The closest friend of the not too sentimental Zinoviev was Karl Kantor. Friendship with Evald Ilyenkov, who studied for an older course, rather represented rivalry: both were intellectual leaders of student companies (theoretical conversations were often held in eateries), which were later added by Boris Grushin, Merab Mamardashvili, Georgy Shchedrovitsky, Alexander Piatigorsky, Len Karpinsky, Yuri Karyakin, Yuri Levada. According to the memoirs of Pyatigorsky, Zinoviev "became everything for me at the faculty". As Karl Kantor wrote, Zinoviev did not have a specific subject, he taught the critical view of the dogmatism of the Marxist–Leninist curriculum, considered habitual topics from a new, often unexpected angle. His penchant for independent thinking attracted both students and graduate students, sometimes even teachers, including Asmus. Karl Kantor recalled: