Brynov family: biography details
A journalist from Moment came to visit Sergei's parents: they live in their own house in a suburb of Washington. The situation in the house of Michael and Eugenia Brinov is quite modest, without any signs of luxury, except that a large TV and Lexus in the yard give out the billionaire's parents. They look modern, young and cheerful, often and pleasantly laugh. Mikhail and Evgenia talked with the journalist for several hours, being interrupted only for Michael’s small smoke breaks - for this the head of the family went out into the street with the dog.
Smoking is a habit that Michael Brin brought with him from the Soviet Union in 1979, from where he emigrated to the USA with his mother Maya, his wife and six-year-old Sergey (second son Sam was born in 1987). Sergey's grandfather, also a professor of mathematics, wanted to stay in Moscow and did not go with his family.
Father’s name is Michael, 59, a professor of mathematics at the University of Maryland. For 25 years now he has been teaching dynamic systems and statistics there. In fact, Mikhail wanted to become an astronomer since childhood, but hidden anti-Semitism in Russia did not allow him to do it. This shameful phenomenon did exist, for example, it was almost impossible for Jews at that time to enter the Physics Department of Moscow State University, because the Communist Party did not want to trust them with its nuclear program. Astronomy, to the disappointment of Michael, fell under the same “article”. I had to study mathematics at another department, which Mikhail graduated in 1970 with a red diploma (only three fours) and went to work in Gosplan, but continued to study mathematics on his own, wrote scientific papers and attended university. He defended his Ph.D. in Kharkov University, although for the defense he had to find a Russian supervisor, purely nominal (Jews could not be scientific leaders in defending the candidate works of other Jews).
Eugenia Brin (one year younger than her husband) works as a researcher at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center space flight center. In Moscow, she graduated from the Faculty of Mechanics and worked at the Institute of Oil and Gas. With her husband and his mother they lived in a three-room apartment in the center of Moscow. Sergey was born on August 21, 1973
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Mama Zhenya (as they call her in the family) speaks slowly, with a Russian accent, in a sweet voice. According to her, Sergei was a very capable boy from his childhood, he loved mathematics and computers.
Michael’s accent is somewhat softer, not like his wife’s. He is a big fan of Google, at least even at home wears clothes with the company logo.
Father told a lot of stories. For example, in the summer of 1990, 17-year-old Sergey Brin, together with a group of gifted young mathematicians, went to the USSR on a student exchange program. The young man was shocked by the reality that he saw. Upon returning two weeks later, he went to his father, looked into his eyes and said: “Thank you for taking us all away from Russia.”
When the boy was small, he did not understand why his parents were leaving. He was only four years old when Dad announced this decision. The decision came to his father after attending a scientific conference in Warsaw in 1977, where he met with colleagues from the USA, France, Great Britain and Germany and made sure that they were “not monsters at all”. Zhenya and his mother did not want to go at first, but over time he persuaded them. They applied for a visa in September 1978, after which Mikhail was immediately dismissed from his job. He began to study programming and translated technical books into English for money.
In May 1979, their application for departure was approved. Then Vienna, a meeting with the Jewish organization of emigrants and a temporary shelter in the suburbs of Paris, where their longtime comrade Anatoly Katok (he was the real supervisor of Michael) found a suitable vacancy in a local institute. The family arrived in America only on October 25, 1979.
The Breen family rented a house in Maryland. After borrowing $ 2,000 from members of the diaspora, they bought a 1973 Ford Maverick. And, on the advice of the Skating Rink, they gave little Sergey to the prestigious Paint Branch Montessori School in Adelphi, Maryland. This is an unusual school, which uses the "free" teaching method and special techniques for the development of intelligence and creativity.
The first year of study was very difficult, because the boy did not know English, but later Sergey showed himself from the best side: he was a very talented child. Later he studied at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, where he was already ahead of his normal school schedule. For three years he mastered the college program and entered the University of Maryland, where he was one of the best in the group. Then Sergey won the prestigious National Science Foundation scholarship and tried to enroll at MIT, but they did not take him there, and Sergey entered Stanford.
In the spring of 1995, Sergey met a computer student Larry Page (the son of a computer professor, one of the first professors in this field in the United States, and a programmer). Soon, he decided to quit Stanford and set up his own company with Larry, which upset parents very much. The first $ 100,000 venture investment businessmen received from Andy Bechtolsheim, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, even before Google, Inc. was legally registered. Further history has become a legend.
Sergey became a billionaire, but still buys products at Costco and looks at the price tags. He loves cooking, especially Chernobyl Chili sauce (45 minutes in the microwave).
