Leonid Kravchuk
Leonid Kravchuk was born on January 10, 1934. See ranking, bio blurb, and everyone else born that day.
About Leonid Kravchuk
Leonid Makarovych Kravchuk (Ukrainian: Леонід Макарович Кравчук, IPA: [leoˈn⁽ʲ⁾id mɐˈkɑrowɪtʃ krɐu̯ˈtʃuk]; 10 January 1934 – 10 May 2022) was a Ukrainian politician who served as the first president of Ukraine from 5 December 1991 to 19 July 1994. Kravchuk's presidency was marked by Ukraine achieving independence from the Soviet Union, the handover of its post-Soviet nuclear arsenal and an economic crisis that ultimately resulted in him losing re-election. Prior to his presidency, he was Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada. After leaving office, he served as a People's Deputy of Ukraine for the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united). Born to a family of peasants in Volhynia, Kravchuk's early life was significantly impacted by World War II and the postwar nationalist insurgency. He joined the Communist Party of Ukraine in 1958 and rose through the ranks, working as a propagandist. He became Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR in 1990, amidst the 1989–1991 Ukrainian revolution and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. He opposed the 1991 Soviet coup attempt and subsequently led Ukraine to become independent from the Soviet Union. Kravchuk became Ukraine's first democratically elected president in 1991. As president, Kravchuk formed an informal alliance between his national communists and national democrats, an ideological group succeeding Ukraine's Soviet dissidents. He sought to build a centralised state, opposing federalism, and established an independent Armed Forces of Ukraine, additionally giving up Ukraine's nuclear arsenal. He supported the possibility of Ukrainian membership in the NATO military alliance. Kravchuk's presidency saw the enrichment of the former nomenklatura and a failure to undertake economic reforms, caused by uncertainty over the correct measures to take. Ukraine's gross domestic product contracted by 40% during his time in office. In the wake of strikes by coal miners, Kravchuk called snap elections for Ukraine's parliament and presidency; he was defeated both times in 1994, being succeeded as president by Leonid Kuchma. After his presidency, Kravchuk remained active in Ukrainian politics, serving as a People's Deputy of Ukraine from 1994 to 2006. He joined the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united) in 1998 alongside other national communists, and supported Viktor Yanukovych in the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election and subsequent Orange Revolution. During the 2006 Ukrainian parliamentary election, he led the far-left, pro-Russian Ne Tak alliance, which failed to enter the Verkhovna Rada. Kravchuk later endorsed Yulia Tymoshenko for president and criticised Yanukovych as anti-democratic. From 2020 to 2022, he was Ukraine's representative to the Trilateral Contact Group, which sought to negotiate an end to the war in Donbas. During that time, both Kravchuk and his adviser, former Prime Minister Vitold Fokin, made controversial comments claiming Russia was uninvolved in the war.