First Lady of Belarus

First Lady of Belarus
  • Першая лэдзі Беларусі (Belarusian)
  • Первая леди Беларуси (Russian)
Flag of Belarus
since 20 July 1994
Term lengthConcurrent with the president's term (unless a divorce or death takes place)
PrecursorSpouse of the Chairman of the Supreme Council of Belarus
Inaugural holderGalina Lukashenko
FormationJuly 20, 1994
(30 years ago) (1994-07-20)

The First Lady of the Republic of Belarus, also known as the First Lady of Belarus (Belarusian: Першая лэдзі Беларусі; Russian: Первая леди Беларуси) is an unofficial de facto title usually attributed to the wife of the president of Belarus. The first and only person to hold the title is Galina Lukashenko, wife of Alexander Lukashenko.[a]

History

The unofficial de facto position of First Lady of Belarus was created alongside the position of the President of Belarus on July 20, 1994. Its first and incumbent officeholder is Galina Lukashenko. Even though she is First Lady, she has not ever operated as one; Galina Lukashenko refused to move to Minsk during the start of her spouse Alexander Lukashenko's presidency and has lived in the village ever since.[2] Despite the separation, an official divorce was never declared. Galina Lukashenko's only act as First Lady is said to be her participation in a visit of Alexander Lukashenko to Israel in 1994.[1]

List of First ladies of Belarus (1991–present)

No. Portrait Name Marriage date Period Length of tenure President of Belarus
(Spouse) 		Portrait Note
1 Galina Lukashenko
(née Zhelnerovich)
Born: (1955-01-01) 1 January 1955 (age 70) 		m. 1975[2][3] 20 July 1994 Incumbent 30 years, 5 months and 15 days Alexander Lukashenko [a][b]

Notes

  1. ^ a b It is said that Galina Lukashenko has not been living together with Alexander Lukashenko since the start of his tenure as President, but despite this, a divorce was never officiated. As a result of this, she never acted as First Lady and remains only the position's de jure officeholder.[1]
  2. ^ A number of countries do not recognize Lukashenko as the legitimate president of Belarus since the 2020 Belarusian presidential election.[4][5][6]

References

  1. ^ a b Хмельницкая, Вера (2022-06-24). "Тайна первая леди: кто такая жена Александра Лукашенко и почему ее никто никогда не видел". tsn.ua (in Russian). Retrieved 2024-06-22.
  2. ^ a b "Биографические страницы: Первые леди" (in Russian). Kommersant. 2004-03-08. Archived from the original on 2017-04-19.
  3. ^ "Интервью с Александром Лукашенко". Archived from the original on 2009-06-03. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
  4. ^ "Belarus leader Lukashenko holds secret inauguration amid continuing protests". france24.com. 23 September 2020.
  5. ^ "Belarus: Mass protests after Lukashenko secretly sworn in". BBC News. 23 September 2020. Several EU countries and the US say they do not recognise Mr Lukashenko as the legitimate president of Belarus.
  6. ^ "Exiled leader calls weekend of protests in Belarus". BBC News. 14 August 2020. Archived from the original on 22 August 2020. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
    "Golos platform presents the final report on the presidential election". Voice of Belarus. 20 August 2020. Archived from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
    "EU rejects Lukashenko inauguration as illegitimate". Dw.com. 24 September 2020. Archived from the original on 7 December 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
    Ljunggren, Josh Smith (29 September 2020). "Britain and Canada impose sanctions on Belarus leader Lukashenko". Reuters. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
    "OSCE Report on the Presidential Elections 2020 in Belarus" (PDF). Osce.org. 29 October 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
    "Belarus protesters battered, bruised but defiant after 100 days". BBC News. 17 November 2020. Archived from the original on 28 November 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020.

See also