On the eve of Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s father, Boris Moiseevich Khodorkovsky’s 80^th birthday, he and his wife Marina Philippovna responded to twenty-six questions posed by the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta.

Boris and Marina Khodorkovskie answered all the questions separately, without any prior agreement and without revealing their answers to each other.

The translation of the first ten questions of the interview follows:

1.       What can push you away from someone you meet for the first time?

Boris: Intrusiveness and chattiness

Marina: Insincerity

2.       What is no use asking you for?

BM: To betray or slander someone

MP: Villainy

3.       What do you regret?

BM: That I didn’t force my son to leave

MP: That I didn’t force my son to leave

4.       What book would you not allow your children to read?

BM: One in which people are slandered

MP: The history of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (KPSS)

5.       What’s harder for you: listen to the words of gratitude or apology?

BM: Apology

MP: Apology

6.       What could you create with your hands which can be used for sale?

BM: Could not answer

MP: Handicrafts, embroidery and more

7.       What characteristic of youth do you dream of getting back?

BM: Health

MP: Health

8.       The amount of cash that you have with you and without which you would feel uncomfortable?

BM: 10 thousand roubles

MP: 10 thousand roubles

9.       What do you not have time for daily?

BM: To rest

MP: To rest

10.   The element of comfort without which it would be difficult for you to manage?

BM: I don’t know.

MP: Shower

Read the rest of the answers in Russian here.