Alexander Druz is one of the smartest people Russia, master of the program “What? Where? When?". Do you want to know where the hero of this article was born and studied? How is Alexandra? We are ready to provide you with comprehensive information about his person. We wish you pleasant reading!
Alexander Druz: biography. Childhood
He was born on May 10, 1955 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). Our hero was brought up educated and has Jewish roots.
Alexander grew up as an obedient and inquisitive boy. He liked to draw and look at pictures in books. However, he also never refused to play with the guys in the yard.
School years
As a child, he read all the books that were in the house. It's about not only about the works of classics, but also about weighty encyclopedias. Friend Jr. always had a good memory. He memorized long poems and passages of prose.
IN adolescence our hero began to show his character. He was not afraid to break prohibitions. For example, his parents told him to come back at 9 pm. And he deliberately delayed for 30-40 minutes. Father and mother forbade their son to go swimming in the pond. But Alexander did not listen to them.
student life
After graduation high school our hero entered the local technical school. In 2 years he mastered the specialty of electrical technician. Alexander Druz could build a successful career in this area. But he decided to get higher education. Alexander's choice fell on the Institute of Railway Transport Engineers. A talented and purposeful guy passed the entrance exams without difficulty. In 1980, he was awarded the long-awaited diploma.
He worked for several years as an engineer in the construction industry. Then Alexander Druz (see photo above) radically changed his occupation. Our hero began developing a television career.
"What? Where? When?"
Alexander Druz first appeared on the air of the legendary program for intellectuals in 1981. And before that, he applied for participation in the program several times. And one fine day his candidacy was approved.
Presenter “What? Where? When” Vladimir Voroshilov immediately saw in him smart person, an integral and comprehensively developed personality. The friend turned out to be a gambler. He repeatedly got into arguments with the presenter and other experts, for which he was even kicked out of the club. And only thanks to the demands of the audience, Friends were brought back.
Alexander Abramovich received the main award of the intellectual club - the Crystal Owl - six times. In addition, he was one of the first to earn the title “Master of the Game.”
Television career
"What? Where? When?" is not the only project in which Alexander Druz participated. His biography indicates that he appeared in several popular programs.
In 1990, Alexander Abramovich was invited to the intellectual show “Brain Ring”. Our hero could not miss such a chance. He managed to defeat all his rivals and receive the Golden Brain award.
Since 1995, Druz regularly participated in the program “Own Game” (NTV). He won 22 games out of 35. No other expert could boast of such a result. The first prize that Alexander won was a foreign-made car. Our hero had nothing to pay the tax (35%) for it. Therefore, Druz took the reward in money. With the amount received, he purchased a Lada car. I must say that the car served him for 7 years.
In May 2011, he tried himself as a presenter. We are talking about the “Hour of Truth” program on the “365 Days TV” channel. The friend successfully completed the tasks assigned to him.
Today the expert and master of “What? Where? When?" are invited to the filming of various programs, such as “While everyone is at home”, “Guess the melody”, “Evening Urgant” and so on. And there is nothing to be surprised about. After all, we have before us an interesting person with his own views on life and deep knowledge in many areas.
Alexander Druz: family
Our hero wanted to get married once and for life. And so it happened. With my future wife I met my friend in first grade. Elena was a noisy and sociable girl. And he had completely opposite qualities. The quiet and modest boy was afraid to admit his sympathy to the girl. Soon fate separated them. The parents transferred the girl to another school. The meeting of Elena and Alexander took place only 7 years later. The friend looked after his beloved beautifully: he gave flowers, showered her with compliments and invited her for walks around the city. In 10th grade, their romance grew into a serious relationship.
In 1978, Alexander Druz and his chosen one Elena got married. Only close friends and relatives from the bride and groom were present at the celebration. In 1979, his wife gave birth to Alexander’s daughter, Inna. The young father could not stop looking at the baby. He helped his wife take care of the baby. In 1982, there was another addition to the family. A second daughter was born, who was named Marina. For a long time the couple dreamed of an heir. However, fate had its own way.
Alexander and Elena have been living together for more than 37 years. Their daughters grew up and started families. Our hero and his wife are grandparents. They have three granddaughters growing up - Ensley, Alina and Alisa.
I always admire the game of experts “What? Where? When?”, I really love two masters - Maxim Potashev and Alexander Druz. Where do the experts work? Or has gaming become their main activity?
