Primakov, Yevgeny Maksimovich << pree muh KAWF, yehv GEH nee mak SIHM uh vihch >> (1929-2015), was prime minister of Russia in 1998 and 1999. He had served as minister of foreign affairs from 1996 to 1998.
Primakov was born Yona Finkelstein in Kyiv, Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union, on Oct. 29, 1929. He spent his childhood in Tbilisi, Georgia, also a part of the Soviet Union at that time. He changed his name as a youth. He graduated from the Moscow Institute of Oriental Studies in 1953 and received a doctorate in economics from Moscow State University in 1956. Primakov joined the Communist Party in 1959. From 1962 to 1970, he worked for the Communist newspaper Pravda. He served as the Middle East correspondent and became fluent in Arabic. In the 1970’s and 1980’s, he held administrative posts with the Soviet Academy of Sciences and advised Soviet leaders on foreign policy.
In 1991, Primakov became head of the foreign intelligence branch of the KGB, the Soviet intelligence agency. After the Soviet Union dissolved in December of that year, he became head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service. He held that post until 1996. From 2001 to 2011, Primakov served as chairman of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He died on June 26, 2015.
