Nikolai Ivanovich Merkushkin - ex-governor of the Samara region. He held this position for five years - from 2012 to 2017. Prior to that, he headed the Republic of Mordovia - 1995-2012. Currently, he is the president's special representative for interaction with the World Congress of Finno-Ugric Peoples.
Childhood and adolescence of Nikolai Merkushkin
Nikolai Ivanovich was born in the village of Novye Verhissy on February 5, 1951. The future politician spent his childhood and youth there. Nikolai Ivanovich's father died when his son was 18 years old. The young man had to shoulder some of the worries about a large family on his shoulders. He worked as a machine operator on a collective farm.
I graduated from school with honors. In 1986, Merkushkin became a student at the Mordovian University. N. P. Ogareva. Nikolay chose the Faculty of Electronic Engineering. The young man became the headman of the group, and by the third year he was appointed chief of staff of the Komsomolsky Projector.
Career stages
After graduating from the institute in 1973, Nikolai became the secretary of the Komsomol in his native educational grounds. In 1979 he became the first secretary of the Mordovian regional committee of the Komsomol. 1986 was marked by the fact that Nikolai Ivanovich reached the level of the first secretary of the Tengushevsky district committee of the CPSU.
In 1990, he was elected second secretary of the Mordovian regional committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, followed by the post of chairman of the Council of People's Deputies and elections to the Supreme Soviet of the Mordovian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. The last attempt was unsuccessful. The same can be said about the 1991 presidential elections in the Republic of Mordovia.
By 1995, having passed many steps on the way to the head of his native region, he manages to become one. For 15 years, Merkushkin successfully coped with the responsibilities assigned to him.
It is noteworthy that in the early 2000s, Merkushkin, together with his brothers, built a temple in memory of his parents in his native village.
Personal life and hobbies of N. I. Merkushkin
In 1972, Nikolai Ivanovich creates a family with Taisia Stepanovna, in which two sons later appeared. Merkushkin's wife previously worked as the head of a pharmacy in Saransk, and is currently engaged in housekeeping.
The first child in the family was born in 1974. The son was named Alexander. He currently finds himself in the financial field.
In 1978, the youngest son Alexei was born. Now he holds the post of the Minister of Targeted Programs and is the Deputy Chairman of the Government of Mordovia. In the past, Aleksey was the general director of OJSC Lamzur S, and also chaired the board of directors of Mordovpromstroybank.
Nikolai Ivanovich leads an active lifestyle: he plays chess and billiards, loves volleyball and football.
In September 2017, Nikolai Merkushkin handed over the reins of the region to Dmitry Azarov, and he himself began to represent the president at the World Congress of Finno-Ugric Peoples.
According to Merkushkin, his resignation is connected with the Kremlin's desire to reduce the age of the heads of the RF subjects. Recall that the next day, Valery Shantsev voluntarily left the post of Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region.
