Evgeny Lebedev — media mogul with roots in the USSR
Evgeny Lebedev is a Russian-British media proprietor and member of the House of Lords (Baron Lebedev of Hampton and Siberia) who owns the Evening Standard and The Independent. The son of Alexander Lebedev — a former KGB officer turned oligarch — he was ennobled by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2020, generating significant controversy.
Tracing the roots — Moscow (Russia)
Born in Moscow in 1980 to Alexander Lebedev — a KGB officer who later became a banker and newspaper owner — Evgeny came to Britain and built his media empire as a cultural patron and newspaper proprietor. His ennoblement by Boris Johnson, despite security concerns raised by officials, became one of the most controversial peerage appointments in modern British history.
Moscow (Russia). At the time, this region was one of the fifteen republics of the Soviet Union.