
Yandex CTO and co-founder has died - cinskiy
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&prev=_dd&u=http%3A%2F%2Fclubs.ya.ru%2Fcompany%2F69367
======
numair
Truly sad; what a brilliant guy. And a real class act... None of the money-
throwing antics[1] of some of his peers. Just a brilliant, modest dude.

Quite fittingly, the Yandex translation is superior to the Google translate
version:

[http://translate.yandex.net/tr-
url/en+ru.en/clubs.ya.ru/comp...](http://translate.yandex.net/tr-
url/en+ru.en/clubs.ya.ru/company/69367?nocookiesupport=yes)

1: [http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-57442907-71/russias-
zucker...](http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-57442907-71/russias-zuckerberg-
throws-money-out-the-window/)

~~~
kombine
I wouldn't be so sure it's superior:

Google: "But he left behind a whole new generation of programmers, an entire
school. And it sets the level of ethical standards for all of us." vs Yandex:
"But he left behind a whole new generation of programmers, a whole school. And
its ethical standards specified the level of all of us."

Google: "Tonight, he was gone." vs Yandex "Tonight he was not."

And RIP Ilya. Many people who knew him said he was a very good person. He
didn't spoke in public often, did his work, supported charity and also had an
active political stance. What a loss.

~~~
Zikes
With zero knowledge of the source language, those two translations make me
think that they were going for "Tonight, he is no more."

------
danabramov
UPD: Ilya is in coma with no brain activity, but not dead yet.
([http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&pre...](http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fru.reuters.com%2Farticle%2FoddlyEnoughNews%2FidRUMSE96O03O20130725&act=url))

\--

Ilya was very vocal about his contempt for falsifications in Russian
elections. He went to protests and helped develop an app for election
observers. This app helped volunteers submit proofs of violations during the
elections.

[http://webnabludatel.org](http://webnabludatel.org)

He adopted several children and hated the recent law forbidding child adoption
by USA citizens.

He will be missed by many.

\---

Edit 1: Rephrased the first sentence per suggestion in reply

Edit 2: Added recent info about coma

~~~
guard-of-terra
This sounds defamatory to his colleagues. Most of whom also watched those
elections and participate in political activities. It's just that Ilya was the
most brightly burning among them all.

~~~
danabramov
Thanks, I didn't mean to imply this. I edited the post.

------
nine_k
Very sad news :(

Besides being a great CTO, he kept helping orphaned children [1] and taught
juggling (right at Yandex office).

[1] These children:
[http://mariaschildren.ru/content/view/141/96/](http://mariaschildren.ru/content/view/141/96/)

~~~
OldSchool
He obviously had a huge heart for these innocents. The average outlook for
orphans in Russia who are not adopted is bleak, with many ending up in prison
or dead within a few years after being released into society at age 16 or so.

Due to entirely unrelated political forces, the US is banned from adopting
them for now, with no change in sight. There are many children throughout the
world dreaming of having parents some day.

I suggest to all, when you make your hacker fortune, buy one fewer of your
favorite cars and adopt an orphan if you have a heart for children.

------
CReber
Sad news :/ Here is the press release btw (link was broken for me)

[http://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/yandex-announces-
death-o...](http://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/yandex-announces-death-of-co-
founder-and-cto-ilya-segalovich-20130725-00043)

------
forlorn
Sad irony. Today I got an invitation to Yandex.Islands and at once recalled
his presentation (video:
[http://events.yandex.ru/events/yac/m/talks/816/](http://events.yandex.ru/events/yac/m/talks/816/)
). In an hour I read the news...

------
adamnemecek
'May he find peace' seems appropriate considering his profession.

------
cinskiy
[UPD]: Apparently Ilya is in coma on life support with no brain activity
signs.

[http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/25/yandex-founder-
idU...](http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/25/yandex-founder-
idUSL6N0FV33U20130725)

~~~
CanSpice
The press release on Yandex's website says he's dead.

[http://company.yandex.com/press_center/press_releases/2013/2...](http://company.yandex.com/press_center/press_releases/2013/2013-07-25.xml)

------
pmoehring
Such an incredible person. I've met him a couple of times, and he was always
smiling, inquisitive and much nicer than you would ever expect. The good go
early.

------
dmak
I misinterpreted the title and thought 2 people died.

~~~
cinskiy
Sorry, fixed the mistake.

------
remcobron
How sad to hear.

For those not fammiliar with Yandex check out the interview we did with the
other founder, Arkady Voloz, who tells the story of Yandex:
[http://blip.tv/vincent-everts/ceo-arkady-voloz-tells-the-
sto...](http://blip.tv/vincent-everts/ceo-arkady-voloz-tells-the-story-of-
yandex-2272959)

------
asterx
Updated: He is in coma.
[http://www.google.com/translate?hl=en&ie=UTF8&sl=auto&tl=en&...](http://www.google.com/translate?hl=en&ie=UTF8&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Flenta.ru%2Fnews%2F2013%2F07%2F25%2Fsegalovich1%2F)

------
dakrisht
RIP to a young and brilliant man.

Go out there and live the day, hug your loved ones, enjoy the sun, work hard,
don't think about taking over the world and being the next Steve Jobs, stay
humble, you're given one life - go out there and make life proud that you are
a part of it.

Memento mori

~~~
mjolk
While platitudes generally go over well on hacker news, I'm curious how one
can "make life proud that you are a part of it." Should one also try to "make
time notice that you exist" or "make gravity work for it?"

~~~
jentulman
I intend to give all these a go by buying a self winding watch and hopping to
work everyday and remembering to take a moment to wish everyone I pass a good
day and good health.

