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Maxim Katz

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In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Yevgenyevich and the family name is Katz.

Maxim Katz
Максим Кац
Katz in 2020
Member of the Russian Opposition Coordination Council
In office
22 October 2012 – 27 May 2013
Member of the municipal assembly of the Shchukino district of Moscow
In office
4 March 2012 – 18 September 2016
Personal details
Born (1984-12-23) 23 December 1984 (age 39)
Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union (now Russia)
Political partyYabloko (2016—2020)
EducationUniversity of Glasgow, Tel Aviv University
OccupationPolitician, activist, businessman
Maxim Katz's voice
Recorded 14 April 2014

Maxim Yevgenyevich Katz[a] (Russian: Макси́м Евге́ньевич Кац; born 23 December 1984) is a Russian political opposition figure, urban planning activist, election campaign strategist, and popular YouTuber hosting his own daily political show.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]

Katz rose to prominence in 2011 with his successful campaign for a municipal assembly seat in Moscow. Between 2012 and 2016, he served as a legislative representative for the district of Shchukino. In 2012, Katz was elected to the Russian Opposition Coordination Council, serving until 2013. Katz is known for his work as an opposition election campaign strategist, having served as campaign chief or deputy for electoral runs of Alexei Navalny (2013), Dmitry Gudkov (2016), Darya Besedina (2019), and Anastasia Bryukhanova (2019, 2021).[8][9][10][11][12][13][14]

In 2012, Katz co-founded the City Projects Foundation, an organization that focuses on improving the quality of life in Russian cities, together with Ilya Varlamov.[2]

Katz's eponymous YouTube channel, launched in 2010, features daily political commentary and has amassed a following of over 2.3 million subscribers and more than 1 billion views.[15]

Katz is facing politically motivated charges in Russia for allegedly spreading "false information" about the actions of the Russian army in Ukraine.[16]

Biography

[edit]
Maxim Katz in 2012

Katz was born in Moscow, Russia to a Jewish father and an ethnically Russian mother. In 1993, he immigrated to Israel with his family.[17][18] He returned to Russia in 2001.[19]

In his 20s Katz was a professional poker player. In 2007, he became the first and only Russian champion in sports poker.[20][21][22][23]

In 2012, Katz was elected as a municipal deputy of the Moscow district of Shchukino.[24]

Also in 2012, together with Ilya Varlamov, he launched the urban development foundation “City Projects” and worked as its director.[25]

In 2016, Katz was one of thirteen Russians to receive the UK government's Chevening Scholarship, which sponsors students with leadership potential to study at a British university. Through this scholarship, Katz studied at the University of Glasgow, completing a Master's program in "Public and Urban Policy" in 2017.[26] In May 2023, Katz received his master's degree from Tel Aviv University, completing a program "Leadership in education".[27][28][29][30]

In early 2022, Katz declared his opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and subsequently fled the country.[31] On 22 July 2022, the Russian Ministry of Justice designated Katz as a "foreign agent."[32] He was subsequently placed on a federal wanted list on 29 October.[31] On 23 March 2023, Katz was arrested in absentia by the Basmanny District Court on charges of "discrediting" the Russian Armed Forces for covering the Bucha massacre, facing up to 10 years in prison.[16][33] This marked the first instance where the prosecution officially requested the maximum sentence allowable under the statute. On 24 August 2023, he was given an 8-year sentence in absentia.

Political career

[edit]

Urban activism

[edit]

Katz's interest in urban planning began during his travels, leading him to study at the urban design firm of Jan Gehl in 2011.[34]

In 2012, together with Ilya Varlamov, he co-founded the City Projects Foundation aimed at improving the urban environment through the use of modern urbanism data.[2]

In 2020, the foundation opened a network of regional branches in the capitals of Russian federal subjects and in a few months gathered more than ten thousand supporters. Each regional branch held elections for its head. Within a year, the foundation's representative offices opened in 100 cities across the country, and the number of supporters reached 20,000.[35][36][37][38][39]

