From serial hero to war hero? Three Selensky Biographies. – Politics

First question: How useful can a biography be if the person being portrayed is still in the midst of his or her work? The racing cyclist Jan Ullrich, for example, had a book written about him by the then ARD journalist Hagen Boßdorf in 2004. Ullrich had long since won the Tour de France, but according to the plan, his career was yet to reach further highlights. Well, in the end the publication date was quite close to the end of Ullrich’s career (2006), but that was again due to circumstances that only became public after the book was published.

In any case, in 2004 not everything was written about doping and certainly not about other accidents in life that were to overtake Ullrich later. You’re always smarter afterwards. In order to get closer to the truth about the athlete Ullrich, one would have preferred to wait a little longer with a biography.

Isn’t a biography too early here?

Now, the general comparison between the athlete Jan Ullrich and the President Volodymyr Zelensky is not only flawed, he fell off his racing bike at full speed and is lying on the embankment with broken ankles. In any case, the Ukrainian head of state is hopefully not doped. The initial question, however, can probably still be asked in Zelenskiy’s case, more likely it will have to be asked.

The first Selensky biographies are now appearing. The man is just 44 years old, has been President of Ukraine for three years and thus only three-fifths of his term in office and has been at war with his country for almost six months, which could last for months, if not years.

So it’s all a matter of time. On the one hand, this means that you want to know right now: what kind of guy is this, this khaki-shirted, ten-day-bearded president? On the other hand, isn’t it a bit early for biographies because the life and work of Volodymyr Zelensky are in full swing right now?

The President looks serious from the book covers

One or the other publisher seems to have given the first argument clear priority over the objection raised. To illustrate, three works that have just been made available to the German readership in the corner bookstore or in the Amazon suggestion list. They were written by the Polish reporter Wojciech Rogacin, the French author duo Régis Genté/Stéphane Siohan and the Ukrainian journalist Sergii Rudenko. First thing to notice: From all three covers, the President looks very seriously and very thoughtfully in different directions, once to the left, once to the right, once straight into the viewer’s eye.

Some things are also the same in terms of content, which is in the nature of things when it comes to one and the same person. It is logical that the authors do not have completely different things to report about Zelensky. From the front to the back, the most important stages in the man’s life: Born and raised in Krywyj Rih, southern Ukraine, working-class town, pretty tough ground in the eighties and nineties. Incidentally, she grew up with Russian as her mother tongue and colloquial language, only learned Ukrainian at school and only later became fluent. First stage experience in theater and music groups at school, later studying law as a sideline, parallel to this, an artist and comedy group, which soon became the collective Kvartal 95, with which increasing success and fame throughout the post-Soviet region.

From show icon to politician

He then played the leading role in the presidential satire series “Servant of the People”, in which he played a history teacher who was very annoyed by corruption and mismanagement in the country and who ended up in politics more by accident, but where he really shows the establishment what he’s doing. The real Selenskij 2019 in almost an exact copy of his serial hero then actually presidential candidate, triumphant entry into office as an absolute political novice, and now finally the war.

Open detailed view

Wojciech Rogacin sticks to this chronological order in his work, which consequently bears the subtitle “The Biography”. There is a lot to learn, especially about the more than twenty-year show career of Volodimir Selenskij. Rogacin actually manages to make the idiosyncrasies of the local show business really clear to readers who are more or less unfamiliar with Ukraine.

In the “Club of the Funny and Quick-witted”

It is only in the depth of detail that one understands what enormous importance the pre-political Zelensky had. How he himself became known in the late 1990s through the format “Club of the Funny and Quick-witted” that was popular throughout the (ex-)Soviet world and developed into a show icon not only in Ukraine but also in Russia. It is precisely this celebrity that ultimately explains the pull that Zelenskyy’s presidential candidacy had, the hopes that 73 percent of Ukrainian voters pinned on him when they put their cross next to his name in 2019. On the other hand, the way Rogacin describes the popularity and fame of the showman Zelenskij, one can also guess why the man dared and put up with the enormous stress of the presidency. There must have been a certain belief in one’s own abilities.

Open detailed view

Genté and Siohan also describe this way of life, although not quite as extensively as Rogacin. But more focus on today, on the war president. Her opinion of his work can already be guessed from the subtitle of her biography: “Birth of a Hero”. They tell how Zelensky came into office somewhat clueless, but unexpectedly did well when he first met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during negotiations in Paris about the war in eastern Ukraine that had been simmering for years. Because he remained human, he even drove to the Donbass to eat borscht with soldiers – apparently such a key moment for the authors that they allegedly accidentally repeated the anecdote several times.

A reformer without reforms

What comes too briefly or not at all in this heroic epic: not everything was gold in the three years in office up to the great war. By far not. Selenskij came out as a great reformer, as an outsider who, like his serial president, presents the establishment, defeats corruption and nepotism, makes the country progressive and, more or less in passing, brings prosperity and peace.

However, there is enough evidence to state that none of this has worked so far. At least one could have asked oneself whether a comedian and actor might not be the ideal candidate for the highest office in the state.

Doubtful Connections

Instead, Rogacin, for example, makes allegations about Mr. Selenskij’s offshore transactions, which, in the course of the Paradise Paper research, included the Süddeutsche Zeitung became known, as well as his dubious connections to the oligarch Igor Kolomoiski simply in a row with actually absurd speculation about a drug addiction. According to the motto: all nonsense that people say about this war hero!

Sergii Rudenko, on the other hand, gives much more space to Zelensky’s really shady sides. His book, which was largely written in 2021 and revised by the author in the light of the war, consists practically only of that. He describes with great difficulty, for example, how unsuspectingly, the newly elected President confronted Putin in the eastern Ukraine negotiations in 2019.

Open detailed view

Zelensky’s promise that the nepotism would end under him is contrasted by Rudenko in a marvelously simple way with a list of all the names of those acquaintances and friends who in some way attained office and dignities in the Ukraine under Zelensky. The list fills two and a half pages. All such anecdotes are not interwoven and classified, the book is more of a collection of the President’s shortcomings. But works.

For German readers often hardly understandable

It’s just a pity that it’s very clear that this book was written for a Ukrainian audience. Explanations about some of the characters and their importance would be helpful for the German readership, which logically cannot be so deeply involved in the matter. Some things even remain completely incomprehensible unless you happen to have read two other Zelenskij biographies shortly beforehand. This is less the fault of the author than of the Hanser publishing house. If you had allowed yourself a little more time for reflection, it might have been noticed that the German editing requires a little more effort.

The works by Rogacin and Genté/Siohan also show how insanely short a time they were created or put on the market. The translations in particular are very clumsy in places. The editorial deadline for all three biographies was April, i.e. two months after the start of the war. Some of Zelenskiy’s companions, about whom one reads there, have already been sacked from their posts, such as the Attorney General or the head of the secret service. These are extremely turbulent times in the life of President Volodymyr Zelensky. Maybe it’s better to only publish and read biographies about him when the worst is over.