Valentina Matviyenko

Biography

Valentina Ivanovna Matviyenko, originally Valentina Tyutina, was born on April 7, 1949, in Shepetivka, then part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. She is a Russian politician and former pharmacist who has been Chairwoman of the Federation Council of Russia since 2011. Her career covers many years of Soviet and post-Soviet public service, including roles in the Communist Party, diplomacy, federal government, and regional leadership. She is seen as one of the most senior and influential women in Russian politics.

Matviyenko started her education at the Saint Petersburg State Chemical-Pharmaceutical University, becoming a pharmacist before switching to politics and public administration. She furthered her studies at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia and the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. Her political career gained momentum in the 1980s in Leningrad, now Saint Petersburg, where she became First Secretary of the Krasnogvardeysky District Communist Party from 1984 to 1986, establishing herself as a skilled administrator in the Soviet system.

After the Soviet Union dissolved, Matviyenko moved into diplomacy, serving as Russian Ambassador to Malta from 1991 to 1995 and to Greece from 1997 to 1998, which boosted her international reputation. She returned to domestic federal politics as Deputy Prime Minister for Welfare from 1998 to 2003, placing her at the heart of Russia's social policy during challenging post-Soviet economic changes. In 2003, she briefly worked as Presidential Envoy to the Northwestern Federal District before being elected as Governor of Saint Petersburg, partly thanks to her close ties with President Vladimir Putin, who is also from the city.

As Governor of Saint Petersburg from 2003 to 2011, Matviyenko was the first woman to lead the city. Her term saw significant infrastructure developments, including the completion of the Saint Petersburg Ring Road, the construction of the Big Obukhovsky Bridge — the only non-drawbridge across the Neva River — and the completion of the Saint Petersburg Dam to reduce flood risks. Line 5 of the Saint Petersburg Metro opened, land reclamation in the Neva Bay began for the new Marine Facade, and the Constitutional Court of Russia moved from Moscow to Saint Petersburg in 2008, boosting the city's national profile. The standard of living improved considerably during her leadership, with income levels nearing those of Moscow.

In 2011, Matviyenko became a Senator for Saint Petersburg in the Federation Council and was later chosen as its Chairwoman, placing her third in the Russian constitutional line of succession after the President and the Chairman of the State Duma. She has received several state honors throughout her career, including multiple degrees of the Order for Merit to the Fatherland and the Order of the Red Banner of Labour.