On March 4, 2022, the work of all branches was suspended indefinitely. By the time the branches' activities were suspended, the number of the foundation's supporters had reached more than 30,000,[40] including almost 4,000 from Moscow.[41]

Election campaigns

[edit]
Maxim Katz at a congress of candidates for municipal deputies of the United Democrats project, 2017

If you are against Putin, we will help you[42]

— Maxim Katz

Katz has managed numerous opposition political campaigns, including:

  • 2012: As campaign manager for Ilya Varlamov's mayoral campaign in Omsk, Katz spearheaded a campaign that garnered significant attention but ultimately resulted in Varlamov withdrawing due to the impossibility of collecting the required number of signatures.[43][44]
  • 2013: Serving as the deputy campaign manager for Alexei Navalny's mayoral campaign in Moscow, Katz played a pivotal role in a campaign that garnered significant public support and unexpectedly received 27% of the vote, establishing Navalny as a leading opposition figure. This campaign employed innovative strategies and relied heavily on public donations and volunteer support.[45]
  • 2014: Katz ran for the Moscow City Duma, receiving 23% of the vote but failing to secure a seat.[46]
  • 2015: Katz served as campaign chief of the "Civic Initiative" party's campaign for elections to the Kaluga Regional Duma, led by Andrei Nechayev, Russia's first Minister of Economy who is now in opposition.[47]
  • 2016: As campaign manager for Dmitry Gudkov's campaign for the State Duma, Katz ran a campaign that, despite Gudkov's loss, won the prestigious "Pollie award" for its innovative use of digital platforms.[48]
  • 2017: Katz co-founded the United Democrats project (also known as Political Uber), designed to support independent candidates in the Moscow municipal elections. The project provided resources and training to candidates who opposed Vladimir Putin, leading to the election of 267 deputies. As a result, opposition candidates won the majority of seats in Moscow's central districts.[49]
  • 2019: Katz managed Darya Besedina's successful campaign for the Moscow City Duma. This campaign, notable for its significant fundraising success (over 18 million rubles), helped Besedina become one of the few opposition candidates to secure a seat in the Moscow City Duma.[50]
  • 2019: Also in 2019, Katz served as a cheaf of Yabloko party campaign for Saint-Petersburg municipal seats. As a result of the campaign, 99 people were elected deputies in 31 districts of the city, up from zero in the previous election.[51]
  • 2020: Varlamov and Katz's City Projects Foundation endorsed 63 pro-urbanist candidates for city council elections in various regions of Russia. Seven of these endorsed candidates won their elections.[52]
  • 2021: Katz served as campaign manager for Anastasia Bryukhanova's campaign for the State Duma. Сampaign was financed through fundraising, with over 20 million rubles raised for signature collection alone. Bryukhanova won the State Duma election according to paper ballots but lost due to the results of remote electronic voting.[50][53]

YouTube channel

[edit]

Maxim Katz is the author and host of the eponymous YouTube channel. The channel features daily videos on current socio-political topics, particularly those refuting the claims of Russian propaganda. Before the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, videos gained 300-400 thousand views per day. After the invasion began, the number of views increased to 1-2 million. According to Katz, this is due to his coverage of events "as they are," without following the restrictions of Russian censorship.[54]

From March 2, 2020, to August 11, 2024, the channel grew from 13,800 to 2,300,000 subscribers.[15] The number of views is over 1.1 billion.[55]

Awards

[edit]

In March 2021, Katz received the Global Belarusian Solidarity Award in the category "View from the outside" from the center for Belarusian Solidarity.[56]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Also romanized as Maksim and Kats

