Alexander Drouz
Aleksander Abramovich Drouz (Russian: Алекса́ндр Абра́мович Друзь, 10 May 1955, Leningrad, USSR) is a prominent veteran contestant of the Russian TV gameshow What? Where? When?, one of the currently four "Magisters of the Game"; Vice-President of the International Association of Clubs What? Where? When?, director of the Saint-Petersburg branch of the What? Where? When?
Biography
Aleksander was educated at a prestigious Leningrad school specializing in mathematics and physics, now known as the Saint Petersburg Lyceum 239. In 1975, he finished the Leningrad College of Industrial Education, and in 1980 graduated from Leningrad Institute of Engineers of Railway Transportation, specializing in the field of "electronic computing machines" (EVM).
Aleksander Drouz is a certified systems engineer. He is also a dedicated numismatist.
What? Where? When?
He first appeared as a contestant on What? Where? When? in 1981 and his active participation in the gameshow has been uninterrupted since then. He holds a record for the longest uninterrupted participation in the TV version of What? Where? When?. He also holds a current record on the number of the conducted TV games (65) and victories (39).
He was awarded a "Crystal Owl" as the best player of the intellectual club (1990, 1992, 1995, 2000, 2006). In 1995, he was named the first "Magister of the Game" in the show's history. Since then, three other prominent veterans of the game also became bearers of the title, namely Maxim Potashev, Viktor Sidnev and Andrey Kozlov. As of 2014, Alexander Drouz is the only 3 times WWW World Cup Champion.
He was captain of the What? Where? When? team «Transsfera» (sporting version of the game), which he led to victory at the 1st World cup (2002). The team also won the "Mayor of Saint Petersburg" Cup in sporting What? Where? When? nine times in a row.
Aleksander Drouz was champion of the TV show Brain Ring (a gameshow closely related in principle as well as personnel to What? Where? When?) in 1990, 1991, 1994. He also twice became a champion in another intellectual Russian TV gameshow Svoya igra (1995, 2003).
Television
Author and anchorman of intellectual gameshows and other programs on various Russian TV channels. He currently holds the position of the chief of programming at the TV channel «ONE HUNDRED» (Saint Petersburg).
Other projects
On 5 April 2008, Aleksandr Drouz became one of the Russian torchbearers of the 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay, along with numerous members of government, famous athletes, film stars and artists.[1]
Drouz is married and has two daughters: the elder Inna Drouz and the younger Marina Druz. Both daughters have followed in their father's footsteps and participated in the "What? Where? When?" program. Inna especially was both very active and successful in the game. She took a year-long break from the game in summer 2008 to tend to her newborn daughter Alisa, but returned to the program in October 2009.
References
Refs.s
- Биография с официального сайта «Что? Где? Когда?»
- Биография на сайте, посвящённом «Своей игре»
- Александр Друзь на радио «Эхо Москвы»