Leonid Kravchuk facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Leonid Kravchuk
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Леонід Кравчук
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Kravchuk in 1991
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| 1st President of Ukraine | |
| In office 5 December 1991 – 19 July 1994 Acting: 24 August – 5 December 1991 |
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| Prime Minister | |
| Preceded by | Himself (as Chairman of the Supreme Soviet) |
| Succeeded by | Leonid Kuchma |
| 1st Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada | |
| In office 24 August 1991 – 5 December 1991 |
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| Preceded by | Himself (as Chairman of the Supreme Soviet) |
| Succeeded by | Ivan Plyushch |
| Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR | |
| In office 23 July 1990 – 24 August 1991 |
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| Preceded by | Vladimir Ivashko |
| Succeeded by | Himself (as Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada and President of Ukraine) |
| Member of the Secretariat of the Communist Party of Ukraine | |
| In office 4 June 1988 – 5 December 1990 |
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| People's Deputy of Ukraine | |
| In office 15 May 1990 – 5 December 1991 |
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| Constituency | Vinnytsia Oblast, No. 39 (1990–1991) |
| In office 25 September 1994 – 25 May 2006 |
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| Constituency | Ternopil Oblast, No. 364 (1994–1998) SDPU(o), No. 1 (1998–2002) SDPU(o), No. 5 (2002–2006) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 10 January 1934 Żytyń Wielki, Wołyń Voivodeship, Second Polish Republic (now Velykyi Zhytyn, Rivne Oblast, Ukraine) |
| Died | 10 May 2022 (aged 88) Munich, Bavaria, Germany |
| Resting place | Baikove Cemetery, Kyiv, Ukraine |
| Political party | Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united) (1994–2009) |
| Other political affiliations |
Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1958–1991) Independent (1991–1994) |
| Spouse |
Antonina Mykhailivna Mishura
(m. 1957) |
| Children | 1 |
| Residences | Koncha-Zaspa, Kyiv, Ukraine |
| Alma mater | Kyiv State University (1958) Academy of Social Sciences of CPSU (1970) |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Signature |  |
Leonid Makarovych Kravchuk (Ukrainian: Леонід Макарович Кравчук; born 10 January 1934 – died 10 May 2022) was a Ukrainian politician. He was the first President of Ukraine, serving from 1991 to 1994.
In 1992, he signed an agreement called the Lisbon Protocol. This agreement meant Ukraine would give up its nuclear weapons. He also served as the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament) and was a member of parliament for the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united).
After some political challenges, Kravchuk stepped down as president. He ran for president again in 1994 but lost to Leonid Kuchma, who had been his prime minister. Even after his presidency, Kravchuk stayed active in Ukrainian politics. He continued to serve as a member of parliament and led a group in the parliament from 2002 to 2006.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Leonid Makarovych Kravchuk was born on 10 January 1934. His family were farmers in the village of Velykyi Zhytyn. At that time, this village was part of Poland. It became part of Ukraine in 1939, when Leonid was a child. His father served in the Polish army and later worked on farms. During World War II, Leonid's father died fighting in the war.
In 1957, Kravchuk married Antonina Mykhailivna Mishura, who was a mathematics teacher.
Kravchuk first went to a vocational school. Then, he studied political economy at Kyiv University. After graduating at age 24, he taught political economy in Chernivtsi, a city in southwest Ukraine. In 1958, he joined the Communist Party of Ukraine. He moved up in the party's ranks, working in their information department.
Becoming President
Chairman of the Supreme Soviet
In 1989, Leonid Kravchuk became a member of the Ukrainian Communist Party Bureau. On 23 July 1990, he became the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR. This made him the official head of the republic. By October 1990, the Communist Party of Ukraine no longer had all the power. This meant Kravchuk became the true leader of Ukraine.
After a failed attempt to remove Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev from power in August 1991, Kravchuk left the Communist Party. On 24 August, the Ukrainian parliament passed the Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine. This act created the position of President of Ukraine. Before this vote, Kravchuk played a key role in convincing the communist members of parliament to support Ukraine's independence.
First President of Ukraine
After the Declaration of Independence, Kravchuk was given presidential powers. This made him the leader of the new, independent Ukraine. On 5 December 1991, people in Ukraine voted for him to be their president in Ukraine's first presidential election. On the same day, most voters chose for Ukraine to leave the Soviet Union. Kravchuk fully supported this decision. This made him the first leader of an independent Ukraine.
