Alexei Navalny: Russian Opposition Leader and Anti-Corruption Campaigner

Alexei Navalny was a Russian opposition leader, lawyer and anti-corruption activist, and the best-known critic of President Vladimir Putin. Born on June 4, 1976, in Butyn, near Moscow, he qualified as a lawyer and studied at Yale as a World Fellow in 2010.

Navalny founded the Anti-Corruption Foundation in 2011 and popularized the phrase "party of crooks and thieves" for the ruling United Russia party. He finished second in the 2013 Moscow mayoral election with about 27 percent of the vote and was barred from the 2018 presidential election. A 2021 film about an alleged palace built for Putin drew more than 92 million views on YouTube within a week.

In August 2020 Navalny was poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent and treated in Germany. He returned to Russia in January 2021 and was arrested at the airport, and was later sentenced to prison terms totalling more than 30 years. He received the Sakharov Prize and was recognized by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience. He was married to Yulia Navalnaya and had two children. Russian authorities said he died on February 16, 2024, at age 47, at an Arctic penal colony.

Achievements: Founded the Anti-Corruption Foundation (2011), second in the Moscow mayoral election (2013), survived Novichok poisoning (2020), Sakharov Prize.

Birth: June 4, 1976 - Butyn, Moscow Oblast, Russia.

Profession: Opposition leader, lawyer and activist.

Interesting Facts: He was half Russian and half Ukrainian. His memoir, Patriot, was published after his death.