| March 4, 1937 – Yury Senkevich was born | 05.03.2011 11:50 |
Yury Senkevich – President of the Association of Travelers of Russia, member of the Union of Journalists of Russia, cochairman of the International Humanitarian Aid and Cooperation Fund, academician of the Academy of Television, laureate of the State Prize, had been awarded with numerous orders and medals.
In his 30 years of anchoring the Travelersʼ Club Soviet TV show, Yuri Senkevich visited all six continents, 125 countries and the most remote regions of the world. He was often asked: “After everything you’ve seen, don’t you find everyday life boring?” And he would invariably reply, “The word ‘boring’ is not in my vocabulary.” This is Senkevich, to a "T"!
"A short newspaper piece will do no justice to this unique man, whom I met by chance in the early 1980s. These were our first major Arctic ski trips: Taimyr, Severnaya Zemlya, drifting ice in the Kara Sea. We were preparing for the first independent ski trek to the North Pole. Back then, it hadn’t been done yet. Was it possible for humans to make it across drifting ice from the continental shore to the North Pole on their own?
Medical experts from the Institute of Aviation and Space Medicine and the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems (IMBP) were as interested in this question as we were.
We met Yuri Senkevich at IMBP, where our team, mainly recruited among the military, was having physicals before the upcoming Arctic expedition and being briefed on the medical and biological research that would be part of the trip.
Later, in 1985, after a ski trip across the ice of the Kara Sea from Severnaya Zemlya to Ushakov Island, Mr. Senkevich first invited us on his show. We spent at least 2 hours in front of the camera, and I remember the exceptionally warm and natural atmosphere of the interview. This atmosphere, so conducive to a candid discussion and filled with sincere interest in the topic and the interviewee, was always a sort of trademark of the Travelersʼ
Club show. This reflected Mr. Senkevich's talent as a journalist, as well as his great success as an organizer who was able to build a magnificent team of young professionals. Each time that we returned to the studio, I saw a man who was truly interested in everything that happened to us during the challenging expeditions. His questions were very precise and professional. The show became a live dialogue – occasionally Mr. Senkevich would interrupt us with recollections from his own travels, becoming not just an anchor, but a participant in the events.
Mr. Senkevich, a living legend whose friendship was a matter of pride for renowned travelers throughout the world, spoke as if we had been together on the famous Ra and Tigris expeditions…
I will be frank, Mr. Senkevich did set our team apart from others. We felt that our successes and failures were important to him. He saw how motivated, professional and dedicated we were to the work that we loved, the exploration of the Arctic. And his approval was always the main criterion for us.”
Compiled with use of the Vladimir Chukov interview to the newspaper about voyages, expeditions and exploration 'Kajut compania', http://www.kajut-compania.ru/200901e.pdf
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