N. Konovalova, Stavropol Territory
Friend is a TV boss
“The GAME doesn’t feed us,” Alexander Druz, a master and four-time winner of the “Crystal Owl,” answered us. “All experts have their favorite job. Personally, I am the program director of the St. Petersburg television company “Golden Taurus.” Now the program “Fatherland and fate", on REN-TV the series "Agency", recently the series "Vovochka" was shown - all of them were produced by our television company, however, I was not involved in all of them."
Alexander's daughters Druzya Inna and Marina, as you know, also appeared on the air "What? Where? When?" “They are quite normal modern girls,” their father says about them. “Friends, discos, boys. Both are very fond of all sorts of extreme pastimes: they are fond of horses, go on gig boats along the Neva and the Gulf of Finland. Inna graduated from the St. Petersburg University of Economics and Finance , is studying in graduate school and working in one of the largest St. Petersburg banks, and the youngest, Marina, has entered her 4th year at this university.”
Dad, unlike his daughters, is not such an extreme person. He prefers a quiet and relaxing holiday. Favorite places (except St. Petersburg): Paris, Amsterdam, Mikhailovskoye. He travels only with his wife Elena, whom he met in 1st grade. “My mother-in-law claimed that we met even earlier, but I don’t remember this,” says Alexander. “We studied together from 1st to 3rd grade, then Lena moved to another school. And in 9th grade I congratulated Lena since March 8, we met and have been together ever since.”
Potashev - manager
SECOND MASTER "What? Where? When?" 33-year-old Maxim Potashev is the head of the analytical center of Kaspersky Lab, which develops anti-virus programs. “Fortunately, the game doesn’t interfere with work,” Maxim told SV. “But it takes everything away.” free time which I have. Does popularity get in the way? You come to business negotiations, and they say to you: “Well, why don’t you still work?!” We have to debunk this misleading impression."
Maxim's wife, like Druz's wife, is named Lena, and they met thanks to the game - Lena played in the Moscow club "What? Where? When?" But Potashev’s wife has never played on air, and she doesn’t come to the studio to cheer for her husband. “Lena is very nervous, this is transmitted, and I also begin to worry, so we decided that it was better not to experiment,” says Maxim. “But recently at the world championship of the club “What? Where? When?", held in Baku, Lena played with me on the same team." The Potashevs have no children yet.
Burda - culinary specialist
WHERE do the rest of the “What? Where? When?” experts work?
Rovshan Askerov is a columnist for Sport Express.
Boris Burda is the host of a cooking program on Ukrainian television.
Fedor Dvinyatin is a teacher at St. Petersburg State University, Department of Philology.
Georgy Zharkov is a senior lecturer at the Department of Psychology at Vladimir State Pedagogical University, a member of the expert council on youth policy of the administration of the Vladimir region.
Sergey Tsarkov is vice-president of the Oleg Efremov Foundation, entrepreneur.
Victor Sidnev - director of the Troitsk-Telecom company, deputy of the Troitsk City Council of Deputies.
Alexander Druz is one of the smartest people in Russia, master of the “What? Where? When?". Do you want to know where the hero of this article was born and studied? What is Alexander's marital status? We are ready to provide you with comprehensive information about his person. We wish you pleasant reading!
Alexander Druz: biography. Childhood
He was born on May 10, 1955 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). Our hero was brought up in an educated and intelligent family. He has Jewish roots.
Alexander grew up as an obedient and inquisitive boy. He liked to draw and look at pictures in books. However, he also never refused to play with the guys in the yard.
School years
As a child, he read all the books that were in the house. We are talking not only about the works of classics, but also about weighty encyclopedias. Friend Jr. always had a good memory. He memorized long poems and passages of prose.
In adolescence, our hero began to show his character. He was not afraid to break prohibitions. For example, his parents told him to come back at 9 pm. And he deliberately delayed for 30-40 minutes. Father and mother forbade their son to go swimming in the pond. But Alexander did not listen to them.
student life
After graduating from high school, our hero entered a local technical school. In 2 years he mastered the specialty of electrical technician. Alexander Druz could build a successful career in this area. But he decided to get a higher education. Alexander's choice fell on the Institute of Railway Transport Engineers. A talented and purposeful guy passed the entrance exams without difficulty. In 1980, he was awarded the long-awaited diploma.
He worked for several years as an engineer in the construction industry. Then Alexander Druz (see photo above) radically changed his occupation. Our hero began developing a television career.
"What? Where? When?"
Alexander Druz first appeared on the air of the legendary program for intellectuals in 1981. And before that, he applied for participation in the program several times. And one fine day his candidacy was approved.
Presenter “What? Where? When” Vladimir Voroshilov immediately saw in him an intelligent person, an integral and comprehensively developed personality. The friend turned out to be a gambler. He repeatedly got into arguments with the presenter and other experts, for which he was even kicked out of the club. And only thanks to the demands of the audience, Friends were brought back.
Alexander Abramovich received the main award of the intellectual club - the Crystal Owl - six times. In addition, he was one of the first to earn the title “Master of the Game.”
Television career
"What? Where? When?" is not the only project in which Alexander Druz participated. His biography indicates that he appeared in several popular programs.
In 1990, Alexander Abramovich was invited to the intellectual show “Brain Ring”. Our hero could not miss such a chance. He managed to defeat all his rivals and receive the Golden Brain award. 
Since 1995, Druz regularly participated in the program “Own Game” (NTV). He won 22 games out of 35. No other expert could boast of such a result. The first prize that Alexander won was a foreign-made car. Our hero had nothing to pay the tax (35%) for it. Therefore, Druz took the reward in money. With the amount received, he purchased a Lada car. I must say that the car served him for 7 years.
In May 2011, Alexander Abramovich tried himself as a presenter. We are talking about the “Hour of Truth” program on the “365 Days TV” channel. The friend successfully completed the tasks assigned to him.
Today the expert and master of “What? Where? When?" are invited to the filming of various programs, such as “While everyone is at home”, “Guess the melody”, “Evening Urgant” and so on. And there is nothing to be surprised about. After all, we have before us an interesting person with his own views on life and deep knowledge in many areas.
Alexander Druz: family
Our hero wanted to get married once and for life. And so it happened. Druz met his future wife in first grade. Elena was a noisy and sociable girl. And he had completely opposite qualities. The quiet and modest boy was afraid to admit his sympathy to the girl. Soon fate separated them. The parents transferred the girl to another school. The meeting of Elena and Alexander took place only 7 years later. The friend looked after his beloved beautifully: he gave flowers, showered her with compliments and invited her for walks around the city. In 10th grade, their romance grew into a serious relationship.
In 1978, Alexander Druz and his chosen one Elena got married. Only close friends and relatives from the bride and groom were present at the celebration. In 1979, his wife gave birth to Alexander’s daughter, Inna. The young father could not stop looking at the baby. He helped his wife take care of the baby. In 1982, there was another addition to the family. A second daughter was born, who was named Marina. For a long time, the couple dreamed of an heir. However, fate had its own way.
Alexander and Elena have been living together for more than 37 years. Their daughters grew up and started families. Our hero and his wife are grandparents. They have three granddaughters growing up - Ensley, Alina and Alisa.
Alexander Druz since his appearance on television in 1981 in the game “What? Where? When?" very quickly became popular and recognizable. In an incomprehensible way, restraint coexisted with the passion of a real player. Of course, the intellectual had many fans. But he can confidently be called a monogamous man. He has known his wife for more than half a century, and in September 2018 he will celebrate his 40th wedding anniversary.
School love
They met in first grade. It cannot be said that they instantly became friends, and then school friendship grew into love. They just studied together for 2 years, and then Elena’s family moved to another area. But the girl’s mother believed that Alexander was a very good boy, so he should be invited to visit. And for a couple of years Sasha Druz regularly went to Elena’s birthday. And he invited her to his name day accordingly.
True, Lenochka did not understand why Druz came to visit. While all the children were joyfully playing and communicating, Sasha picked up a book, sat in a corner and spent the whole time in the company of the book.
Their connection was soon interrupted, but Sasha saved the girl’s home phone number in his notebook. And when a few years later I decided to congratulate all the girls I knew on International Women’s Day, I called Lena. He was curious how much his childhood friend had changed, and he suggested meeting.
Elena later recalled how she couldn’t wait for the date to end. Sasha just told her jokes non-stop. But she still went on a second date. She doesn’t hide it now: at first she simply used Alexander. He helped her do physics, and during their dates around St. Petersburg he talked a lot and interestingly about the sights of his native city.
