Title: President (2012-05.07)
Date of Birth: 1952-10-07
Place of Birth: St Petersburg
Family Background: His biography, translated into English under the title First Person and based on interviews conducted with
Putin in 2000, speaks of humble beginnings, including early years in a rat-infested tenement in a communal apartment. In his youth, he was eager to emulate staunch intelligence officers, as enacted on Soviet screen by
Vyacheslav Tikhonov and
Georgiy Zhzhonov.
Spouse: Name:
Putin is married to Liudmila Putina, a former airline stewardess and teacher of German.
Children: Name: They have two daughters, Maria (born 1985) and Yekaterina (Katya)(born 1986 in
Dresden). The daughters attended the German School in
Moscow (Deutsche Schule Moskau) until his
appointment as prime minister.
Education:
1975 - graduated from Leningrad State University law faculty, where he specialized in international law. Graduate thesis: “Most Favored Nation Status in International Law.
1996 - received a Ph.D. in Economics from the St. Petersburg Mining Academy. Dissertation: “Strategic Planning of Regional Raw Material Operations in a Market Economy.”
Professional Career:
1975 - after graduation from Leningrad State University, Putin joined the KGB and was appointed to the First Chief Directorate (PGU), an elite division of the KGB in charge of intelligence abroad. Putin was assigned to intelligence service in the German unit of the PGU. In the mid-1980s, he worked for over three years as deputy director of the House of Soviet Science and Technology in Leipzig
1990-1991- adviser to the chairman of the Leningrad City Council
1991-1996 - chairman of the Committee for External Relations, St. Petersburg Mayor's Office under mayor Anatoly Sobchak; in 1992-1994, vice-mayor and in 1994-1996, first vice-mayor of St. Petersburg
August 1996-March 1997 - deputy chief of the Presidential Budget and Management Office under head of the Presidential Business Management Department Pavel Borodin
March 1997-1998 - deputy head of the Presidential Administration, head of the Main Presidential Control Department
May-July 1998 - first deputy head (in charge of regional policy) of the Presidential Administration
July 1998-August 1999 - director of the Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation
April - August 1999 - secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation
August 1999-May 2000 - prime minister of the Russian Federation
December 31, 1999- May 2000 - acting president of the Russian Federation
March 26, 2000 - elected president of the Russian Federation with 53% of the vote
March 14, 2004 - reelected president of the Russian Federation with 71% of the vote
May 8, 2008 - assumed the post as prime minister of the government of the Russian Federation
Putin was appointed Chairman (predsedatel', or prime minister) of the Government of the Russian Federation by President Boris Yeltsin in August 1999, making him Russia's fifth prime minister in less than eighteen months. On his appointment, few expected Putin, a virtual unknown, to last any longer than his predecessors. Yeltsin's main opponents and would-be successors, Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and former Chairman of the Russian Government Yevgeniy Primakov, were already campaigning to replace the ailing president, and fought hard to prevent Putin's emergence as a potential successor. Putin's law-and-order image and his unrelenting approach to the renewed crisis in Chechnya (see below) soon combined to raise his popularity and allowed him to overtake all rivals. While not formally associated with any party, Putin was supported by the newly formed Edinstvo (unity) faction, which won the largest percentage of the popular vote in the December 1999 Duma elections. Putin was reappointed as Chairman of the Government, and seemed ideally positioned to win the presidency in elections due the following summer. His rise to Russia's highest office ended up being even more rapid: on December 31, 1999, Yeltsin unexpectedly resigned and appointed Putin the second (acting) President of the Russian Federation. Presidential elections were held on March 26, 2000, which Putin won in the first round.
Languages:
Putin speaks German with near-native fluency, and has passable English.