Eminent Russian lawyer Yuri Markovich Schmidt has died in St. Petersburg at the age of 75. “A lawyer by profession and a defender of human rights by fiat of conscience,” was how legendary dissident Vladimir Bukovsky referred to him. Schmidt was involved with the human rights movement since the 1960s. Those whom he represented in courts in the 1990s and 2000s included Alexander Nikitin and the families of Galina Starovoitova and Sergei Yushenkov. Since 2004, Schmidt represented Mikhail Khodorkovsky. The farewell ceremony for Yuri Schmidt will take place between 11am and 1pm on January 16 at the House of Architect in St. Petersburg (52, Bolshaya Morskaya Street.)
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, political prisoner
He was a very good and courageous person, who for many decades (starting in “deep” Soviet times) defended those who had fallen afoul of our authorities.
This kind of work is never easy, it can be dangerous, and it’s not very lucrative. But then, you never have to make any compromises with your conscience.
Yuri Markovich supported me greatly – not only as a lawyer, but also as a human being, someone who himself had been through much in his life and who knew people of the kind one can look up to as role models. I am never going to forget the long talks he and I had.
Sergei Mitrokhin, chairman of Yabloko party
Yuri Schmidt was an honest and decent man with an impeccable professional reputation. When he defended people, he stood up for the law and for human dignity. Without Schmidt, there are fewer defenders of both. Schmidt’s defense work will go down in the annals of Russian legal history.
Vladimir Ryzhkov, co-chairman of the People’s Freedom Party
He was a tuning fork for the Constitution, legal technique, legal justice, procedures and so on. When people of such standing and such experience leave us, it is not only a huge loss for those people who knew him and whom he defended; it is a huge loss for the country as a whole.
Boris Vishnevsky, member of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg, deputy chairman of the Yabloko caucus
In St. Petersburg, he was an indisputable authority. His opinion was sought and listened to; people always asked him for help and advice in the most difficult situations – and Yuri Markovich, if he was not extremely busy, never said ‘no’… He was a committed liberal, democrat, and antifascist, and never shied away from speaking out for what he believed.
Viktor Shenderovich, writer
When people like Yuri Markovich Schmidt leave us, the feeling of a void and a rarefaction of the world becomes almost physical. The thought that he existed in this world gave an almost irrational hope. Things cannot be that bad if there is Schmidt! His incredible smile, his warmth, his readiness to come to someone’s help… He was a brilliant professional, but his main quality was this sense of vocation, the readiness to fight for a human being.
Svetlana Gannushkina, chairman of Civic Assistance committee
Yuri Markovich has left us, but his influence on our judicial practice, on the development of law in Russia, and on our life has not ended. His lessons and his students are still with us. The school of Yuri Schmidt is a school of the highest legal skill.
Natella Boltyanskaya, journalist, songwriter
He was not just a lawyer, he was a Defender with a capital D. He was a man of honor and dignity. When you were next to him, you had this unparalleled feeling that this was a mediaeval knight without fear and without reproach.
