Leonid Makarovich Kravchuk (born 1934) - Soviet and Ukrainian party, state and political leader, 1st president of independent Ukraine (1991-1994). People's Deputy of the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada of 1-4 convocations. Member of the CPSU (1958-1991) and member of the SDPU (u) in 1998-2009, candidate of economic sciences.
There are many interesting facts in the biography of Kravchuk, which we will talk about in this article.
So, before you is a short biography of Leonid Kravchuk.
Biography of Kravchuk
Leonid Kravchuk was born on January 10, 1934 in the village of Veliky Zhitin, located not far from Rovno. He grew up in a simple peasant family of Makar Alekseevich and his wife Efimia Ivanovna.
When the future president was about 7 years old, the Great Patriotic War broke out (1941-1945), as a result of which Kravchuk Sr. was sent to the front. The man died in 1944 and was buried in a mass grave in Belarus. Over time, Leonid's mother remarried.
After school, the young man successfully passed the exams at the local trade and cooperative technical school. He received high marks in all disciplines, which is why he graduated with honors from an educational institution.
Then Leonid Kravchuk became a student of the Kiev State University with a degree in Political Economy. Here he was entrusted with the position of the Komsomol organizer of the course, but a year later he refused it, since he did not want to "dance to the tune" of the party organizer.
According to Kravchuk, during his student years he had to earn money as a loader. And yet, he considers that time period one of the happiest in his biography.
Career and politics
Having become a certified specialist, Leonid began teaching at the Chernivtsi Financial College, where he worked for about 2 years. From 1960 to 1967 he was a consultant methodologist at the House of Political Education.
The guy gave lectures and headed the department of agitation and propaganda of the Chernivtsi Regional Committee of the Communist Party. In 1970, he successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis on the essence of profit under socialism.
In the next 18 years, Kravchuk was rapidly moving up the career ladder. As a result, by 1988 he rose to the post of head of the propaganda department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine. An interesting fact is that when a politician came to visit his mother, who was a devout woman, he sat in front of the icons at her request.
In the 80s, Leonid Makarovich participated in the writing of several books devoted to the ideology, economic achievements of the Soviet people, patriotism and the inviolability of the USSR. In the late 80s on the pages of the newspaper "Evening Kiev", he began an open discussion with supporters of Ukraine's independence.
During the biography 1989-1991. Kravchuk held high government positions: member of the Politburo, 2nd secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine, deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR and member of the CPSU. After the famous August putsch, the politician left the ranks of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, signing on August 24, 1991 the Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine.
From that moment, Leonid Kravchuk became the chairman of the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada. A week later, he ordered to ban the activities of the Communist Party in the state, thanks to which he made a career.
President of Ukraine
Leonid Makarovich held the presidency for 2.5 years. He went to the elections as a non-partisan candidate. The man enlisted the support of more than 61% of Ukrainians, as a result of which he became the president of Ukraine on December 1, 1991.
A week after his election, Kravchuk signed the Belovezhskaya Agreement on the termination of the existence of the USSR. Besides him, the document was signed by the President of the RSFSR Boris Yeltsin and the head of Belarus Stanislav Shushkevich.
According to political experts, it was Leonid Kravchuk who was the main initiator of the collapse of the USSR. It is worth noting that this statement was actually confirmed by the ex-president himself, having said that the Ukrainian people became the "gravedigger" of the Soviet Union.
Kravchuk's presidency has received mixed reviews. Among his achievements are the independence of Ukraine, the development of a multi-party system and the adoption of the Land Code. Among the failures are the economic downturn and the impoverishment of Ukrainians.
Due to the growing crisis in the state, Leonid Makarovich agreed to early elections, the winner of which was Leonid Kuchma. An interesting fact is that Kuchma will become the only president in the history of independent Ukraine who has served for 2 terms.
After the presidency
Kravchuk was elected three times (in 1994, 1998 and 2002) as a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada. In the period 1998-2006. he was a member of the leadership of the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine.
After the annexation of Crimea to Russia, the politician often said that the Ukrainians should have fought the invader. In 2016, he proposed granting autonomy to the peninsula as part of Ukraine, and Donbass a "special status".
Personal life
Leonid Kravchuk is married to Antonina Mikhailovna, whom he met in his student years. Young people got married in 1957.
It is worth noting that the chosen one of the ex-president is a candidate of economic sciences. In this union, the couple had a boy, Alexander. Today Alexander is in business.
According to Kravchuk, every day he uses 100 g of vodka "for health", and also goes to the bathhouse weekly. In the summer of 2011, he underwent surgery to improve his vision by replacing the lens of his left eye.
In 2017, the politician removed plaque from the vessels. It is curious that in one of the interviews he joked that the operations and other medical interventions performed are comparable to a routine technical inspection. Over the years of his biography, Kravchuk became the author of over 500 articles.
Leonid Kravchuk today
Leonid Kravchuk is still involved in politics, commenting on various events both in Ukraine and in the world. He is particularly worried about the annexation of Crimea and the situation in Donbass.
It is worth noting that the man is a supporter of establishing a dialogue between Kiev and representatives of the LPR / DPR, since they are participants in the Minsk agreements. He has an official website and a Facebook page.
Kravchuk Photos