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "«Мы не можем сказать, что в эту игру не играем, потому что тогда в нее сыграют без нас». Политик Максим Кац — о том, что надо сделать 17 марта, чтобы потом не было мучительно больно". Новая газета Европа. Archived from the original on 8 March 2024. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "Илья Варламов и Максим Кац запускают «Городские проекты»". The Village (in Russian). Archived from the original on 27 September 2023. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  3. ^ Максим Кац (8 June 2021). "Максим Кац о своём дипломе университета Глазго". x.com (in Russian). Archived from the original on 1 September 2024.
  4. ^ "University of Glasgow graduation list". The Scotsman. 29 November 2017. Archived from the original on 25 September 2023. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  5. ^ "Максим Кац рвется в топ политтехнологов страны. Запомните это имя". ura.news (in Russian). 8 September 2017. Archived from the original on 1 February 2024. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  6. ^ "Илья Варламов и Максим Кац: «Люди не будут жечь кнопки лифта или парковаться на газоне»". republic.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 22 August 2024. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  7. ^ "N12 - הפוליטיקאי הרוסי מקסים כץ נמלט לישראל ומפריך את החדשות..." N12. 14 April 2022. Archived from the original on 17 August 2024. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
  8. ^ "Кандидат в депутаты Максим Кац: «Вся эта история с Facebook и с интервью мне не очень поможет»" (in Russian). РБК daily. 16 February 2012. Archived from the original on 18 February 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  9. ^ Moritz Gathmann (3 April 2012). "Poker champion Max Katz's win in Russian elections". telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 23 November 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  10. ^ "Итоги голосования в Координационный совет оппозиции". www.kommersant.ru (in Russian). 22 October 2012. Archived from the original on 5 September 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  11. ^ "Любовь Соболь: «Жесткий ответ был обусловлен поведением Каца»". republic.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 22 August 2024. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  12. ^ "«Подлый поступок»: «Партия Роста» перессорила российскую оппозицию". www.mk.ru (in Russian). 23 May 2016. Archived from the original on 14 April 2023. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  13. ^ "Идем на выборы" (in Russian). city4people.ru. Archived from the original on 2 March 2020. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  14. ^ ""Умное голосование" выбрало Брюханову, а не Литвинович". sobesednik.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 15 September 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  15. ^ a b "Максим Кац's Real-Time Subscriber Count — Social Blade YouTube Stats". socialblade.com. Archived from the original on 30 May 2022. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
  16. ^ a b "Russian officials seek another opposition activist's arrest". AP. 23 March 2023. Archived from the original on 25 August 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  17. ^ "Maxim Katz's tweet". Twitter. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  18. ^ Как появилось государство Израиль / Максим Кац (in Russian), 16 October 2020, archived from the original on 25 August 2024, retrieved 12 January 2022
  19. ^ "Историческая родина не забыла своего сына. Оппозиционный кандидат в депутаты Мосгордумы, возможно, и не подозревает о наличии у себя второго паспорта". Новая газета (in Russian). 3 November 1985. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  20. ^ "Чемпионат России по спортивному покеру" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 15 March 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  21. ^ ""Не спешите бросать институты"" (in Russian). Коммерсантъ. 17 May 2012. Archived from the original on 19 December 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  22. ^ "Макс Кац: «Надеюсь, профессионально играть больше не придётся»" (in Russian). Sports.ru. 6 December 2010. Archived from the original on 23 November 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  23. ^ "Чемпионат России по спортивному покеру 2007 / ФСПР" (in Russian). Федерация спортивного покера России. Archived from the original on 13 June 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  24. ^ "Официальные результаты выборов на сайте Мосгоризбиркома" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
  25. ^ "Илья Варламов и Максим Кац запускают «Городские проекты»". The Village (in Russian). Archived from the original on 27 September 2023. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