But somehow, imperceptibly, the relationship grew from friendly to romantic. By the end of school, they both had no doubt: it was love. But they were in no hurry to go to the registry office.
A smart approach to life
Alexander and Elena decided to first get an education and only after that start a family. Alexander did not immediately pass the competition to the institute, but entered the industrial pedagogical technical school and only then graduated from the institute. Elena became a student at the First Medical School. Although she dreamed of teaching, she did not find the strength to resist her mother’s decision.
Surprisingly, Lena’s mother, who treated Sasha so warmly in childhood, suddenly turned out to be almost his ideological enemy. She always adhered to communist views, but for some reason Alexander expressed seditious thoughts, in her opinion. He was an obvious supporter of dissidence.
But as a result, the daughter announced that Druz had proposed to her, and the mother simply had to come to terms with her choice. The future mother-in-law herself did not experience any particular joy about this.
The newlyweds settled with Elena, and here Alexander learned to show miracles of diplomacy. He did not get into arguments or talk about politics. In addition, he tried to control that my mother did not watch those programs that led her to worsen her illnesses. When she fell ill, he looked after her without expressing displeasure.
"What? Where? When?" on television and in life
In 1979, the couple had a daughter, Inna, and in 1982, Marina. For the first time in the program “What? Where? When?" Alexander Druz appeared in 1981. And almost immediately he gained unprecedented popularity. A simple systems engineer suddenly became a real star. However, he did not particularly monitor his rating. He liked to read, he liked to learn new things, and the game allowed him to skillfully use this knowledge.
Over the years of playing at the club, he managed to win all conceivable and unimaginable awards, and also train a worthy replacement for himself. Both daughters of the intellectual began to play “What? Where? When?".
When asked how Alexander Abramovich and his wife developed the intellectual abilities of their daughters, both answer that no one did this on purpose. They simply read books to them from the age of three months, and then sent them to a good mathematics school.
Daughters say that their parents always answered questions. Never in their lives have they been brushed aside or referred to as being busy. Alexander Abramovich also taught girls to look for answers to questions on their own. They had no prohibitions on books; everyone read what they considered useful for themselves.
Surprisingly eldest daughter Inna turned out to be a lover of books about the revolution, but the younger one did not share her sister’s hobbies, preferring pirate romance and books about Robin Hood.
Inna and Marina (each of them has two daughters) are raising their girls the same way they were once raised.
The secret of family happiness
Alexander Abramovich has repeatedly said in his interviews that Elena is his main prize in life. His wife believes that his constancy is due to laziness. There is already a woman who is constantly nearby, comfortable and understandable. There is no need to do anything further, to conquer anyone.
Intellectual game"What where When?" enjoyed enormous popularity. But why was its creator fired from television several times?
Photo from the personal archive of Inna Druz
The owner of the “Crystal Owl” and the title of immortal member of the elite club of experts “What? Where? When?" Inna Druz told the editor-in-chief of the newspaper “Diaspora” Yulia Gusina about her life in California, about how she raises her daughters and about the worst punishment in childhood.
When the 15-year-old girl appeared before the gaze of TV viewers, they were touched: the expert’s daughter would also play “What? Where? When?". But based on the results of the first game, the girl with a fluffy and unruly hair proved that Inna Druz is not just the daughter of Alexander Druz, but an independent entity and a real erudite.
After the first game as part of Alexei Blinov’s team, Inna received the red jacket of an immortal member of the television club, and a few years later - the main prize, the “Crystal Owl”.
After the owl was the title of prize winner International Association clubs, graduation from the Physics and Mathematics Lyceum, St. Petersburg state university Economics and Finance, University of Pierre Mendes-France in Grenoble, University of Paris-Dauphine in France. Then there was a career: leading consultant in the corporate finance department of the Industrial Construction Bank, associate professor of the department of finance at his native university.
And then the move to America happened. Where, like most emigrants, Inna began to explore another world.
I can't become a housewife
Inna has been living in California for three and a half years. I didn’t go for the “American dream,” but to follow my husband, programmer Mikhail Pliskin. And despite the fact that she lived in California Native sister(Marina Druz moved with her family to the USA several years earlier), it was not easy at the first stage.
“When there is change, fears always arise,” admits Inna. “And although I was confident in myself, I understood that I was moving to another world.