According to the magazine of the Jewish diaspora, the slogan “Don't Be Evil” is an interpretation of the Kabbalistic concept of “correcting the world” (tikkun olam).
Smoking is a habit that Michael Brin brought with him from the Soviet Union in 1979, from where he emigrated to the USA with his mother Maya, his wife and six-year-old Sergey (second son Sam was born in 1987). Sergey's grandfather, also a professor of mathematics, wanted to stay in Moscow and did not go with his family.
Father’s name is Michael, 59, a professor of mathematics at the University of Maryland. For 25 years now he has been teaching dynamic systems and statistics there. In fact, Mikhail wanted to become an astronomer since childhood, but hidden anti-Semitism in Russia did not allow him to do it. This shameful phenomenon did exist, for example, it was almost impossible for Jews at that time to enter the Physics Department of Moscow State University, because the Communist Party did not want to trust them with its nuclear program. Astronomy, to the disappointment of Michael, fell under the same “article”. I had to study mathematics at another department, which Mikhail graduated in 1970 with a red diploma (only three fours) and went to work in Gosplan, but continued to study mathematics on his own, wrote scientific papers and attended university. He defended his Ph.D. in Kharkov University, although for the defense he had to find a Russian supervisor, purely nominal (Jews could not be scientific leaders in defending the candidate works of other Jews).
Eugenia Brin (one year younger than her husband) works as a researcher at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center space flight center. In Moscow, she graduated from the Faculty of Mechanics and worked at the Institute of Oil and Gas. With her husband and his mother they lived in a three-room apartment in the center of Moscow. Sergey was born on August 21, 1973
')
Mama Zhenya (as they call her in the family) speaks slowly, with a Russian accent, in a sweet voice. According to her, Sergei was a very capable boy from his childhood, he loved mathematics and computers.
Michael’s accent is somewhat softer, not like his wife’s. He is a big fan of Google, at least even at home wears clothes with the company logo.
Father told a lot of stories. For example, in the summer of 1990, 17-year-old Sergey Brin, together with a group of gifted young mathematicians, went to the USSR on a student exchange program. The young man was shocked by the reality that he saw. Upon returning two weeks later, he went to his father, looked into his eyes and said: “Thank you for taking us all away from Russia.”When the boy was small, he did not understand why his parents were leaving. He was only four years old when Dad announced this decision. The decision came to his father after attending a scientific conference in Warsaw in 1977, where he met with colleagues from the USA, France, Great Britain and Germany and made sure that they were “not monsters at all”. Zhenya and his mother did not want to go at first, but over time he persuaded them. They applied for a visa in September 1978, after which Mikhail was immediately dismissed from his job. He began to study programming and translated technical books into English for money.
In May 1979, their application for departure was approved. Then Vienna, a meeting with the Jewish organization of emigrants and a temporary shelter in the suburbs of Paris, where their longtime comrade Anatoly Katok (he was the real supervisor of Michael) found a suitable vacancy in a local institute. The family arrived in America only on October 25, 1979.
The Breen family rented a house in Maryland. After borrowing $ 2,000 from members of the diaspora, they bought a 1973 Ford Maverick. And, on the advice of the Skating Rink, they gave little Sergey to the prestigious Paint Branch Montessori School in Adelphi, Maryland. This is an unusual school, which uses the "free" teaching method and special techniques for the development of intelligence and creativity.
The first year of study was very difficult, because the boy did not know English, but later Sergey showed himself from the best side: he was a very talented child. Later he studied at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, where he was already ahead of his normal school schedule. For three years he mastered the college program and entered the University of Maryland, where he was one of the best in the group. Then Sergey won the prestigious National Science Foundation scholarship and tried to enroll at MIT, but they did not take him there, and Sergey entered Stanford.
In the spring of 1995, Sergey met a computer student Larry Page (the son of a computer professor, one of the first professors in this field in the United States, and a programmer). Soon, he decided to quit Stanford and set up his own company with Larry, which upset parents very much. The first $ 100,000 venture investment businessmen received from Andy Bechtolsheim, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, even before Google, Inc. was legally registered. Further history has become a legend.
Sergey became a billionaire, but still buys products at Costco and looks at the price tags. He loves cooking, especially Chernobyl Chili sauce (45 minutes in the microwave).
According to the magazine of the Jewish diaspora, the slogan “Don't Be Evil” is an interpretation of the Kabbalistic concept of “correcting the world” (tikkun olam).
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/5052/
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