叶尔钦(1931年～)
Yeltsin, Boris (Nikolayevich)
俄罗斯政治人物。1990～1999年为俄罗斯总统。曾在乌拉工业学院学习，1955～1968年在俄罗斯西部从事各种建筑工程。1976年成为斯维尔德洛夫斯克州中央委员会第一书记。此後，结识戈巴契夫。戈巴契夫派他整肃莫斯科党组织中的腐败现象，担任莫斯科市长（1985～1987）期间，他表现出是一个坚定干练的改革者。他批评改革速度缓慢，於是和戈巴契夫之间出现裂痕。叶尔钦被迫辞去职务。1989年被选入新的苏维埃议会。一年後，为俄罗斯共和国总统，并退出共产党。1991年获选连任，并成为俄罗斯史上第一位民选总统。当强硬派共产党人发动反戈巴契夫政变，被叶尔钦粉碎。他宣布独立国协（1991）和着手改革俄罗斯的经济成为以自由市场及私有企业为基础。1993年面临强硬派一次不成功的政变。当车臣单方面宣布独立，叶尔钦即派兵镇压（1994）。车臣局势及俄罗斯严重经济困境降低了他的声望，但他仍於1996年获得连任。因个人健康因素、社会秩序的堕落及贪污猖獗，於1999年辞职，由普丁继任。
English version：
1931年～
Yeltsin, Boris (Nikolayevich)
Russian politician and president of Russia (1990-99). After attending the Urals Polytechnic Institute, he worked at construction projects in western Russia 1955-68. He became Communist Party leader in Sverdlovsk in 1976, and an ally of Mikhail Gorbachev. He was appointed by Gorbachev to eliminate corruption in the Moscow party organization, and as first secretary (mayor) of Moscow (1985-87) he proved a determined reformer. His criticism of the slow pace of reform led to a break with Gorbachev, and Yeltsin lost his position. In 1989 he was elected to the new Soviet parliament by a landslide, then became president of the Russian Republic (1990) and resigned from the Communist Party. In 1991 he won the presidency again in the first popular election in Russian history. When communist hard-liners staged a coup against Gorbachev, Yeltsin successfully opposed it, facing down its leaders with a dramatic outdoor speech in Moscow. He led the establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States (1991) and began to transform Russia's economy into one based on free markets and private enterprise. He faced opposition from hard-liners, who staged an unsuccessful coup in 1993. When Chechnya unilaterally declared independence, Yeltsin sent troops to fight the rebels (1994). The Chechnya situation and Russia's deepening economic distress depressed his popularity, but he won reelection in 1996. He spent months recovering from a heart attack; he rejected suggestions that he resign the presidency, despite his increasingly erratic behavior as well as the deterioration of civil order and rampant corruption, but continuing poor health led to his resignation on December 31, 1999. He was succeeded by Vladimir Putin.