The question of whether to become a classic American housewife or look for a job was not even raised. As Inna herself explains, it is unrealistic for a family in California to live in which one parent works. And she herself is not the kind of person who can send her husband to work, children to school and sit at home.
– I never wanted to be a housewife. I was confident in myself, although it was brave for a person with no experience working in America. But I sent my resume to one company, answered the test questions and passed the first stage, at which almost 2000 people were eliminated, and 40 passed. I worked for this company for a year, and then changed jobs. I coordinate analytical teams at Flex.
Inna says she never felt like a star. IN school years, at the Lyceum, where it was much more prestigious to win the Olympiad in mathematics than to be “on TV.” But participation in “What? Where? When?" undoubtedly brought enormous benefits: the ability to quickly analyze, draw parallels, logical connections and chains. Later this came in handy in my work, as a certain style of thinking was formed.
How would it be in Russian?
In the three years that Inna and her family have been living in America, she has had to face the same things that happen in any Russian-speaking family. And for many mothers this seems like an irreversible disaster: children forget Russian. When they moved to the USA, Inna and Mikhail's girls were 5 and 2 years old.
Those who say that children instantly and painlessly fit into the American environment are most likely lying. Inna recalls that at first it was not easy for the eldest, Alisa, and she had to go through a period of adaptation in which you do not understand what they are saying to you, you do not know what to answer. For the youngest, Alina, everything was new: home child got into kindergarten, and here we must pay tribute to the director, who paid a lot of attention to the baby, sat with her on her lap until Alina got used to the new environment. Now, three years later, the girls are already chatting with all their might in English, and Inna has another task - to preserve Russian.
“We have a rule in our family: we speak only Russian at home,” Inna shares her secret of upbringing. – If the girls start speaking English, I answer that I don’t understand and ask them to speak Russian.
If they forgot and don’t know the word they need and ask: “Mom, can I say it in English,” we together remember how it would be in Russian and together we figure out how to say it correctly.
Family communication alone, according to Inna, is still not enough. Therefore, children study the Russian language, at home they must read and write in Russian, and it is important that the child writes in capital letters. And before bed, Inna always reads books to them in Russian.
– This is a very important ritual – reading before bed. Laying down and falling asleep can take about an hour, says Inna. – And it’s not just reading. When the lights go out, we are still talking in the dark. I believe that friendship between children and parents is very important for a family, and we succeed.
Inna recalls that she and her parents always had friendly and trusting relationships:
“Our parents always gave us freedom. Although, I remember, in response to my statement that I wanted to become a doctor, my mother (and she is a doctor by profession) said: only over my corpse. Although, I'm sure that if I insisted and I would have desire to become a doctor, my parents would support me.
Photo from the personal archive of Inna Druz Where do children who read come from?
Perhaps this habit is inherited, science does not know. In the Friends family, everyone reads, always and everywhere. Inna recalls that at any free minute, dad would pick up a book. And I started reading aloud to my daughters almost from birth. When Inna learned to read, she “swallowed” books one after another and grabbed everything. And sometimes incidents happened.
“I had a passion for books about Lenin,” says Inna. – One day I stole a book of ditties from my dad, seeing a familiar theme: “Lenin said to Trotsky: “I got a bag of flour...”.” However, the ditties about Lenin quickly ended, and then completely different topics began. In general, I learned a lot of new words. I believe that while the child is small and has an interest in reading, this should be supported and encouraged in every possible way.
It's no secret that even the most ideal children are, first of all, children who are naughty and who have to be punished. The worst punishment in the Druz family was that the parents stopped talking to their daughters.
“This happened two or three times,” Inna recalls. – In all seriousness – they didn’t say a word, and it was very difficult for me. You could be punished for lying or because what you did could harm another child. I remember how I was once punished for locking Marina in a closet. We played, and we both knew very well that you couldn’t lock yourself in a closet, because you could suffocate. But for some reason I closed Marina and, I remember, was punished for it.
Photo from the personal archive of Inna Druz
Recipe for nostalgia
“Of course I miss St. Petersburg, but I like the place where I live now, and for now I don’t plan to return in the foreseeable future,” Inna admits and shares her recipe for adaptation to the USA.
– To adapt as quickly as possible, you need to start participating in local life and take from what is happening around you everything that you like. Then - take part in this and not give up social life and communication. But what to do so as not to miss hometown– I don’t know... If I knew the recipe, I would use it myself.