Literature and Art.