Leonid Makarovich Kravchuk is the first president of Ukraine after the restoration of independence (1991 – 1994), chairman of the Verkhovna Rada and the last chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian SSR (1990 – 1991), deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian SSR of the X-XI convocations, People’s Deputy of Ukraine (1990 – 1991 and 1994 – 2006).
Place of Birth, Education
He was born on January 10, 1934 in the village of Velykyi Zhytyn, Rivne region.
He received his higher education in 1958, graduating from Taras Shevchenko Kyiv State University. He is an economist by profession and a teacher of political economy.
From 1967 to 1970, he studied at the postgraduate school of the Academy of Social Sciences under the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in Moscow.
He has a PhD in Economics.
Career
From 1958 he was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU).
In the period from 1958 to 1960, he taught political economy at the Chernivtsi Financial College.
Then, from 1960 to 1967, he was a consultant-methodologist of the House of Political Education, lecturer, assistant secretary, and also headed the propaganda and agitation department of the Chernivtsi Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine (CPU).
From 1970 to 1980, he held a number of positions in the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine: he headed the retraining sector of the Department of Organizational and Party Work, worked as an inspector, assistant secretary of the Central Committee, and first deputy head of the department. Since 1980, he headed the agitation and propaganda department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine.
In June 1982, while serving as head of the propaganda and agitation department, Kravchuk sent a memorandum to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine on measures to counteract the so-called “Eastern policy” of the Vatican in the western regions of Ukraine. In particular, he proposed to form special groups to analyze the preaching activities of clergy, to conduct inspections of churches and cemeteries in order to identify and eliminate “Uniate-nationalist symbols”, as well as to identify persons with “pro-Uniate sentiments” and implement other organizational and ideological measures.
In the period from 1981 to 1991, he was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine.
During 1988-1990 he headed the ideological department, from October 1989 he held the position of secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, and in 1990 he became the second secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine.
In the period from 1989 to 1990, Kravchuk was a candidate member of the Politburo, and from 1990 to 1991 he was a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine.
In 1989, he advocated the adoption of a resolution of the Politburo to ban the People’s Movement of Ukraine, but the initiative was not supported.
He was a People’s Deputy of Ukraine of the X-XIV convocations, including I-IV.
In the period from 1990 to 1991, he served as Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada.
On December 1, 1991, in the first direct presidential elections, he waselected President of Ukraine, receiving 61.6% of the vote.
During the early presidential elections of 1994, in the second round he lost to Leonid Kuchma, gaining 45.1% of the vote.
Also, since 1994, he has been the honorary chairman of the All-Ukrainian Foundation for the Promotion of International Communication “Ukrainian People’s Embassy”.
Further career
After the end of his presidential term in 1994, Krachuk was elected a people’s deputy in the by-elections in the Terebovlia majoritarian district of the Ternopil region.
In 1998, while remaining non-partisan, he headed the electoral list of the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (United) (SDPU(o)). On the eve of the vote, he joined a political force.
Since October 1998, he was a member of the Politburo and the Political Council of the SDPU(o), and from 2002 to 2006 he headed the parliamentary faction of the SDPU(o) in the Rada.
Since 1999, he has been a co-chairman of the All-Ukrainian Union of Democratic Forces “Zlagoda”.
In 2006, he headed the electoral list of the opposition bloc “Not Like That”, but according to the results of the parliamentary elections, the political force did not overcome the 3% barrier, winning 1.1% of the vote.
In November 2004, he was deprived of the title of Honorary Doctor of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy because of his “uncivil position during the Orange Revolution.”
Since 2011, he has held the position of Honorary President of the Perspective Ukraine Foundation.
In July 2020, on a voluntary basis, he became the head of the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group on the settlement of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in Donbas.
Books and publications
He is the author of the books “State and Power: Experience of Administrative Reform” and “We Have What We Have”.
He also wrote more than 500 publications that were published in Ukrainian and foreign publications.
Marital Status
He was married to Antonina Mykhailivna, who worked as an associate professor at the Faculty of Economics of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
The couple has a son, Alexander.
State awards
Among the awards of Leonid Kravchuk:
- August 21, 2001 – the title of Hero of Ukraine with the Order of the State;
- August 21, 1996 – Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, V degree;
- January 10, 1999 – Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, IV degree;
- January 10, 2004 – Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, III degree;
- January 9, 2007 – Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, II degree;
- January 10, 2014 – Order of Freedom;
- August 19, 2016 – Award of the President of Ukraine – Jubilee Medal “25 Years of Independence of Ukraine”;
- July 16, 2020 – Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, I degree.
Also noted:
- the Order of the October Revolution;
- the Order of the Red Banner of Labor;
- medal “For the glory of Chernivtsi”.
In addition, he was a laureate of the “Celebrity Awards 2020” in the nomination “Person of the Year”
Death/Fatalities
He passed away on May 10, 2022 at the age of 89 due to a long illness.
