Eduard Pesov, personal photographer of the Russian Foreign Ministry, was farewelled in Moscow

Eduard Pesov, the personal photographer of the Russian Foreign Ministry, has been farewelled in Moscow. The ceremony was organized on Thursday, January 2, in the funeral hall of the Central Clinical Hospital of the Presidential Affairs Directorate.

It is held in the presence of Pesov's relatives, the leadership of the Russian Foreign Ministry, also his colleagues and acquaintances came to bid farewell to the master.

"A recognized maestro of photographs, he subtly captured fateful moments, masterfully conveyed the essence of events, the character and mood of statesmen, politicians and diplomats. His photos, which were distinguished by his unique author's handwriting, have forever been included in the fund of diplomatic history," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said at the ceremony.

According to Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, the ministry decided to establish a prize for international journalists, which will be named after Pesov.

"It has been decided that a journalistic prize will be named in honor of Eduard Iosifovich Pesov, which will be awarded to international journalists. Its format is being worked out now," the diplomat said.

Personal photographer of the Russian Foreign Ministry Eduard Pesov died on December 29, 2024 at the 93rd year of life. As Zakharova noted, Pesov was the author of iconic photos that revealed the secrets of world diplomacy, as well as a participant in major international events around the world. Pesov worked as a personal photographer with all the foreign ministers of the USSR and the Russian Federation since 1992, starting with Andrei Gromyko.

Before that, from 1968 to 1992, as a photo correspondent for TASS, he photographed historical meetings and everyday episodes in the lives of CPSU Central Committee General Secretaries Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev, and afterwards - Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and Russian President Boris Yeltsin. He was honored with numerous awards and prizes, including the prestigious Golden Eye Award, the Order for Merit to the Fatherland and the Order of Friendship.