born Feb. 1, 1931, Sverdlovsk, Russia, U.S.S.R.
Russian politician and president of Russia (1990–99).
After attending the Urals Polytechnic Institute, he worked at construction projects in western Russia (1955–68). He became Communist Party leader in Sverdlovsk in 1976, and he was an ally of Commonwealth of Independent States (1991) and began to transform Russia's economy into one based on free markets and private enterprise. Hard-liners staged an unsuccessful coup against Yeltsin in 1993. When Chechnya unilaterally declared independence, Yeltsin sent troops to fight the rebels (1994). The Chechnya situation and Russia's deepening economic distress lessened his popularity, but he won reelection over a Communist Party challenger in 1996. After suffering a heart attack, he spent several months recovering. Continuing poor health led to his resignation on Dec. 31, 1999. He was succeeded by {{link=Putin, Vladimir Vladimirovich">Vladimir Putin .
Boris Yeltsin, 1991.
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