Mazhory

Mazhory (Ukrainian: мажо́ри, Russian: мажоры; which roughly translates as "the superior ones"[1]) is a slang term used in the Soviet Union and post-Soviet countries for children of privileged people, who take advantage of their inborn privileges (nepotism, cronyism, avoiding due punishment, etc.), often in an arrogant and abusive way.

Meaning

Ukraine
See also: Corruption in Ukraine § Juridical corruption

Particularly in Ukraine the term Mazhory is used to describe children of high-ranking, mid-ranking, and sometimes even seemingly low-ranking officials in the government, police force, judiciary or army.[2][3][4][nb 1] This term is also used to describe officials themselves as well as wealthy businessmen and their children.[2] They are seen to lead easier lives than normal people, due to their parents' influence. Often they are able to avoid punishment, or receive less severe punishments than usual, when committing crimes.[5][nb 2] This phenomenon is also known in other countries of the former Soviet Union.[15]

Russia

In Russia the term Mazhory is connected with young socialites rather than with abuse of power;[16][17] but the term is also connected with criminal misdemeanour of advantaged youth.[18] The term "golden youth" is more commonly used in Russia to describe this advantaged youth.[19]

Soviet Union

In the Soviet Union[nb 3] the term Mazhory was connected with children of high-ranked officials who, through their parents, had greater access to Western products than the average young person and could travel abroad more easily.[21][22][23]

See also
  • Princelings a term for the children of senior communists in China.

Notes
  1. According to Andriy Portnov, in 2012 a key adviser on judicial affairs to President Viktor Yanukovich, law-enforcement officers and justice officials retain the Soviet-era habit of wanting to please officials up the bureaucratic ladder.[1] This "Soviet mentality" leads, according to Ukrainian social commentators, to a kind of inbuilt impunity for the privileged and wealthy, as well as for their children.[1]
  2. The following are some of the most famous recent cases in Ukraine where children of high-ranking officials were perceived to have avoided, or be about to avoid, punishment:
    • Murder of Oksana Makar in March 2012.[1][5]
    • In July 2011 security camera footage leaked to YouTube showed a young man dragging a woman by her hair around the floor of a restaurant in Luhansk. The assailant in the video turned out to be Roman Landik, a 37-year-old son of a member of the Ukrainian Parliament and a prominent figure in the region himself. It is believed that public attention to the case has helped to ensure that the justice was done which otherwise might not have been the case.[1][5]
    • On 16 June 2009, Viktor Lozinsky, member of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament), murdered an ordinary peasant Valeriy Olijnik. At the time of the murder he was accompanied by the chief district prosecutor and the chief of local police who assisted the crime to various extents.[6][7][8] Shortly after the murder another Ukrainian MP, Vladimir Pylypenko, nominated Lozinsky for a bravery award.[9] The case gained media attention as well as attention of the opposition.[10] Lozinsky was arrested on 1 March 2010, was convicted of murder on 20 April 2011 and had his sentence reduced from 15 to 14 years on appeal in March 2012[11][12] and in March 2013 to 10 years in another appeal.[13] Others in the "Lozinsky case" were sentenced to various terms in prison: former prosecutor of Holovanivsk Raion Yevhen Horbenko to nine years in prison, former head of the Holovanivsk district department of police Mykhailo Kovalsky to five years in prison with a three-year probation period, and Holovanivsk forestry huntsman Vasyl Perepelytsia to four years in prison.[14]
  3. Russian rock band ДДТ recorded a song Мальчики мажоры (Mazhory boys) in 1985.[20]

