Pyotr Verzilov
| Pyotr Verzilov | |
|---|---|
Pyotr Verzilov
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| Born |
25 October 1987 Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Alma mater | Moscow State University |
| Spouse(s) | Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova |
| Children | Gera, born c. 2008 (age 8–9) |
Pyotr Verzilov (born 25 October 1987) is a Russian-Canadian artist and activist who came to wider prominence as the unofficial spokesperson of the band Pussy Riot when they were arrested and jailed by the Russian state in 2012. Verzilov is married to Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova.
Born in Moscow, Verzilov lived in Canada as a boy, attending school in Toronto between 1999 and 2003. He returned to Russia to complete his school education, then studied philosophy at Moscow State University. "I always saw my future in Russia. I am a Russian man. I am inspired by the Russian language, the Russian reality," he later told the Toronto Star. However, because of his residency Verzilov obtained a Canadian passport and residency rights.
Verzilov met Nadezhda Tolokonnikova at university. They both became well known for outrageous art performances as part of the performance art group Voina. This included filming public sex acts in a Moscow biological museum to protest the Mayor's call for increased reproduction, in 2008, when his wife was heavily pregnant. After Voina split in 2009, the St Petersburg faction accused Verzilov of being a police informer. Verzilov later described these accusations as "lies – brutal, old lies", blaming them on the "very nasty breakup" of Voina.
In July 2010, at the conclusion of a trial of two art gallery curators in a Moscow court, Verzilov reportedly burst in and released a bag of live cockroaches.
Verzilov took part in the Euromaidan protest in Kiev (Ukraine) in December 2013.
Verzilov's wife Nadezhda Tolokonnikova is a member of the Russian feminist punk rock group Pussy Riot who, in February 2012, staged a protest inside the Moscow Cathedral. On 17 August Tolokonnikova and two other members were sentenced to two years' imprisonment for 'hooliganism'. Subsequent to their arrest and imprisonment Verzilov became a prominent representative and spokesperson for Pussy Riot.
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