Yuriy Luzhkov
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Yury Mikhaylovich Luzhkov (Russian: Ю́рий Миха́йлович Лужко́в) (born September 21, 1936 in Moscow, Russia, USSR) is a Russian political figure. He has served as mayor of Moscow since 1992. Luzhkov is a chairman and one of founders of the ruling United Russia party.
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[edit] Family
His father, Mikhail Andreyevich Luzhkov, was a woodworker who moved to Moscow from a small village in Tver Oblast in the 1930s. His mother Anna Petrovna was originally from Bashkiria.
[edit] Professional career
From 1953 to 1958, Luzhkov studied at the Gubkin Moscow Petrochemical & Gas Industry Institute. From 1958 until 1964, he worked as a scientific researcher in the Moscow Scientific Research Institute of Plastics. He joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in 1968. For the next 20 years he worked on automation initiatives in various sectors of the chemical industry (1964-1971: management automation department chief, State Chemistry Committee; 1971-1974: automated management systems department chief, Chemical Industry Ministry of the Soviet Union; 1974-1980: CEO, Experimental Design Office of Automation, Chemical Industry Ministry of the Soviet Union; 1980-1986: CEO, Scientific-Industrial Association "Petrochemautomation".)
[edit] Political career
He was first appointed as a member of the Moscow city council (Mossovet) in 1977, and in 1987 transferred to the executive branch of the Moscow city government (Mosgorispolkom). He held different positions, usually one level below the Mayor.
In 1991, Gavriil Popov was elected Mayor of Moscow in the first open free elections. However, according to the official version, Popov was not an experienced administrator, but rather a university professor whose popularity stemmed from his pro-democracy speeches and articles[citation needed]. Popov resigned in June 1992.
Luzhkov, who held the position of Chairman of the Moscow city government at the time (i.e. head executive branch of the City Council), was appointed Mayor by Boris Yeltsin on June 6, 1992. Luzhkov gained more popular support among Muscovites than Popov. His policies included providing free transportation to the elderly and a strong encouragement of business enterpreneurship. He was first elected as Mayor on June 16, 1996 (winning 95% of the vote), and re-elected on December 19, 1999 (69.9% of the votes) and again on December 7, 2003 (75% of the votes).
In 1998, as Boris Yeltsin's political troubles grew, Luzhkov formed his own national political faction, Otechestvo (Fatherland), to serve as his base for the upcoming presidential election. Otechestvo had the support of many powerful regional politicians[citation needed], and it gained further support when it merged with another party, Vsya Rossiya (All Russia) to form Otechestvo-Vsya Rossiya. Many observers of Russian politics believed[citation needed] that Luzhkov and his new ally, former prime minister Yevgeniy Primakov, would be likely to displace both Yeltsin and his inner circle in the parliamentary and presidential elections due to be held in late 1999 and mid-2000, respectively.
However, Luzhkov's fortunes turned when Boris Yeltsin appointed Vladimir Putin as Chairman of the Russian Government (predsedatel', or prime minister) in August 1999. While virtually an unknown when first appointed, observers of Russian politics argued[citation needed] that Putin rapidly gained popular support due to a hard-line law and order image and the backing of powerful state-owned and state-allied media and economic interests. The hard-fought autumn 1999 Duma campaign ended up with Otechestvo-Vsya Rossiya only at 3rd place. Compromissing, Luzhkov and his party accepted integration with pro-Putin Unity party into single party United Russia, and supported Putin in the 2000 presidential elections, which he won easily. Though still a co-chairman of United Russia, in latest years Luzhkov became less active in federal politics.
[edit] Registration controversy
In the Soviet Union every citizen was required permission to settle in certain urban areas, such as Moscow, as the government wanted to limit the inflow into the big cities. The post-Soviet Russian constitution granted every Russian citizen freedom of movement. Luzhkov restricted this right by maintaining a registration process which conflicted with the clause stating that "Everyone who is lawfully staying on the territory of the Russian Federation shall have the right to freedom of movement and to choose the place to stay and reside".
His rationale has been that Moscow's city infrastructure could not handle a rapidly growing population. Under Luzhkov's registration regime, unregistered residents have trouble getting legal employment and are regularly harassed by the police[citation needed]. Moscow police can stop any person without explaining the reason and ask that person to show his/her ID. Some of the most blatant limitations were removed by the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court after a long fight with Luzhkov's lawyers, making the registration process somewhat simpler. Now a person can spend 90 days in Moscow without any registration.
[edit] Personal
Luzhkov married his first wife, Marina Bashilova, in 1958, and had two sons with her, Mikhail and Aleksandr. Bashilova died from liver cancer in 1989. He married his second wife, Yelena Baturina, in 1991. They have two daughters, Alyona (born 1992) and Olga (born 1994). Luzhkov frequently appears in public at different festivals and celebrations, and is an enthusiastic promoter of the city. His hobbies include tennis and bee-keeping. His support for physical fitness is well known, and a statue of the mayor in tennis garb was erected recently in a Moscow park.
[edit] External links
- (Russian) Luzhkov's official site
- CityMayors feature
| Preceded by Gavriil Popov |
Mayor of Moscow 1992– |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Luzhkov, Yury Mikhaylovich |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Ю́рий Миха́йлович Лужко́в (Russian) |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Mayor of Moscow |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 21, 1936 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Moscow, Russia |
| DATE OF DEATH | living |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
