Кирсан Илюмжинов

Former President of the Republic of Kalmykia Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was born in 1962 in Elista, the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Kalmykia. He was engaged in chess from an early age and became the Kalmyk chess champion at the age of 14. After graduating from secondary school, he worked at a factory for 1 year, then served in the army from 1980 to 1982. After being discharged from the army, he worked as a mechanic at a factory for another year. Graduated from the Moscow State University of International Relations in 1983-1989. In 1989-1990, he worked as a sales manager at the Russian-Japanese joint venture "Liko-Raduga". From 1990 to 1993, he was the president of the Moscow "SAN Corporation". In 1990, he was elected a member of the People's Deputies of Russia. On April 12, 1993, he was elected the first President of the Republic of Kalmykia, and in December of the same year, he won the elections to the Federation Council and became a member of the Upper House of Parliament. On October 15, 1995, he was re-elected President. In the same year, he was elected President of the International Chess Federation, a position he still holds. On October 22, 2010, he resigned from the post of President of Kalmykia.