Yeltsin (fourth row, third from left) in his student group at UPI, 1953. (SERGEI SKROBOV.)
Boris and Naina Yeltsin, early 1960s. (YELTSIN FAMILY ARCHIVE.)
The Yeltsin daughters in 1965; Yelena (left) was about seven, Tatyana five. (YELTSIN FAMILY ARCHIVE.)
Reviewing a document as one of the secretaries of the Sverdlovsk obkom (regional committee of the Communist Party), 1975 or 1976. Yakov Ryabov, Yeltsin’s mentor, is second from left. Vladimir Dolgikh, a Central Committee secretary, is third from left. (YELTSIN FAMILY ARCHIVE.)
Taking charge at a construction site as obkom first secretary, around 1980. Yurii Petrov, who later headed Yeltsin’s presidential office, is third from left. Oleg Lobov, who also served in high positions in the 1990s, is second from right, foreground. (YELTSIN FAMILY ARCHIVE.)
Tending to the harvest, around 1980. Anatolii Mekhrentsev, chairman of the provincial government, is third from left. (YELTSIN FAMILY ARCHIVE.)
Discussing city planning issues in Sverdlovsk, around 1980. (YELTSIN FAMILY ARCHIVE.)
At an exercise of the Urals Military District, around 1980. (YELTSIN FAMILY ARCHIVE.)
With Politburo colleagues at a session of the USSR Supreme Soviet, November 1986. First row, left to right: Yegor Ligachëv, Nikolai Ryzhkov, Andrei Gromyko, Mikhail Gorbachev. Second row: Vitalii Vorotnikov, Lev Zaikov, Mikhail Solomentsev. Third row: Vladimir Dolgikh, Yeltsin, Eduard Shevardnadze. (RIA-NOVOSTI/S. GUNEYEVA.)
As Moscow Communist Party leader, with constituents from the district he represented in the city council, June 1987. (RIA-NOVOSTI/ A. PETRUSHCHENKO.)
Orating at Luzhniki stadium, May 21, 1989. Gavriil Popov is first from left; Andrei Sakharov is second from right. (RIA-NOVOSTI/ I. MIKHALEVA.)
Speaking to the Interregional Deputies Group, December 1989, with co-chairmen (left to right) Andrei Sakharov, Yurii Afanas’ev, Gavriil Popov, Viktor Pal’m. (RIA-NOVOSTI/ V. CHISTYAKOVA.)
Leaving the hall after announcing his resignation from the Communist Party to the party congress, July 12, 1990. (RIA-NOVOSTI/V. BABANOVA.)
Before a large gathering in Novokuznetsk, May 1, 1991. (RIA-NOVOSTI/D. KOROBEINIKOVA.)
Yeltsin’s first prime minister, Ivan Silayev, 1991. (AP IMAGES/CARL DUYCK.)
Atop Tank No. 110 during the attempted coup, August 19, 1991. Aleksandr Korzhakov is next to Yeltsin on the machine. (AP IMAGES/ BORIS YURCHENKO.)
Deflating Gorbachev’s authority before the Russian Supreme Soviet, August 23, 1991. (AP IMAGES/ BORIS YURCHENKO.)
Signing the Belovezh’e Forest accord, December 8, 1991. Gennadii Burbulis (far right) co-signs for Russia. Leonid Kravchuk of Ukraine (second from left) and Stanislav Shushkevich of Belarus (third from left) are also signatories. (RIA-NOVOSTI.)
Exchanging pens with George H. W. Bush after initialing a strategic arms pact, Washington, June 17, 1992. (DMITRII DONSKOI.)
Members of Yeltsin’s governing team, autumn 1992. Left to right: Yegor Gaidar, acting prime minister; Yurii Skokov, secretary of the Security Council; Vice President Aleksandr Rutskoi; Aleksandr Korzhakov, chief of the Presidential Security Service. (DMITRII DONSKOI.)
With Ruslan Khasbulatov, chairman of the Supreme Soviet, in 1992. (DMITRII DONSKOI.)
With long-serving Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, January 1996. (AP IMAGES.)
Wielding the tennis racket, June 1992. (DMITRII DONSKOI.)
With his mother, early 1990s. (YELTSIN FAMILY ARCHIVE.)
A quiet moment with Naina in Sochi, summer 1994. (DMITRII DONSKOI.)
With Chancellor Helmut Kohl on the Berlin visit during which he attempted to conduct a police band, August 31, 1994. (AP IMAGES/JOCKEL FINCK.)
Walking beside the Kremlin wall in May 1995 with three of his most influential ministers. Left to right: Interior Minister Viktor Yerin; First Deputy Premier Oleg Soskovets; Defense Minister Pavel Grachëv. Aleksandr Korzhakov can be seen in the background. At right is Vladimir Shevchenko, chief of presidential protocol. (DMITRII DONSKOI.)
The Russian White House billowing smoke after army tanks shell it on order from Yeltsin, October 4, 1993. (AP IMAGES/ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO.)
Negotiating with Chechen rebels, May 27, 1996. With Yeltsin, left to right: Viktor Chernomyrdin; Doku Zavgayev, head of the pro-Moscow administration in Chechnya; Tim Guldimann of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe; Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, head of the Chechen delegation. (AP IMAGES/YURI KADOBNOV.)
Signing a cease-fire decree on an armored vehicle in Grozny, May 28, 1996. Yeltsin’s national security adviser, Yurii Baturin, is second from the left. Interior Minister Anatolii Kulikov (in the beret) is two persons behind. (DMITRII DONSKOI.)
Comforting an elderly woman at a campaign stop in the Klyaz’ma district near Moscow, May 1996. (DMITRII DONSKOI.)
Shaking it up with rock singer Yevgenii Osin at an election rally in Rostov, June 10, 1996. (AP IMAGES/ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO.)
Embracing the crowd in downtown Kazan, June 9, 1996. Tatarstan’s president, Mintimer Shaimiyev, a key Yeltsin ally, is third from right. (RIA-NOVOSTI/ VLADIMIR RODIONOV.)
With Viktor Chernomyrdin and Chernomyrdin’s new first deputies, Anatolii Chubais (left) and Boris Nemtsov, after a cabinet shuffle, March 26, 1997. (AP IMAGES.)
Words to the wise from his daughter and adviser, Tatyana Dyachenko, June 1997. (CORBIS/SHONE VLASTIMIR NESIC.)
Bowing during the interment ceremony for Tsar Nicholas II and the last Russian royal family, St. Petersburg, July 17, 1998. (RIA-NOVOSTI/ VLADIMIR RODIONOV.)
With business oligarchs, September 15, 1997. Left to right: Mikhail Khodorkovskii, Vladimir Gusinskii, Aleksandr Smolenskii, Vladimir Potanin, Vladimir Vinogradov, Mikhail Fridman. Yeltsin’s chief of staff, Valentin Yumashev, is beside him. (AP IMAGES.)