References
  1. In Ukraine, scales of justice often imbalanced, Kyiv Post (10 April 2012)
  2. "Ukrainian Woman's Rape Stirs Public 'Vendetta'". Leonid Bershidsky. Bloomberg. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  3. Charges dismissed against driver who killed pedestrian, Kyiv Post (1 December 2011)
  4. (in Ukrainian) Мажори активізувалися у літній період, Ukrainskyi Tyzhden (12 July 2011)
    (in Ukrainian) Безкарна справа. Думки з приводу роковин загибелі Ігоря Індила, Ukrayinska Pravda (23 May 2011)
    (in Ukrainian) У Запоріжжі "мажор" розстріляв двох чоловіків, Ukrayinska Pravda (6 July 2009)
    (in Ukrainian) "Мажор", який ганяв по Києву з ножем, каже, що нарвався на "джигітів", Ukrayinska Pravda (14 July 2009)
    (in Ukrainian) П'яний "мажор" у Нових Петрівцях збив студентів, машину ДАІ та трактор, Ukrayinska Pravda (16 September 2010)
    (in Ukrainian) "Мажор", який спровокував смертельне ДТП, бере участь в автоперегонах, Ukrayinska Pravda (5 July 2011)
    (in Ukrainian) Закони здорового глузду, Ukrayinska Pravda (13 July 2011)
  5. Gang-raped, strangled and set alight, brave Oksana loses her fight, The Age (30 March 2012)
    Unruly Untouchables, Kyiv Post (14 July 2011)
    Charges dismissed against driver who killed pedestrian, Kyiv Post (1 December 2011)
  6. "Виктор Лозинский говорил о себе: "Я – волчара!"". 9 Огдн 2009. KP (Russian). Retrieved 23 April 2012.
  7. "Лозинский приговорен к 15 годам тюрьмы (обновлено)". 20 April 2011. Korrespondent (Russian). Retrieved 23 April 2012.
  8. Reshetilova, Olga. ""Мажорство" угрожает не только обществу..." 13 June 2011. Day (Russuan). Retrieved 25 April 2012.
  9. "БЮТ требует дать орден депутату, устроившему смертельное сафари на человека". 22 Огту 2009. Segodnya (Russian). Retrieved 23 April 2012.
  10. "Партия регионов заблокировала Раду". 14 July 2009. Korespondent (Russian). Retrieved 23 April 2012.
  11. ""Охотник на людей" Лозинский ждет отправки в колонию на 14 ле". 10 April 2012. KP (in Russian). Retrieved 23 April 2012.
  12. Court sentences Lozinsky to 15 years in prison for murder, Kyiv Post (20 April 2011)
  13. Media: Court reduces Lozinsky's sentence by four years, Kyiv Post (2 March 2013)
  14. Ukraine's interior minister says Lozinsky detained, Interfax-Ukraine (12 June 2014)
    Prosecutor's office challenges Lozinsky's release, launches investigation, Interfax-Ukraine (12 June 2014)
  15. Ukraine rape victim searches for justice, guardian.co.uk (23 March 2012)
  16. (in Russian) Как отрывается «золотая молодежь», Komsomolskaya Pravda (1 April 2004)
  17. (in Russian) Мажоры берутся за ум, RUSSIA.RU (20 October 2010)
  18. «Золотая молодежь», гоняющая на автомобилях с риском для нас, остается безнаказанной (7 April 2011)
    Поймаем тюменских отморозков вместе! (28 September 2010)
    Отец отомстил мажору за гибель дочери (24 June 2011)
    Насильники-мажоры повезли девушек на озеро в Боголюбово (23 January 2012)
    Мажоры на «Хаммере» задавили десятиклассника (25 August 2010)
    Уральские милиционеры подтвердили, что автохулиганы из Тюмени – «мальчики-мажоры (3 September 2010)
    Уральские мальчики-мажоры на «Лексусе» убили трех рыбаков на «Ниве» (12 August 2011)
    All articles by Komsomolskaya Pravda (in Russian)
  19. Traffic Cops Begin Crackdown on Moscow's 'Golden Youth', The Moscow Times (15 September 2016)
    (in Russian) Umayte Maru: how they want to punish Baghdasaryan and her like, RIA Novosti (11 July 2017)
  20. moskva.fm Мальчики-Мажоры — ДДТ
    (in Russian) "Мальчики-Мажоры", ВРЕМЯ Z
  21. Pilkington, Hilary (1996). Gender, Generation and Identity in Contemporary Russia. Psychology Press. p. 261. ISBN 978-0-415-13543-6.
  22. Молодёжные субкультуры (in Russian). Libozersk.ru (Municipal Cultural Institution "Centralized Library System Ozyorsky Urban Okrug"). Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  23. Rai, Shirin; Pilkington, Hilary; Phizacklea, Annie (1992). Women in the Face of Change The Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and China. Routledge. p. 126. ISBN 978-0-415-07541-1.
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