Vladimir Pokhilko


Vladimir Pokhilko was a Soviet and Russian entrepreneur. He was an academic who specialized in human–computer interaction.

Psychological experiments using ''Tetris''

A friend of Tetris creator Alexey Pajitnov, he was the first clinical psychologist to conduct experiments using the game. He played an important role in the subsequent development and marketing of the game, and a 1999 article in the Forbes magazine credited him for "co-inventing the seminal videogame Tetris".

Technology company AnimaTek

In 1989, he and Pajitnov founded the 3D software technology company AnimaTek in Moscow. While attempting to create software for INTEC that would be made for "people's souls", they developed the idea for El-Fish.

Murder-Suicide

After suffering financial difficulties at his software company, AnimaTek, he murdered his wife Elena Fedotova and their son Peter,by bludgeoning and stabbing them both to death. Then committed suicide by slitting his throat. Shortly before his death, Pokhilko penned a note. The police initially did not release the content of the note, saying that it was not a suicide note, and they didn't know who authored it. They later realized it was a suicide note and published the content of the note in 1999; it read: