Details about Vladimir Putin’s childhood and the family in which he grew up are presented in the book by journalist Evan Gerșkovici, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal. A family acquaintance described the Russian leader’s father, Vladimir Spiridonovici Putin, as a “hardened drinker” and recounted the violence his wife would have been subjected to.
The testimonies are presented in the context where Putin has offered, over time, a different image of his father. In January 2024, the Russian president stated that he had never seen his father in a state of drunkenness.
“First and foremost, I want to emphasize this, I have never seen my father drunk. That never happened,” said Putin. He added that he never heard his father uttering curses, according to Dialog.
Who were Vladimir Putin’s parents?
Vladimir Putin’s parents were Vladimir Spiridonovich Putin and Maria Ivanovna Shelomova, both born in 1911. The two went through dramatic experiences during the Second World War and survived the Siege of Leningrad. Putin has recounted on several occasions about that period, including the death of his brother Viktor, during the siege.
Vladimir Spiridonovici Putin served in the Soviet navy and participated in the battles during the war, being seriously injured. Subsequently, he worked as a laborer in a factory.
Maria Ivanovna Șelomova survived the famine and extreme conditions of the besieged Leningrad. Before the birth of Vladimir, the family had two more sons, Albert and Viktor, who died in childhood.
After the war, the family continued to live modestly in Leningrad, and Maria worked in several places to support her family.
Putin’s family, described as being poor
According to the reports quoted by Gerșkovici, the mother of a former schoolmate of Putin remembered the future Russian president’s family as being poor.
Putin’s mother worked in several places, including as a night guard and cleaning lady. Putin previously recounted that his mother also worked as a nanny in a hospital.
Vladimir Putin, whom his close ones called Vova, attended School No. 193 in Leningrad. A former classmate remembered that Putin was a small and thin child and that, even though he sometimes lost in confrontations with other children, he never gave up.
At meetings with parents, a family friend reportedly heard Putin’s child being scolded for arguing with other children.
Information about the relationship between Putin’s parents also appears in the book “The Tsar Himself”, signed by journalists Roman Badanin and Mikhail Rubin. The authors recount, based on memoirs attributed to Putin’s parents, an episode in which Vladimir Spiridonovich Putin assaulted his future wife.