Ludwig Chibirov

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Ludwig Chibirov
Order: 1st President
Took Office: September 17, 1993
Left Office: December 18, 2001
Predecessor: Torez Kulumbegov
Successor: Eduard Kokoity
Date of Birth: 1932
Place of Birth: unknown
Date of Death: N/A
Place of Death: N/A
Political party: none

Lyudvig Alekseyevich Chibirov was the Chairman of the Parliament and later, following inaugural elections the first President of South Ossetia, a de facto (though internationally unrecognized) independent state within the Republic of Georgia. Born in 1932, Chibirov is a former member of the South Ossetian Parliament. Prior to the elections in 1996, he had been South Ossetia's head of state since 1993. When the post of Chairman of the Parliament was abolished in favor of the presidency, Chibirov became the first occupant of the new office.

During the 1996 elections he received 65% of the vote and former Prime Minister Vladislav Gabaraev, who advocates South Ossetia's secession from the Republic of Georgia and its unification with North Ossetia, which is part of Russia, won about 20%. Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze blasted the elections calling them "unlawful."

In the next elections in 2001, the 69 year old Chibirov would receive less than 20% of the votes, while Stanislav Kochiev came in second with 25%, and the 38 year old, Eduard Kokoity (Kokoyev) won with more than 48% of the vote.