~~~
mjolk
10:50 status: left home 3 hours ago, almost at the train station to go to
work. number of times maced: 1. number of children hurriedly pulled away from
me: 7.

------
photorized
There are some conflicting articles suggesting he is in a coma:

[http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/25/yandex-founder-
idU...](http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/25/yandex-founder-
idUSL6N0FV33U20130725)

[http://finance.yahoo.com/news/yandex-co-founder-chief-
techno...](http://finance.yahoo.com/news/yandex-co-founder-chief-
technology-084834059.html)

------
girvo
Very very sad. A good reminder to do what you love. In the wise words of the
modern day poet, Nas: "'cause you never know when ya gonna go"

RIP mate.

------
xenator
Cancer killed another great IT person. Very sad news.

------
turingbook
Is there any life story about Ilya? I want to write an article in Chinese
about his life and contribution to technology community.

~~~
guard-of-terra
a bit here
[http://ria.ru/spravka/20130725/951995567.html](http://ria.ru/spravka/20130725/951995567.html)

more here [http://iseg.yandex.ru/](http://iseg.yandex.ru/)

(use google translate or
[http://translate.yandex.ru/](http://translate.yandex.ru/) )

It's not too late because "time of death" was just yesterday after several
days coma.

------
kayoone
Very sad if someone passes at such a (relativly) young age. Even more so when
he made the world a better place for so many people.

------
josephpmay
Until today, I had never heard of Yandex. I do have to say that their search
quality appears to be very high, and I may use them as a Google alternate in
the future. Is there any specific reason why they don't have much traction in
the US?

~~~
elementai
Yandex was created a bit earlier than Google actually.

------
xijuan
Rest In Peace... Really sad to hear this news...

------
meadhikari
missing the black bar on top

~~~
cinskiy
Yandex made its whole logo black.

------
f902370
What's wrong with 2013?

~~~
jschuur
Without death, would we be as motivated to live life?

~~~
microb
Please. Give Einstein, John Von Neumann or Francis Crick another 50 years on
this planet and tell me the world would be worse off because of it.

~~~
nikster
Maybe none of these guys would have done what they've done.

Maybe they'd never even have been born, their parents being to lazy.

Maybe we'd never have evolved from being pretty comfortable monkeys sitting
around - why would we have evolved to breed, to love sex, and to make babies
at all? Babies are just competition to an immortal being.

Bottom line is, none of us would be around to mourn the passing of an
apparently very nice person. RIP Ilya.

~~~
TeMPOraL
> _Maybe we 'd never have evolved from being pretty comfortable monkeys
> sitting around - why would we have evolved to breed, to love sex, and to
> make babies at all?_

But we are here now, and we don't want to die. Death might have been useful in
the past, but now it's the high time for it to go away.

------
rorrr2
Stomach cancer, unexpected exacerbation.

Fuck cancer.

~~~
ekianjo
Stomach cancer is extremely deadly. That's one of the worst ones to get...
It's quite rare to get it very young, though.

~~~
VladRussian2
While i don't know about this guy specifically, Russia has high rate of
smoking. Coincidentally, several prominent Russian people i've checked out
about recently happened to had died from stomach cancer relatively young.

~~~
raverbashing
The absurd amount of alcoholic beverages also help

I'm not in any way against the moderate consumption of alcohol but the
russians are in another level, really

Just to be clear: I'm not implying this is the case

~~~
ekianjo
Well, yes, there is a strong correlation between alcohol consumption and
cancer rates. I am not sure if it was ever tested on animals to prove that it
directly leads to cancer, but in observational studies this is often pointed
out as a culprit for high cancer rates.

~~~
nobodysfool
I believe they did have proof that some Asians don't have the gene which helps
break down alcohol, and those that had that gene were at a higher risk of
cancer if they drank alcohol. No, I guess it isn't definitive proof though.
Still, Russia is on the Asian continent, so this theory holds water.

~~~
continuations
It's not just for Asians. Alcohol is a known cause of cancer for humans.

From the American Cancer Society
([http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/dietandphysicalact...](http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/dietandphysicalactivity/alcohol-
use-and-cancer)):

"Alcohol is a known cause of cancers of the:

Mouth Throat (pharynx) Voice box (larynx) Esophagus Liver Colon and rectum
Breast"

~~~
ekianjo
I would take whatever is written by the American Cancer Society with a grain
of salt. They have also a political agenda, since they recommend "children and
teens" not to consume alcohol at all, even though there is no study or data to
support that claim. In most countries around the world, teens and even
children drink alcohol early in their lives without notable health effect on
the long run as long as their consumption remains reasonable.

Besides, their claim on "There are many ways of reducing heart disease risk,
including avoiding smoking, eating a diet low in saturated and trans fats,
staying at a healthy weight, staying physically active, and controlling blood
pressure and cholesterol." is only partially true and just reflects the
current thinking of specialists. The evidence on LDL/HDL levels is not very
compelling and there was a post very recently on HN from a surgeon claiming
heart disease was rather linked to tissue inflammation than cholesterol.

~~~
continuations
> there was a post very recently on HN from a surgeon claiming heart disease
> was rather linked to tissue inflammation than cholesterol

I believe the "surgeon" you referred to is Dwight Lundell. His claim is just
that, a claim. Suffice to note that he has his medical license revoked because
of "unprofessional conduct":

[http://www.casewatch.org/board/med/lundell/order_2008.pdf](http://www.casewatch.org/board/med/lundell/order_2008.pdf)

> reflects the current thinking of specialists

That means their recommendation reflects the current medical consensus. Of
course American Cancer Society is going to make their recommendations based on
current medical consensus instead of some wild claim made by someone who has
his medical license revoked. To do anything else would be irresponsible.

