Valentina Matvienko is a very controversial personality. However, this is a person with a strong character and from childhood ready for big challenges. Valentina Ivanovna has solid experience of work in the state apparatus. Today, she is the Chairman of the Federation Council, and behind her, no less, work as the governor of the northern capital of Russia, Deputy Prime Minister, Ambassador to Greece and Malta.
Childhood and youth
Valentina Ivanovna Matvienko is a native of the Ukrainian SSR. She was born in the city of Shepetivka on April 7, 1949. Valentina's maiden name is Tyutin. Her father was a participant in hostilities and fought with Nazi Germany. He passed away when little Valya was in primary school. The girl's mother was a costume designer at a local theater. Valentina was not the only child in the family, she has older sisters - Zinaida and Lydia. Valya spent all her childhood in the Ukrainian city of Cherkassy.
Valentina was a very diligent student. All in the same Cherkassy, she graduated from school with a silver medal, and then with honors in her hands from a medical school.
After that, she left for higher education in Leningrad, where she became a student at the local chemical and pharmaceutical institute (now SPKhFU). The girl became a graduate of the university in 1972.
The beginning of a political career
According to Matvienko herself, she always wanted to become a famous scientist, rather than a politician. Indeed, even at the institute, the girl studied for one "five", with the exception of one single subject - philosophy. However, at some point she found herself at a crossroads: to study in graduate school or to become an employee of the district committee of the Komsomol. After carefully considering all the options, she accepted the invitation from the district committee, and planned to return to graduate school in just a couple of years.
At the age of 36, Valentina Ivanovna graduated from the Academy of Social Sciences at the Central Committee of the CPSU, and 6 years later she took courses at the Diplomatic Academy of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Since then, Matvienko has linked her life for seven years with work in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, starting her career as an ambassador to Malta (1991) and ending as an ambassador to Greece (1998).
We can say that Valentina Ivanovna is a real polyglot. In addition to Russian, she can easily speak four languages, such as: English, Ukrainian, Greek and German.
After productive work in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in 1998 Matvienko holds the post of Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation. She worked as Deputy Prime Minister until 2003. After that, for less than a year, she became Plenipotentiary in the Northwestern Federal District.
The first female governor of St. Petersburg
In the fall of 2003, early elections were held in St. Petersburg for the post of the head of the city. Matvienko managed to get into the second round and win it with a lead over the competitor (also, by the way, women) by almost 40%. Thus, she became the governor of the northern capital of Russia. She held the position of the head of St. Petersburg for almost 8 years.
During the time she was governor, considerable changes have taken place in St. Petersburg. In particular, Matvienko's achievements are credited with, for example: the demolition of dilapidated and construction of modern housing, the construction of leisure infrastructure, the solution of a number of transport problems (the expansion of the metro line, the emergence of a water taxi) and the attraction of many investors.
However, along with praise, there is always criticism. Matvienko was criticized for exactly the same reasons for which they praised. Her love for construction turned into the fact that newfangled buildings, in the opinion of many, began to spoil the appearance of the cultural capital. As for the transport situation, by the end of Matvienko's reign, the city was so packed with transport that it got stuck in endless traffic jams. Neither the construction of the metro, nor the availability of water transport have solved the problem.
Further work
In August 2011, Valentina Ivanovna voluntarily resigned from her post. However, just a month later, she was elected Chairman of the Federation Council.
Matvienko has been chairing the upper house of parliament for over 7 years.
In the summer of 2018, Valentina Ivanovna approved the draft law on raising the retirement age, which was painful and controversial for most Russians, declaring its necessity.
Personal life
While still a graduate student of the institute, Valentina became the wife of Vladimir Matvienko, whose last name she bears. By the way, little is known about the biography of Vladimir, since, in terms of publicity, he was the complete opposite of his wife. It is only known that he was a military man and for a long time lived near St. Petersburg, where he was building a house.
Valentina's husband passed away in the summer of 2018 after a long illness that left him in a wheelchair. In a joint and only marriage for both, they lived for 45 years, during which they had a son.
Son Sergei is a businessman, whose fortune, according to some sources, is estimated at several billion dollars.
