I was born on 25 April 1988 in the family of Lyudmila and Alexander Gruznov. My bloodline combines the Baltic Finns (Izhorians and Votians), Russians from the Northwest and South, and exiles from Central Russia. No nobles. Instead, nearly every generation suffered from the state: two great-grandfathers were shot, a grandfather was sent to labor camp at the age of 11, and a father was sentenced to forced labor for fartsovka.

Education

Even though I was a good student in school, succeeded in academic competitions, and graduated with honors, I never understood which career path to pursue in the university. I considered crisis management studies, tried following my father's steps in arts management, and ended up in political science at Saint-Petersburg State University. Two years into political studies, I was disappointed in my career prospects in modern Russia and the overall quality of education, and left the university.

Wikipedia

Then I found something that interested me more than academia: the Wikipedia. I started contributing in 2007,
and spent five years in adminship in the Russian Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons. In the mid-2010s, this hobby became the foundation for the digital publishing company Wikify, which later transformed into education and investigation-focused Wikiganda.org and tech-focused Wikify.io.

Career

While studying at the university, I met Pavel Durov and joined Vkontakte, which was a small tech startup back then. I was a member of the moderation team and curated the ads department. I was disappointed by the lack of automation, the monotonous work, and the way company management prioritized devs over the other staff. So, I decided never to seek employment, earn with my own projects, and join other initiatives trying to reach a bigger impact on society and state.

Family

In 2017, I met Marina Kutepova, a sci-comm and curator at the Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines. Two years later, we got married. We have two daughters: Kira (born 10 February 2020) and Erika (born 8 August 2022). We live in Tallinn, Estonia, since May 2022.