Leonid Potapov

Russian politician (1935–2020)

Леонид Потапов

Potapov in 2004

1st President of BuryatiaIn office
1 July 1994 – 10 July 2007Succeeded byVyacheslav NagovitsynChairman of the Supreme Soviet of BuryatiaIn office
21 October 1991 – 1 July 1994Preceded bySergey BuldayevSucceeded byMikhail Semyonov (as Chairman of the People's Khural) Personal detailsBorn(1935-07-04)4 July 1935
Uakit, Russian SFSR, Soviet UnionDied12 November 2020(2020-11-12) (aged 85)
Ulan-Ude, RussiaPolitical partyCommunist PartySpouseNina PotapovaAwards

Leonid Vasilyevich Potapov (Russian: Леони́д Васи́льевич Пота́пов; 4 July 1935 – 12 November 2020) was the President of the Buryat Republic in Russia^[1] from August 1991 to July 2007. He was reelected three times (in 1994, 1998 and 2002); in 2002 he received 68% of the vote.

Biography

Potapov was born in Uakit, Buryatia. In 1959 he graduated as an Engineer from Khabarovsk Institute of Railway Transport. From January to April 1990 he was nominal Vice President (Vice Chairman of Supreme Council) of Turkmen SSR. In April 1990 he returned to Buryatia and was nominated as a local communist party chief (1st secretary of CPSU Buryatian branch). In October 1991 he became Chairman of the Supreme Council.

He died from COVID-19 on 12 November 2020, aged 85.^[2]

Honours and awards

Order "For Merit to the Fatherland";
- 3rd class (7 August 2007) - for outstanding contribution to strengthening Russian statehood and many years of diligent work
- 4th class (11 May 1998) - for outstanding contribution to the socio-economic development of the republic, strengthening friendship and cooperation between nations
Order of Friendship (26 June 1995) - for services to the state, achievements in work and significant contribution in strengthening friendship and cooperation among peoples and selfless actions in rescuing the dying
Order of the October Revolution
Order of the Red Banner of Labour
Order of the Badge of Honour
Distinguished Engineer of the Buryat ASSR
Honorary citizen of the city of Ulan-Ude
Honorary Professor of the Buryat State University, Modern University for the Humanities, Irkutsk State University, Irkutsk State Technical University and the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics