Misha Verbitsky

Verbitsky graduated from a Math class at the Moscow State School 57 in 1986, and has been active in mathematics since then.{{Cite web|url=http://imperium.lenin.ru/~verbit/cv.tex|title=Verbitsky's CV}} His principal area of interest in mathematics is differential geometry, especially geometry of hyperkähler manifolds and locally conformally Kähler manifolds. He proved an analogue of the global Torelli theorem for hyperkähler manifolds{{Cite arXiv|title=Automorphisms of hyperkähler manifolds|first=Giovanni|last=Mongardi|date=March 19, 2013|class=math.AG|eprint=1303.4670}} and the mirror conjecture{{Cite arXiv|title=Mirror Symmetry for hyperkaehler manifolds|first=Misha|last=Verbitsky|date=March 14, 1996|eprint=hep-th/9512195}} in hyperkähler case. He also contributed to the theory of Hodge structures.{{Cite arXiv|title=Transcendental Hodge algebra|first=Misha|last=Verbitsky|date=August 2, 2017|class=math.AG|eprint=1512.01011}} His PhD thesis, titled Cohomology of compact Hyperkaehler Manifolds, was defended in 1995 at Harvard University{{Cite web|url=http://www.math.harvard.edu/dissertations/|title=Harvard Mathematics Department Harvard Department of Mathematics PhD Dissertations Archival Listing|access-date=October 25, 2017|archive-date=May 6, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160506161650/http://www.math.harvard.edu/dissertations/|url-status=dead}} under the supervision of David Kazhdan. He has held different positions, most prominently at the Independent University of Moscow (since 1996), the University of Glasgow (2002–2007), and the HSE Faculty of Mathematics (since 2010). He currently works at IMPA in Rio de Janeiro.

Verbitsky's webzine :LENIN:, started around 1997, is one of the oldest Russian online projects and has been hugely influential in the shaping of Russian counter-culture. It was the first website in Russian to openly discuss topics considered taboo at the time, such as pornography and Right-wing extremism, and to create a milieu for the emerging counter-culture aesthetic. The site also contains the largest single collection of rare underground music from the ex-USSR and contemporary Russia.

While studying mathematics at Harvard University in the early 90s, Verbitsky was heavily influenced by Western counter-culture, especially Thelema and industrial music, and was the first to introduce these concepts to post-Soviet Russia via his webzine. At the same time, Verbitsky developed his political views which can be described as a mixture of Social Darwinism, National Bolshevism and Anarchism. He is also a prominent supporter of the anti-copyright movement, and has given lectures on the subject at various locations, including Oxford University. His work Anticopyright: The Book is the only Russian publication placing concepts such as open source and copyleft into historical and cultural context.

After graduating from Harvard with a PhD, Verbitsky moved to Russia and became a close associate (though not a member) of Eduard Limonov's National Bolshevik Party. His articles were published in a variety of newspapers and magazines, including Russkij Zhurnal, Zhurnal.Ru, Zavtra and Limonka. When the National Bolsheviks split in 1998, he joined the Eurasia Party of Alexandr Dugin. Verbitsky has given numerous talks at the Novyi Universitet, Dugin's educational vehicle, and contributed to a variety of his publications such as Elementy and Vtorzhenie.

Verbitsky's provocative writing style can be described as both aggressive and ironic, a mixture of gonzo journalism, profanity and surreal exaggeration which instantly captures the reader's attention. The critical response to his writings ranges from anger and disgust to fascination and widespread imitation (for example, his catchphrases "So it goes, Misha""So it goes{{Broken anchor|date=2024-11-14|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=Slaughterhouse-Five#Literary techniques|reason= The anchor (Literary techniques) has been deleted.}}" is a phrase from Kurt Vonnegut's novel Slaughterhouse-Five. and "Kill, Kill, Kill" have been plagiarised all over the Russian web).{{citation needed|date=September 2012}}

In 1998, Verbitsky founded the independent label UR-Realist Records to publish experimental and controversial underground music. Since then, over 40 albums have been released,{{Cite web|url=http://www.imperium.lenin.ru/UR-REALIST/index-eng.html|title=UR-Realist Records|website=www.imperium.lenin.ru}} including those of punk legend Grazhdanskaya Oborona and the neofolk band Rada i Ternovnik.

Verbitsky currently lives in Rio de Janeiro and teaches at IMPA.

In December 2009, Yuri Kuklachev, the founder of the Moscow Cat Theatre, filled a defamation lawsuit against Verbitsky. Kuklachev was seeking to recover alleged damages caused by Verbitsky quoting previously published allegations of Kuklachev's animal cruelty in one of his blog posts; moreover, Kuklachev holds Verbitsky responsible for the expletive-ridden content of anonymous comments to the post in question.[http://www.timeforchange.org.il/issues/36/en/Kuklachev.html The ugly story of the Moscow Cat Theatre (Time For Change Magazine, Israel)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120829015104/http://www.timeforchange.org.il/issues/36/en/Kuklachev.html |date=August 29, 2012 }}[http://www.inliberty.ru/blog/transatlantic/1876/ Theater of Horrors] by Alexei Tsvetkov; [http://verbit.ru/SUD/theater-transl.html English translation by Marina Shuba]

In 2012, Verbitsky was convicted without his knowledge of copyright infringement. He had posted a photograph of a Russian politician who claims that his beard is trademarked.{{cite web |url=http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/mathematician-slapped-with-travel-ban-at-request-of-bearded-prince/457074.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421092415/http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/mathematician-slapped-with-travel-ban-at-request-of-bearded-prince/457074.html |archive-date=April 21, 2012 |title=Mathematician Slapped With Travel Ban at Request of Bearded 'Prince' {{!}} News {{!}} The Moscow Times}} The case has been appealed.

• Anticopyright: The Book (2002)
• :LENIN: an offering to Gods Unknown webzine
• Against Culture + Pt. 2
• Chaos and Underground Culture

{{reflist}}

• {{official website|http://verbit.ru/}}
• [https://archive.today/20130417185708/http://www.russ.ru/users/verbit List of publications] in Russ.ru
• [http://www.guelman.ru/obzory/verbitskiy.htm Biography] at Marat Guelman's art page {{in lang|ru}}

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Category:1969 births

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