  26. ^ "University of Glasgow graduation list". The Scotsman. 29 November 2017. Archived from the original on 25 September 2023. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  27. ^ "«Мы сидим в пасти у крокодила». Максим Кац об активизме в эмиграции, диалоге с Западом и возвращении в Россию". Discours (in Russian). Archived from the original on 1 September 2024. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  28. ^ ""Сейчас можно сильно навредить Путину". Максим Кац – о выборах в России, разногласиях с ФБК, Израиле и психотерапии". Настоящее Время (in Russian). 9 November 2023. Archived from the original on 3 December 2023. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  29. ^ Katz, Maxim. "On receiving a master's degree from Tel Aviv University" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 1 September 2024.
  30. ^ Максим Кац (10 June 2024). Мой новый диплом | Что я узнал про школьное образование @Max_Katz. Archived from the original on 31 July 2024. Retrieved 1 September 2024 – via YouTube.
  31. ^ a b "Блогер Максим Кац объявлен в федеральный розыск". Kommersant. 29 October 2022. Archived from the original on 29 October 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  32. ^ "Минюст признал иноагентами Яшина, Каца и Белоцерковскую". Kommersant. 22 July 2022. Archived from the original on 29 July 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  33. ^ "Russian Politician Katz Arrested in Absentia for Spreading 'Fake' News About Ukraine". The Moscow Times. 23 March 2023. Archived from the original on 9 July 2023. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  34. ^ ""Знаем как!" сделать Москву городом для людей". mn.ru. 27 January 2012. Archived from the original on 16 October 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  35. ^ "Federal network of City Projects". russia.city4people.ru. Archived from the original on 20 August 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  36. ^ "In Perm, the head of the City Projects branch proposed to start a "battle for the return of trolleybuses"". www.chitaitext.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  37. ^ Sedneva, Marina. "A branch of the City Projects Foundation will open in Yaroslavl". Yarkub Online Publication (in Russian). Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  38. ^ "A branch of the City Projects Foundation of Ilya Varlamov appeared in Bryansk". Gorodskoy TV Channel (in Russian). Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  39. ^ "The "City Projects of Ilya Varlamov and Maxim Katz Foundation" will help improve the parks of Balashikha". balashiha.ru (in Russian). 24 March 2021. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  40. ^ "Federal network of City Projects". russia.city4people.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 20 August 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  41. ^ "Federal network of City Projects". Federal network of City Projects (in Russian). Archived from the original on 20 June 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  42. ^ "Максим Кац: «Если вы против Путина — мы вам поможем» Директор кампании «Объединенных демократов» — о выборах, идеологии и Навальном". Archived from the original on 12 May 2023.
  43. ^ "Кампания в Омске закрыта". Archived from the original on 8 August 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  44. ^ "Блогер Варламов сдает Омск из-за фейковых подписей". НТВ. Archived from the original on 29 September 2022. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  45. ^ «С точки зрения публичного пространства, „никто никого не увольнял“» Archived 24 September 2018 at the Wayback Machine «TV Rain», 31.05.2016
  46. ^ "Максим Кац признал поражение на выборах в Мосгордуму". РБК. 15 September 2014. Archived from the original on 17 September 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  47. ^ Дарья Зеленская. «Гражданская инициатива» поборется с Демократической коалицией за Калугу Archived 4 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine «Коммерсант.ру», 20.05.2015
  48. ^ Алексей Обухов, «Подлый поступок»: «Партия Роста» перессорила российскую оппозицию Archived 30 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine «Moskovskij Komsomolets», 23.05.2016
  49. ^ "Выдвижение демократов в муниципальные депутаты в Москве | 2017". Archived from the original on 23 November 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
  50. ^ a b "Идем на выборы" (in Russian). city4people.ru. Archived from the original on 2 March 2020. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  51. ^ "Yabloko deputies in St. Petersburg" (in Russian). spb2019.yabloko.ru. Archived from the original on 20 October 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  52. ^ "Seven candidates from City Projects won the elections". Strelka Mag (in Russian). Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  53. ^ ""Умное голосование" выбрало Брюханову, а не Литвинович". sobesednik.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on 15 September 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  54. ^ "N12 - הפוליטיקאי הרוסי מקסים כץ נמלט לישראל ומפריך את החדשות..." N12. 14 April 2022. Archived from the original on 17 August 2024. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
  55. ^ "Максим Кац - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 1 April 2024. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  56. ^ "Belsat wins Global Belarusian Solidarity Award". belsat.eu. Archived from the original on 30 March 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
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