Yeltsin

Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (1931–2007) was a Russian and Soviet politician who served as the first president of the Russian Federation from 1991 to 1999. Born in Butka in the Sverdlovsk Oblast, he trained as an engineer and worked in construction before rising through the ranks of the Communist Party. He gained prominence in Moscow as the First Secretary of the Moscow City Committee in 1985, during a period of reform debates under Mikhail Gorbachev.

With the advent of perestroika, Yeltsin emerged as a vocal advocate of rapid reforms. In 1990 he was elected president of the Russian SFSR. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, he became the first president of the Russian Federation. His government pursued sweeping market reforms, including price liberalization and privatization, often overseen by reformers such as Yegor Gaidar and Anatoly Chubais. The reforms aimed to shift from a planned to a market economy and transformed the Russian business environment, but they also coincided with inflation and social hardship.

In 1993 a constitutional crisis culminated in a confrontation with the parliament and the adoption of a new constitution that strengthened the presidency. He was reelected in 1996 amidst continuing economic and political turbulence as oligarchs emerged. Internationally, Yeltsin pursued closer ties with the West and sought to redefine Russia’s role on the world stage, including relations with the United States and Europe.

Yeltsin resigned on December 31, 1999, appointing Vladimir Putin as acting president. He died in 2007 in Moscow. His presidency profoundly influenced Russia’s post-Soviet political and economic landscape and remains a subject of debate regarding the costs and outcomes of his reforms.