Alexander Kobrinsky

Graduate of Herzen University in St. Petersburg, Russia.[3] In 1992 defended his Ph.D. thesis "Prose of Daniil Kharms",[4] in 1999 – his doctoral dissertation "OBERIU Poetics in the Context of the Russian Literary Avant-Garde of the 20th Century".[5] Kobrinsky worked as a professor at the Department of Russian Literature of the Russian State Pedagogical University.[2] In 2019, he resigned due to sexual harassment complaints from female students.[6][7]

Specialist in the Russian avant-garde.[1] Managing editor of the scientific journal "Summer School on Russian Literature",[8][9] published by the St. Petersburg Institute of Jewish Studies.[10][11]

In October 2020, the testimonies of many former students of Herzen University were published, in which they claimed sexual harassment by a former university teacher Alexander Kobrinsky.[20][21][22][23][24] The published material claimed that Kobrinsky, being a professor, repeatedly invited students to visit, treated them to alcohol, and had sexual relations with them; two girls said that he allegedly forced them into BDSM sessions.[7]

Kobrinsky did not deny the fact of relations with students, however, he said that he called them to his home "exclusively for educational purposes." He denied the incorrectness of his actions, saying that he did not use his official position when courting women. According to him, until the moment of publication, the students and graduate students whom he invited to his apartment "did not have any questions".[25] Kobrinsky confirmed the information that he told one of the students about gynecological examinations, noting that it could be "a euphemism in terms of sexual contacts".[26]

After the publication of the article, the Yabloko Party Bureau refused to take any action.[27] After that, members of the Yabloko party created a working group to verify the information provided in the media regarding the former deputy from the party. Members of the working group talked to the authors of the material and the girls who made claims, and said that they could not find any reason to recognize the information as false.[28][16][24][29][30] Also, members of the working group reported that in the course of their work, a woman who was a member of the party turned to them, alleging harassment by Kobrinsky.[16]

In December 2020, Kobrinsky filed a claim for the protection of honor and dignity against the journalist of the Kholod publication Sonya Volyanova, who published a text about sexual harassment of female students by Kobrinsky.[7] In December 2021, the Petrogradsky District Court of St. Petersburg satisfied Kobrinsky's claim, requiring Volyanova to publish a refutation and pay Kobrinsky 300,000 rubles. The editor-in-chief of Kholod, Taisiya Bekbulatova, notes that Kobrinsky does not deny the existence of a sexual relationship with students, and the reason for the lawsuit was the description of episodes of violence against them.[31]

In December 2021, Kobrinsky filed a defamation complaint against Republic journalist Rimma Polyak.[32][33][34] Claims were caused by the text "Effect of Kobrinsky: old 'Yabloko' and new ethics", which told about the reaction of the party to the accusations against Kobrinsky.[32][35] In February 2022, after negotiations between the parties, the publication made changes to the article.[24][36] Kobrinsky announced the termination of the criminal prosecution of the journalist and the refusal to file a lawsuit against the publication.[36][37][38] However, Rimma Polyak said that Kobrinsky's statement had already been transferred from the police to the Investigative Committee, where the issue of initiating a case against her was being decided.[36]