Multimedia exhibition about first president of Republic of Buryatia

From 8 to 20 July 2025 the Presidential Library holds the multimedia exhibition Leonid Potapov. 90 Anniversary. 1935-2020, dedicated to the first president of the Republic of Buryatia.

Leonid Potapov held the presidential post from 1994 to 2007. Under his leadership, Buryatia largely managed to overcome the economic crisis in which it found itself in the 1990s: agriculture reached a new level of development, medicine and education began to develop, and the living standards of the population generally rose.

The life of Leonid Potapov is a vivid example of selfless service to the Motherland and his people. Born from a simple peasant family, he rose from a simple engineer to the President of the Republic.

Leonid Potapov was born on 4 July 1935 in the village of Uakit, Bauntovsky aimag of the Buryat-Mongol ASSR into a simple peasant family. His great-grandfathers and grandfathers were from the Old Believers. His father Vasily Lukyanovich was a prospector, then a hunter and trapper. He went to the front from Taloysky mine and returned only in 1946, after the surrender of Japan.

At the beginning of the war his mother Evdokia Fadeevna moved with her three children to Argada. There they were welcomed so hospitably that Leonid Vasilyevich often recalled: "The Buryats saved us from starvation".

After graduating from the Khabarovsk Institute of Railway Engineers, he was offered to stay at the Department of Electrical Machines, but Leonid chose production - the Locomotive Carriage Repair Plant in Ulan-Ude. His party career began at this plant.

In 1967, Leonid Potapov was appointed chief engineer at the request of the plant's director. In 1976, he became head of the Industry Department of the Regional Committee of the CPSU, and two years later he became head of the Buryat Regional Committee of the CPSU. In the late 1980s, Leonid Potapov worked in the Turkmen SSR, and in 1990 he returned to Buryatia, where he was appointed first First Secretary of the Buryat Regional Committee of the CPSU and then Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Buryatia. In 1994 he won a convincing victory in the national elections, becoming the first President and at the same time Chairman of the Government of the Republic of Buryatia.

Leonid Potapov has been awarded many governmental awards and honoured with honorary state titles.

The electronic exhibition was prepared by the Regional Centre for Access to Information Resources of the Presidential Library of the Republic of Buryatia. The exhibition includes photos and documents provided by the State Archive of the Republic of Buryatia.

The exhibition is open at the following address: St. Petersburg, Senatskaya Ploshchad, ul. 3, literature A.

Visit the multimedia exhibition Leonid Potapov. 90 Anniversary. 1935-2020 is available as part of the Presidential Library tours.

Contact information about visiting the Presidential Library, organising tours of the building and exhibitions of the institution

E-mail address: excursion@prlib.ru.

Accreditation of media representatives

Please forward applications for accreditation following the attached form marked Media Accreditation at media@prlib.ru, pechnikova@prlib.ru  to Tatiana Pechnikova, tel.: (812) 305-16-21, ext. 534. ; mob. +7 921 998-06-78.

The letter should contain the full name, date and place of birth, passport data (series, number, place of registration), a list of carry-on equipment, contact phone numbers, the name of the media.

We draw the attention of the media representatives that it is necessary to forward applications for accreditation and arrive at the event in advance.

Entrance to the Presidential Library is carried out only by prior registration and upon showing a passport: for media representatives - through entrance № 2, participants and guests of the event - through entrance № 1.

To avoid the spread of coronavirus infection (COVID-19) it is recommended to use personal protective equipment while in the institution!