As President, Kravchuk worked to make Ukraine a truly independent country. He focused on building relationships with Western countries. He also signed an agreement for cooperation with the European Union.
One important agreement Kravchuk signed was the Budapest Memorandum. This document was signed on 5 December 1994. In it, Ukraine, which had nuclear weapons at the time, agreed to give them up. In return, other countries promised to protect Ukraine's safety.
Ukraine and Russia had disagreements, for example, about how to divide the Soviet Navy's Black Sea Fleet. In May 1992, Russia's parliament said that the 1954 decision to give Crimea to Ukraine was illegal. Ukraine disagreed with this.
During Kravchuk's time as president, Ukraine's economy faced difficulties. There were problems with the economy, and this made Kravchuk less popular. In 1993, the prime minister, Leonid Kuchma, resigned. By 1994, Ukraine's economy had shrunk a lot.
Kravchuk ran for a second term as president in 1994. However, he was defeated by his former Prime Minister, Leonid Kuchma. His loss was partly due to the economic problems and concerns about how the country was being run.
After the Presidency
After losing the election in 1994, Kravchuk joined the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united) (SDPU(o)). He continued to serve as a member of the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) from 1994 until 2006.
During the 2004 presidential elections, Kravchuk strongly supported Viktor Yanukovych. He was part of the team that talked with the opposition after that election. In November 2004, he said he was worried that the political crisis could cause Ukraine to break apart.
On 25 September 2009, Kravchuk announced that he had left the SDPU(o) party. He said he disagreed with how the party decided to join another group for the 2010 presidential elections. He later supported Yulia Tymoshenko in the 2010 presidential elections. He explained that he changed his mind because he felt Yanukovych had not addressed important issues like the Ukrainian language and culture.
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In July 2020, Kravchuk was chosen to represent Ukraine in the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine. This group was formed to help find a peaceful solution to the conflict in the Donbass region. He held this position until February 2022.
Death and Funeral
Leonid Kravchuk had heart surgery in June 2021 and was in poor health. He missed an important meeting of the Verkhovna Rada due to his surgery. He spent time in intensive care.
On 10 May 2022, Leonid Kravchuk died in Germany at the age of 88 after a long illness. His death was confirmed by Ukrainian officials. He died a week after Stanislav Shushkevich, another person who signed the agreement to end the Soviet Union. On 11 May, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy created the Kravchuk Prize in his memory.
His funeral was held on 17 May at the Ukrainian House in Kyiv. Many important people attended, including President Zelenskyy and three former presidents of Ukraine. He was buried at Baikove Cemetery.
Personal Life
Kravchuk was married to Antonina Mykhailivna Kravchuk since 1957. They had one child, a son named Oleksandr Leonidovych Kravchuk. Leonid Kravchuk also had two grandchildren and one great-granddaughter. After he stopped working for the government, he lived in a state-owned home in Koncha-Zaspa.
Awards and Honors
Ukraine:
Hero of Ukraine (21 August 2001)
Honorary Diploma of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (2004)
Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th classes)
Order of Liberty (10 January 2014)
Medal of 25 Years of Ukrainian Independence (19 August 2016)- Medal for the Glory of Chernivtsi
- Winner of the Ukrainian Celebrity Awards 2020 in the category "Man of the Year"
- Honorary Doctorate from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
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Soviet Union:
Order of the October Revolution
Order of the Red Banner of Labour, twice
Legacy
Leonid Kravchuk is remembered as a very important person in Ukraine's history. He played a key role in Ukraine becoming an independent country. He is also known for helping Ukraine give up its nuclear weapons.
Stanislav Shushkevich, a former leader of Belarus, said that Kravchuk was very focused on Ukraine's independence. He was proud that Ukraine declared its independence and that he was elected president. Ukraine's Minister of Defense, Oleksii Reznikov, thanked Kravchuk for the peaceful renewal of Ukraine's independence. The head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, called Kravchuk "a wise patriot of Ukraine" and a "truly historical figure." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kravchuk was a man who knew how to speak wisely so that all Ukrainians would listen.
See also
In Spanish: Leonid Kravchuk para niños
