Lyudmila Putina
Encyclopedia
Lyudmila Aleksandrovna Putina ' onMouseout='HidePop("66986")' href="/topics/Kaliningrad">Kaliningrad
, Soviet Union
) is the wife of former Russia
n President
and current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
.
She married Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin on July 28, 1983; they have two daughters, Maria, born 1985 and Yekaterina (Katja) (born 1986 in Dresden
). The daughters attended the German School in Moscow (Deutsche Schule Moskau) until Putin's appointment as Prime Minister in 1999.
for the Kaliningrad branch of Aeroflot
. In 1986 Putina graduated from the Branch of Spanish language
and philology
of the Department of Philology of Leningrad State University, where in 1990–1994 she in turn taught German
. For a few years until 1999 she was a Moscow representative of the JSC Telecominvest.
Following tradition, Putina maintains a low profile on the Russian political stage, generally avoiding the limelight except as required by protocol and restricting her public role to supportive statements about her husband.
Putina is a curator of a fund aimed to develop the Russian language
and sometimes produces statements concerning Russian language and education
. Her preference for "maintaining and preserving" the Russian language has led her to make public statements against orthographic reform. The Russian Academy of Science sponsored a commission to study the orthography of the Russian language
and propose reforms
. Their recommendations were made public in 2002 after eight years of work, but were subsequently shot down by Putina, who used Russia's burgeoning economy as one of her reasons why the orthographic reform was not just unnecessary but untimely. However, although one newspaper in Moscow accused "Lyudmila Putina de facto cancelled any attempts to reform spelling," the fact remains that public and academic reaction to the reforms were sufficiently negative to have that particular reform attempt abandoned.
.
Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad is a seaport and the administrative center of Kaliningrad Oblast, the Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea...
, Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
) is the wife of former Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n President
President of the Russian Federation
The President of the Russian Federation is the head of state, supreme commander-in-chief and holder of the highest office within the Russian Federation...
and current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
.
She married Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin on July 28, 1983; they have two daughters, Maria, born 1985 and Yekaterina (Katja) (born 1986 in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
). The daughters attended the German School in Moscow (Deutsche Schule Moskau) until Putin's appointment as Prime Minister in 1999.
Career
In her early years she was a flight attendantFlight attendant
Flight attendants or cabin crew are members of an aircrew employed by airlines primarily to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers aboard commercial flights, on select business jet aircraft, and on some military aircraft.-History:The role of a flight attendant derives from that of similar...
for the Kaliningrad branch of Aeroflot
Aeroflot
OJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines , commonly known as Aeroflot , is the flag carrier and largest airline of the Russian Federation, based on passengers carried per year...
. In 1986 Putina graduated from the Branch of Spanish language
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
and philology
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
of the Department of Philology of Leningrad State University, where in 1990–1994 she in turn taught German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
. For a few years until 1999 she was a Moscow representative of the JSC Telecominvest.
Following tradition, Putina maintains a low profile on the Russian political stage, generally avoiding the limelight except as required by protocol and restricting her public role to supportive statements about her husband.
Spelling reform
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
and sometimes produces statements concerning Russian language and education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
. Her preference for "maintaining and preserving" the Russian language has led her to make public statements against orthographic reform. The Russian Academy of Science sponsored a commission to study the orthography of the Russian language
Russian orthography
Russian orthography is formally considered to encompass spelling and punctuation . Russian spelling, which is quite phonemic in practice, is a mix of the morphological and phonetic principles, with a few etymological or historic forms, and occasional grammatical differentiation...
and propose reforms
Reforms of Russian orthography
The reform of Russian orthography refers to changes made to the Russian alphabet over the course of the history of the Russian language.- Early Changes :...
. Their recommendations were made public in 2002 after eight years of work, but were subsequently shot down by Putina, who used Russia's burgeoning economy as one of her reasons why the orthographic reform was not just unnecessary but untimely. However, although one newspaper in Moscow accused "Lyudmila Putina de facto cancelled any attempts to reform spelling," the fact remains that public and academic reaction to the reforms were sufficiently negative to have that particular reform attempt abandoned.
Religion
In 1993 in Kaliningrad she was involved in a life-threatening car accident and was seriously injured. After this she converted to the Orthodox faithRussian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
.