Soviet and Russian psychotherapist Anatoly Kashpirovsky dies at 87
Former Russian State Duma deputy and controversial psychotherapist Anatoly Kashpirovsky, famous for his perestroika-era television healing sessions, has died at the age of 87. His death was announced on October 3 by Russian TV host Andrei Malakhov.
Soviet and Russian psychotherapist and former Russian State Duma deputy Anatoly Kashpirovsky has died at the age of 87. His death was announced on October 3 by Russian television host Andrei Malakhov, according to Germany's Deutsche Welle news service.
Fame during perestroika
Kashpirovsky became widely known as a faith healer thanks to his televised sessions broadcast during the perestroika period. He claimed he could remotely heal television viewers watching his programs by giving them suggestions aimed at improving health, wealth and prosperity. In 2024, the Russian Academy of Sciences labeled Kashpirovsky's methods as outright pseudoscience.
Life and career
Anatoly Kashpirovsky was born in 1939 in the village of Stavnytsia in what was then the Ukrainian SSR. After graduating from the Vinnytsia Medical Institute, he worked for about 25 years at a local psychiatric hospital. In 1993, he was elected as a deputy of the first convocation of Russia's State Duma on the list of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR). In 1995, he left the party and resigned his parliamentary mandate.
