Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin was born on October 7, 1952 in Leningrad, RSFSR, USSR, what is now known as Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation, after the breakup of the USSR, to parents Vladimir Spiridonovich Putin (1911–1999) and Maria Ivanovna Shelomova (1911–1998). Vladimirovich Putin was born into a blue-collar family, his father being a conscript in the Soviet Navy where he served in a submarine fleet in the 1930's and then with the NKVD in the sabotage group during WWII, and his mother a factory worker. Spridonovich Putin had two elder brothers who were born in the mid–1930s; one died within a few months of birth, while the second succumbed to diphtheria during the siege of Leningrad. Vladirmirovich's paternal grandfather, Spiridon Ivanovich Putin (1879–1965), was employed at Vladimir Lenin's dacha at Gorki as a cook, and after Lenin's death in 1924, he continued to work for Lenin's wife, Nadezhda Krupskaya. He would later cook for Joseph Stalin when the Soviet leader visited one of his dachas in the Moscow region. Spiridon later was employed at a dacha belonging to the Moscow City Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, at which the young Vladimirovich Putin would visit him.

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin's autobiography, Ot Pervogo Litsa (English: In the First Person), which is based on interviews speaks of modest beginnings, including memories of a communal apartment in Leningrad. On September 1, 1960, he began school at School No. 193 on Baskov Lane, just across from his house. By fifth grade because of his rambunctious behavior, he was one of only a few class members of 45 pupils who had yet to become a member of the Pioneers, however, in sixth grade he began taking judo classes. Putin during his younger years fantasized about being a Russian Intelligence Officer.

In 1975, Putin graduated from the International Law branch of the Law Department of the Leningrad State University writing his final thesis on international law. While at university he became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and remained a member until the party was dissolved in December 1991. Also at the University he met Anatoly Sobchak who later played an important role in his career. Anatoly Sobchak was at the time an Assistant Professor and lectured Putin's class on Business Law.

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second president of the Russian Federation from 2000-2008 and is the current Prime Minister of Russia.

References:

Vladimir Putin. (2011, February 22). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 00:44, February 23, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vladimir_Putin&oldid=415350363

Read more about Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin at: The Official Site of the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation; and BBC Four.