Boris Yeltsin: First President of Russia Dies at 76

Boris Yeltsin was the first president of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999. Born on February 1, 1931, in Butka, in the Urals, he rose through the Communist Party in Sverdlovsk.

He was a reform ally of Mikhail Gorbachev who broke with the party. In August 1991 Yeltsin stood atop a tank to defy a coup attempt against Gorbachev, and by the end of the year the Soviet Union had dissolved. His presidency brought a turbulent shift to a market economy, a constitutional crisis in 1993 and the war in Chechnya.

Yeltsin resigned on December 31, 1999, handing power to Vladimir Putin. He died of congestive heart failure in Moscow on April 23, 2007, at age 76. He received the first state funeral for a Russian leader since 1894 in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.

Achievements: President of Russia (1991-1999).

Birth: February 1, 1931 - Butka, Russia.

Profession: Politician.

Interesting Facts: He survived multiple heart surgeries while in office.