Boris Yeltsin


Boris Nikolaevich Yeltsin (born February 1, 1931) President of Russia
1991-1999, was the first President of the Russian Federation.

Born in Butka village, Sverdlovsk region, he was educated at Pushkin High
School in Berezniki, Perm region and the Ural Polytechnic Institute in
Sverdlovsk (today's Yekaterinburg), majoring in construction.

In seventh grade at school he had two of his fingers on his left hand blown
off by a grenade.

Member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1961 to July
1990, he began working in the Communist administration in 1969. In 1977 as
party boss in Sverdlovsk, he ordered the destruction of the Ipatiev House
where the last Tsar had been murdered. Yeltsin was also "Mayor" of Moscow
(First Secretary of the CPSU Moscow City Committee) from December 24 1985 to
1987, when he was sacked for criticizing Gorbachev and the pace of reform.

In March 1989 he was elected to the Congress of People's Deputies and gained
a seat on the Supreme Soviet. In May 1990 he was appointed speaker of the
Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, in June the RSFSR declared independence and in
July Yeltsin left the CPSU. In the democratic presidential elections for
Russia on June 12, 1991 Yeltsin won 57% of the popular vote and he took
office on July 10.

On August 18 1991 a coup against Gorbachev (and Yeltsin) was started by
Communists headed by Kryuchkov. Gorbachev was held in the Crimea while
Yeltsin raced to the White House of Russia in Moscow to defy the coup. The
White House was surrounded by troops but in the face of mass popular
demonstrations the troops defected, Yeltsin making a memorable speech from
the turret of a tank. By August 21 most of the coup leaders had fled Moscow
and Gorbachev was 'rescued' from the Crimea and returned to Moscow. Yeltsin
was hailed around the world as a hero for saving the Soviet Union from the
resumption of tyranny and the world from the renewal of the Cold War.

In early December 1991, Ukraine voted for independence from the Soviet
Union. A week later the Presidents of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus created
the Commonwealth of Independent States. On December 24, Russia took the
USSR's seat in the United Nations. The next day, President Gorbachev
resigned and the USSR ceased to exist.

On August 9, 1999 Yeltsin fired his Prime Minister, Sergei Stepashin, and
for the fourth time, fired his entire cabinet.

Yeltsin continued as President of Russia until December 31, 1999, but the
events of 1991 proved to be something of a high-water mark for him
historically and personally.

Yeltsin resigned on December 31, 1999, naming Vladimir Putin as Acting
President until new elections were held on 26 March 2000.

An alcoholic, Yeltsin's personal and health problems received a lot
attention in the global press. As the years went on, he was seen as an
increasingly unstable leader, and not the inspiring figure he once was.