| Putin | |
| Native Name: | Путин |
| Native Name Lang: | Russian |
| Origin: | Tver, Tsardom of Russia |
| Founded: | 17th century |
The family of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has served in office from 2000 to 2008 and since 2012, comes from the Russian peasantry. Spiridon Putin (1879–1965) was a cook in Gorky (now known as Nizhny Novgorod), his son Vladimir Spiridonovich (1911–1999) participated in World War II, and grandson Vladimir Vladimirovich (born 1952) made a career in the KGB and the FSB, before being appointed chairman of the Russian government in 1999 and becoming president.[1] [2] In 1983, Putin married Lyudmila Aleksandrovna Shkrebneva, who gave birth to two daughters, Maria (1985) and Katerina (1986). They divorced in 2014.[3]
Putins and related families (Shelomovs, Chursanovs, Buyanovs, Fomins and others) have been peasants of the Tver district since at least the 17th century. The earliest known ancestor of Vladimir Putin was mentioned in 1627–1628 in the scribe book of this county – this is Yakov Nikitin, the bean of the village of Borodino, the parish of the village of Turginovo, the estate of the boyar Ivan Nikitich Romanov (Uncle of Tsar Michael Fedorovich).[4]
In 1983, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin married Lyudmila Alexandrovna Shkrebneva (later a graduate of the philological faculty of Leningrad University, a teacher of German). In 1985, a daughter, Maria, was born in this family, and in 1986 they had a second daughter, Katerina (both were named after their grandmothers). They studied at the St. Petersburg private gymnasium Petershule (Peterschule) with in-depth study of the German language, then for two years – in Moscow at the Haas School at the German Embassy.
Since 2000, for safety reasons, Putin's daughters have completely switched to homeschooling. It is known that they take fitness and wushu classes, and that they are fluent in English, German, and French. Katerina also knows Korean.[5]
On 6 June 2013, Putin and Lyudmila announced that they were planning to divorce; on 1 April 2014, their marriage was formally annulled.[6] [7] [8]