President of Kalmykia Kirsan Ilyumzhinov: biography, family

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:54

This man became famous not only for his odious political ambitions, but also for his non-trivial hobbies. He managed to repeatedly occupy the highest post in his native republic of Kalmykia, and also succeed in the field of entrepreneurship.

It seemed to many political analysts that Kirsan Ilyumzhinov is the "unsinkable" leader of the region, who under no circumstances will lose power. And, indeed, rarely is anyone destined for a mission - to occupy the governor's chair more than three times in a row. But this is not the only thing that distinguishes Kirsan Ilyumzhinov from his colleagues. He is also an ardent football fan, as well as an active promoter of the game of chess. In his homeland, he built a whole town where the Olympiads are regularly held among those who like to practice in abstruse combinations with a queen and a rook. And the President of Kalmykia became famous for the fact that one of the minor planets in the Galaxy was named after him. In addition, the politician speaks many languages, fluently communicating in English, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Mongolian. How did the full-time worker of the Zvezda plant manage to break into the power structures, and what was noteworthy in the biographyIlyumzhinov?

Let's consider this issue in more detail.

Biography

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov is a native of the capital of Kalmykia (Elista). He was born on April 5, 1962. His father was a representative of the local party elite, heading the department of industry and transport of the regional city committee of the CPSU, and his mother worked as a veterinarian. Already in adolescence, the future president of Kalmykia began to show interest in chess. Naturally, such a hobby, useful for intellectual development, had a positive effect on the boy's academic performance at school. As a result, Kirsan had only "five" in his matriculation certificate. Of course, the most promising prospects opened before the young man.

After school

But he goes to work as a simple fitter at the Zvezda enterprise, and upon reaching adulthood he joins the ranks of the Armed Forces.

After serving in the army, the young man works for a short time as a foreman at the Zvezda plant, but soon realizes that it is rather difficult to take place in life without a higher education and submits documents to MGIMO. As a result, he enters this prestigious university. But, as some sources testify, Ilyumzhinov's biography at a young age is not without dark spots. In the last year of the institute, a young man was suddenly expelled. The reason for this turn of events was the denunciation of classmates who accused Kirsan of leading an asocial lifestyle, spending his free time in entertainmentinstitutions, abuses alcohol and even takes drugs. Only a few months later Ilyumzhinov managed to recover at the university. In 1989, the future president of Kalmykia already has a diploma, which indicates that he is an expert on Japan (culture, economy, language, history).

Start a business

One way or another, but after graduating from one of the most prestigious universities in the country, Kirsan did not work in his profession. The President of Kalmykia, who will later become Ilyumzhinov, decides to go into business. In the late 80s, thanks to his impeccable knowledge of the Japanese language, he will head one of the branches of the largest automotive corporation Mitsubishi. Each deal with a used car brought Ilyumzhinov a good income in the form of interest, and after a while he began to expand the geography of his business, in parallel with this, opening several large service stations.

Business is booming

Gradually, Ilyumzhinov's business began to develop in the best possible way.

He joined the leadership of a number of banking structures and commercial enterprises. The Russian press began to make headlines that, according to unconfirmed reports, an MGIMO graduate "borrowed" 10 billion rubles from federal officials to buy wool. As it turned out later, the money disappeared in an unknown direction. However, there are a lot of similar stories, in the center of which the head of Kalmykia appeared, but at the official level, no evidence convicting Ilyumzhinov of fraud has been obtained. Notable is the fact thatthe chess fan has always been calm and inert about the attacks and accusations of journalists.

Political career

Back in 1983, Kirsan received a party card, joining the immense ranks of the CPSU. At MGIMO, he was entrusted with the position of deputy secretary of the party committee for ideology. The party nominated a young man to the people's deputies of the RSFSR. Then Ilyumzhinov became a member of the Committee on International Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations. In 1991, the future head of Kalmykia became a member of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR. At this time, a fateful acquaintance with Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin takes place, who gave Kirsan a ticket to big politics. The first president of Russia very soon gained confidence in the young man from Elista.

Yeltsin was impressed by the fact that Ilyumzhinov never pestered him with problems, unlike his colleagues.

Management post

In 1993, Kirsan, having enlisted the support of the labor collective of the Zvezda plant and the Alachinsky state farm, puts forward his candidacy for the election of the President of the Republic of Kalmykia. Then he won, securing 65.4% of the vote. Two years later, Ilyumzhinov will be re-elected ahead of schedule to the post of president and head the government of the Republic of Kalmykia for seven whole years. In autumn 2002, Kirsan will win the second round of elections for the head of the region. Three years later, Vladimir Putin, on his own initiative, will approve Ilyumzhinov as president of Kalmykia. Thus, the "lover of chess" led his native region four times. In 2010the politician said that he would not apply for a fifth term, since he fully agreed with Dmitry Medvedev's course, which is aimed at "rejuvenating personnel in the public administration system."

Plans and undertakings in the presidency

Becoming the head of the region, Ilyumzhinov intended to build a number of manufacturing enterprises, but built only one, which was specialized in the processing of sheep's wool. But his creation did not last long. Kirsan decided to build windmills in Kalmykia in order to reduce the cost of electricity, but this project also failed. The head of the region decided to create a "software technology park" - a kind of analogue of Silicon Valley.

Personnel was planned to be trained in a small school, located far from civilization. Again, the matter was not completed. Add to this the odious plans to turn Kalmykia into the American Las Vegas and the Russian cosmodrome. In general, Ilyumzhinov has many ambitions, but in practice not all of them were destined to be realized.

Private life

The ex-president of Kalmykia is an exemplary family man and a caring father. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, whose family consists of his wife and son, enjoys doing housework in his spare time. With his wife Danara, he studied in the same class. The President of Kalmykia proposed to a girl when he was 29 years old.

The son, like his father, is fond of chess and football.

Where is Kirsan Ilyumzhinov now? This question,naturally uninteresting. Most of the time, the former official, who once headed the government of the Republic of Kalmykia, spends in his country house in Elista, continuing to do business and favorite hobbies. He also owns a two-room apartment in Moscow, visiting Belokamennaya from time to time.