Vladimir Zhirinovsky
Vladimir Volfovich Zhirinovsky, born Vladimir Volfovich Eidelstein on 25 April 1946, is a Russian politician and political activist. He is a colonel in the Russian Army, founder and the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), Vice-Chairman of the State Duma, and a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
Zhirinovsky is often viewed as "a showman of Russian politics, blending populist and nationalist rhetoric, anti-Western invective and a brash, confrontational style".
Zhirinovsky was born in Almaty, the capital of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, modern-day Kazakhstan. His father, Volf Isaakovich Eidelshtein (or Wolf Andreyevich Eidelshtein), was a Polish Jew, and his mother, Alexandra Pavlovna (née Makarova), was of Russian background. Zhirinovsky himself is an Eastern Orthodox Christian.
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