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Traditionally, in Russia there has been a very specific attitude towards the life's companion of leaders of countries. Either because the rulers were too far away from the people or because the people for one reason or the other were not interested in the spouse of the leader of a country, but the first lady was hardly noticed. Of course, people knew of their existence, and even they were occasionally seen clearly, but people were not really interested in them.
The situation began to change when Mikhail Gorbachev came to power. For example, Raisa Maksimovna Gorbacheva
suddenly noticed that near the Soviet rulers there are human beings and
real persons, and not just silent dummies. This pleasant trend
continued: Naina Yeltsina and Lyudmila Putina will certainly be
remembered throughout the country because each of them had their unique
personality. There are all the necessary prerequisites that Svetlana
Medvedeva, wife of the newly elected President Dmitry Medvedev, will
continue this worthy list.
The future First Lady was born on
March 15, 1965 in Kupchino in Leningrad region in a family of a
military personnel and received the last name Linnik. Indeed, the
biography of Svetlana Linnik is linked to the biography of Dmitry
Medvedev almost from the very beginning of life: in fact, they met
while as junior students in Kupchino high school #1. Of course, a
legend about love at first sight, and it could have been extremely
beautiful and romantic from the first class, but in reality everything
does not happen like it is in the spirit of novels about love.
Dmitry
Medvedev and Svetlana Linnik were familiar from childhood, they
maintained good relations, but according to eyewitnesses, romantic
feelings between the two did not break out at once. To be more
precisely, the future president during the school years had an interest
in the active and attractive girl, who was a brilliant student and, in
addition, was a team leader. However, nobody recollects Medvedev's any
serious courtship with Linnik who was enjoying great popularity. After
their graduation party at which Medvedev presented Svetlana with
flowers, their lives' paths diverged for a while along with their
careers. Dmitry Medvedev got admission into the Leningrad State
University, and Svetlana Linnik continued her education in an equally
prestigious university, which in 1982 when she was admitted, it was
called FINEK, but currently it is known as the St. Petersburg State
University of Economics and Finance.
Almost immediately after
getting admission, Svetlana chose the distance learning system, which
allowed her to start working before obtaining a degree from the Faculty
of Accounting, Statistics and Economic Analysis. Shortly after
receiving a higher education in 1989, there have been significant
changes in Svetlana Linnik's life: she changed her last name to
"Medvedeva", owing to that it is not difficult to guess she has got
married to Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev. Nevertheless, Medvedev won the
heart of the beautiful lady albeit a few years after the graduation.
After forming a family, Svetlana for some time worked by her
profession, at the sane time watching the career growth of her spouse.
From
the 90's, when Dmitry Medvedev taught at the university, Svetlana was
engaged in various public services. In 1996 Medvedev family witnessed
the most important event certainly for any family- the birth of their
son Ilya. Since then, for a while Svetlana has naturally reduced her
social activism, focusing her main attention and energy on the
upbringing of the child and the maintenance of the home.
After
a sharp career take-off by her spouse in the 2000's, which resulted to
relocating from the northern capital to the official and real capital,
Svetlana Medvedeva mastered new spheres of public activity. She
actively engaged in setting up cultural and tourism ties between Russia
and Italy and the different cities of both countries. The charity
project, which she started before the presidential time - without
considering the fact that under her care, there is one of the St.
Petersburg orphanages (which with her help received considerable
donations), more recently, she oversees her target program
"Spiritually-moral culture" of the younger generation of Russia with
the support from the Patriarch of Moscow and of All-Russia Alexius II.
Svetlana Medvedeva owing to personal qualities in a role of the first
lady seems to be more like Raisa Gorbacheva.
It is already
obvious that the active life position of the spouse of the new leader
of the country, her participation in cultural and social life of the
country, establishing links in the capital's elite. Of course, one can
hardly say that Svetlana Medvedeva will have some influence on the
president on government decisions. However, it is certain that there is
a strong personality near Medvedev.
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