Kirsan Ilyumzhinov
| Kirsan Ilyumzhinov Кирсан Илюмжинов |
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| 1st President of Kalmykia | |
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In office 23 April 1993 – 24 Oct 2010 |
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| Preceded by | Post established |
| Succeeded by | Aleksey Orlov |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
April 5, 1962 Elista, Kalmyk ASSR, USSR |
| Nationality | Russian |
| Political party | United Russia |
| Spouse(s) | Danar Davashkina |
| Profession | Businessman |
| Religion | Buddhism |
Kirsan Nikolayevich Ilyumzhinov (Russian: Кирса́н Никола́евич Илюмжи́нов; Kalmyk Oirat: Үлмҗин Кирсән, Ülmjin Kirsän; Oirat: Үлүмҗин Кирсан, Ülümjin Kirsan; Mongolian: Үлэмжийн Хярсан, Ülemjín Hĭarsan; born April 5, 1962) is a Kalmyk multi-millionaire businessman and politician. He was the President of the Republic of Kalmykia in the Russian Federation from 1993 to 2010, and he has been the President of FIDE, the international governing body for the game of chess, since 1995. He has also been in the forefront of promoting chess in schools in Russia and overseas. He is the founder of Novy Vzglyad publishing house.
On November 25, 2015, the United States Department of the Treasury named him a Specially Designated National "for materially assisting and acting for or on behalf of the Government of Syria, Central Bank of Syria, Adib Mayaleh, and Batoul Rida." Due to these sanctions, on December 6, 2015, Ilyumzhinov withdrew from any legal, financial and business operations of FIDE until such time as he is removed from the list.
Ilyumzhinov was born in Elista, Kalmykia. His parents were subject to the Kalmyk deportations of 1943 when the entire Kalmyk population was deported to Siberia - Kirsan's own family had an impeccable record fighting the Germans (he was named after a great-uncle who served in the Red Army during the Russian Civil War and committed suicide after having been ordered to execute large numbers of captured Whites). He grew up in Elista, after the Kalmyks were allowed to return following Stalin's death. From a young age he became interested in chess, and he won the Kalmykian national chess championship in 1976 at the age of 14. From 1979 to 1980 Ilyumzhinov worked as a mechanic-fitter at the Zvezda plant in Elista. After two years in compulsory national service for the Soviet Army, he returned to the plant as a mechanic for a year, and then studied at the Moscow State Institute of Foreign Relations from 1983 to 1989. Between 1989 and 1990 he was a sales manager for the Soviet-Japanese automobile company "Liko-Raduga" in Moscow, and from 1990 until 1993 he was President of SAN Corporation in Moscow. Ilyumzhinov acquired his wealth with the emergence of the private sector which followed the collapse of the USSR. Kirsan is married to Danara Ilyumzhinova (née Davashkina) and they have one son, David. Ilyumzhinov also has two brothers, Sanal and Vyacheslav.
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