World War II, were published by Semyonov in his documentary story "Face to Face" in 1983. Social activity In 1986 Semyonov became the President of the International Association of Detective and Political Novel (Russian: МАДПР), which he himself initiated to create, and the editor-in-chief of the collected stories edition "Detective and Politics" (the edition was published by the said Association together with the Press Agency "Novosti" and played an important role in popularization of the detective genre in the USSR.) Semyonov's participation in searching for the famous Amber Room together with Georges Simenon, James Aldridge, baron von Falz-Fein and other famous members of the International Amber Room Searching Committee achieved wide renown. Semyonov, together with Baron Eduard von Falz-Fein, a Russian aristocrat and first wave émigré, was engaged in searching for and returning the lost cultural treasures to Russia. The activity of the International Committee for Returning Russian Treasures to the Motherland established by Semyonov made it possible to return to Russia the Feodor Ivanovich Chaliapin's remains, the part of Lifar&Diaghilev's library, the unique tapestry from the Livadia Palace depicting the Royal Family and many other cultural values. With the beginning of the perestroika Semyonov got the chance to cover the pages of the Soviet history which used to be a forbidden subject before. In 1988 there appeared the essay collection "Closed History Pages" and "Unwritten Novels", the philippic narrative about the times and morals of Stalin's cult of personality based on the historical documents, eyewitnesses' accounts and the author's personal experience. In 1989 Semyonov founded the first private (i.e. uncontrolled by the government) Soviet edition – the "Top Secret" bulletin ("Sovershenno sekretno"), then becoming its editor-in-chief with the symbolic royalty of 1 rouble per year. In 1988 Yulian Semyonov, Vasily Livanov and Vitaly Solomin opened the experimental Moscow theatre "Detective". There were staged thrilling plays and children's performances. In 1992, Y.S. Semyonov being already seriously ill, the company was directed by Livanov and the unique theatre was closed due to the ownership conflict. Personal life His wife Ekaterina Sergeevna was a step-daughter of Sergey Vladimirovich Mikhalkov (the wedding took place on 12 April 1955). Though their family life was quite complicated, Ekaterina Sergeevna devotedly kept looking after her husband after the stroke which happened to him in 1990. They had two daughters – Daria and Olga. The elder one, Daria, is an artist, and the younger, Olga Semyonova, is