Alexander Lukashenko

Lukashenko married his childhood love, Galina Zhelnerovich, in 1975. The couple has two sons Viktor and Dmitry. Although still legally married, they have separated.

Lukashenko also has an illegitimate son named Nikolai. Although unconfirmed, it is suspected that Nikolai’s mother is Irina Abelskaya, who once served as Lukashenko's personal physician.

Alaxendar Lukashenko was born on August 30, 1954, in the settlement of Kopys in the Vitebsk voblast of the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. Lukashenko's father and mother never married; as a result he was ostracized and teased by his classmates during childhood.

A dedicated student of the philosophy of Vladimir Lenin, Lukashenko originally planned to become a political teacher, a prestigious position in the Soviet Union. He graduated from the Mogilev Pedagogical Institute in 1975 and the Belarusian Agricultural Academy in 1985.

He served in the Soviet Border Troops from 1975 to 1977 and in the Soviet Army from 1980 to 1982.

In 1982, he left the army and became the deputy chairman of a collective farm. Later on he became director of a state-owned agricultural plant and construction materials plant.

In 1990, Lukashenko was elected to the Supreme Soviet of Belarus, where he served as chairman of a key anti-corruption committee.

On July 10, 1994, after a grueling contest against five other more senior candidates, Alexander Lukashenko garnered 80.3% of the vote in the second-round to become the first president of independent Belarus.

Facing a possible impeachment in 1996, Lukashenko briefly disbanded the parliament before reconstituting it with more sympathetic deputies.

Although often derided as "Europe's last dictator", Alexander Lukashenko remains popular at home for his steady management of the country as Belarus emerged from being a minor appendage of the Soviet Union to become a key player in eastern European politics. While other leaders in neighboring post-Soviet countries have struggled to transition from classical authoritarian policies to free market economics and political debate that often culminate in revolutions and wide-scale civil unrest, Lukashenko has successfully managed to chart a middle course for Belarus.