Boris Yeltsin

I can't let the passing of Boris Yeltsin go un-noticed on this blog. I was listening to various politicians wax lyrical about President Yeltsin on the radio last night. Douglas Hurd described him as "not having a great intellect.". Hmm, way to go Douglas, you certainly picked your words well. Isn't there something about not speaking ill of the dead?

I'll always remember Yeltsin. I studied East European Studies while he was in the Kremlin. In fact, his stand against the Soviet authorities in 1991 was one of the influences on my decision to go to SSEES in the first place.

Don't get me wrong, I admire the decision that Gorbachev took to modernise the Soviet Union and break with years of hardline dogma, but Yeltsin made Sovio-Russian history interesting again. Standing on the tank facing down the military during the attempted coup of 1991 will be one of the enduring memories on the 20th Century for me.For me, during the course of my studies, Yeltsin was a larger-than-life figure who dragged a country to the edge of the 21st Century with some radical reforms which didn't always work, and faced down a second coup when Congress tried to impeach him. It's a pity we don't have many politicians with his passion and drive in power now.

Boris Yeltsin 1931 - 2007