Born in 1960.

Since 1990 — the author of the television project “Namedni”.

In 2004 he was fired from the NTV channel.

2004 to 2007 — Editor-in-chief of the Russian Newsweek magazine.

Parfenov has received the TEFI Russian television award four times and has created numerous full-length documentares: “Ves Zhvanetsky”, “Bird-Gogol”, “Life of Solzhenitsyn”, “Sovremennitsa”, “The Age of Nabokov”, “Zvorykin-Muromets”, “The Colour of the Nation” and others.

In November 2010, Parefenov publicly refused to obey television censorship. During the presentation of the Vladislav Listyev Award, he sharply criticized Russian television, stating that the federal TV correspondent has “turned from a journalist into a government official who follows the rules of service and subordination”.

Lives in Moscow.