| Leonid Potapov | |
| Native Name Lang: | ru |
| Office1: | 1st President of Buryatia |
| Term Start1: | 1 July 1994 |
| Term End1: | 10 July 2007 |
| Successor1: | Vyacheslav Nagovitsyn |
| Office2: | Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Buryatia |
| Term Start2: | 21 October 1991 |
| Term End2: | 1 July 1994 |
| Predecessor2: | Sergey Buldayev |
| Successor2: | Mikhail Semyonov (as Chairman of the People's Khural) |
| Birth Date: | 4 July 1935 |
| Birth Place: | Uakit, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Death Place: | Ulan-Ude, Russia |
| Party: | Communist Party |
| Spouse: | Nina Potapova |
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.
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]