Boris Nikolayevitch Yeltsin was born on 1st February 1931 in the village of Butka in the Talitskiy district of the Sverdlovsk region of Russia. His father — Nikolay Ignatiyevitch — was a builder, his mother, Klavdiya Vasiliyevna — a seamstress. During the years of Stalin’s reign Yeltsin’s grandfather was sent away to a Gulag, his father and uncle were also subject to the unlawful repressions and were both sentenced to time in hard labour camps. In 1935 the family moved to Berezniki in the Perm region of Russia, where the young Boris attended the Pushkin High School.
Yeltsin continued his education at the Kirov Polytechnic Institute in Sverdlovsk (now the Ural Polytechnic Institute) where he specialised in «industrial and civil construction». Yeltsin excelled at the university, not only in his academic pursuits, but also in sports: he was part of the masters team in volleyball at the National Championship and trained the university women’s volleyball team.
It was at university that Yeltsin met his future wife Naina (Anastasia) Iosifovna Girina. Upon graduating in 1955, the young couple separated for a while, each leaving to practise their trades, but agreed to meet again in a year’s time. Te appointed meeting finally took place at the regional volleyball competition in Kuïbashev, after which Boris took his bride back to Sverdlovsk, where the wedding was soon held.
Professional Activities
Yeltsin’s professional career began in 1955 at the building trust Uraltyazhtrubstroi, where he started work as a foreman. The young man thought it wise to master a practical trade, so over the next few years he worked in turn as a mason, a concrete worker, a carpenter, a joiner, a glazier, a house-painter, a plasterer, and a crane operator. From 1957 to 1963 he was promoted from foreman, to construction site superintendent, to chief engineer, and then to chief of the Construction Directorate of the Yuzhgorstroi Trust. Yeltsin was soon made chief engineer of the Sverlovsk House-Building Combine and eventually its director.
His professional accomplishments and talent for organisation brought Yeltsin to the attention of the leaders of the Communist party and the second half of the 60s saw the dawning of his political career.
Yeltsin is tied to the region of Sverdlovsk by almost twenty years of intense and loyal service. What is more he spent at least half of this period at the head of the region’s political activities.
In 1968 he was appointed head of construction with the Sverdlovsk Regional Party Committee. 1975 saw his promotion to secretary of the regional committee in charge of the region’s industrial development, he became its first secretary in 1976. In 1981 he was made a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU).
The «Ural period» of the biography of Russia’s First President is marked by the economic and social flourishing of the region, which lead the way, both in the speed and scale, for Russian industrial and civil construction, for the reconstruction of local industry and the creation of a modern infrastructure. It is thanks to the initiative of Boris Nikolayevitch, that Sverdlovsk became one of the first few Russian cities after Moscow to get its very own metro system. Yeltsin’s constant attention and deep-rooted understanding of local issues made it possible to keep the agricultural sector on an even keel, in spite of the risky nature of farming in Central Ural. As the «chief of the region, as he was often referred to at the time, Yeltsin put emphasis on the personal aspect of politics, working closely with members of his local and regional community on issues of regional agriculture: every task had to have a personal dimension. What is more, he was always remained a strict, demanding and principled leader: this became known as a particular «Yeltsin style», which stemmed from a sense of internal organisation and focus on the bigger picture, from a firm professional foundation and most importantly from a deep understanding of life as a whole. The future president’s inherent ability to interact and guide large masses of people won the trust and respect of the people of Ural. However, the fame of Boris Nikolayevitch Yeltsin had already spread beyond the bounds of the region: a great stir had been caused in the country by a television program which aired on 18th December 1982, it was called «Boris Yeltsin, member of the Central Committee of the CPSU, delegate of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and first secretary of the CPSU Committee of Sverdlovsk Oblast, comments and answers the questions of the workers».
It was only natural that the perestroika would find a need for his professional knowledge, public authority and political potential and in 1985 Boris Yeltsin was invited to work in Moscow, at the central party offices; an invitation that he finally accepted after a time of serious consideration. In April 1985 he became the director of the department of construction of the Central Committee of the CPSU, and in July — the secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU on matters of construction.
