Death and state funeral of Boris Yeltsin

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Death and state funeral of Boris Yeltsin
DateApril 23 – 25, 2007
LocationCathedral of Christ the Saviour and Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow
ParticipantsVladimir Putin, Sergey Sobyanin, Naina Yeltsina, Mikhail Fradkov, Dmitry Medvedev and others
Boris Nikolaevich Yeltsin

On April 23, 2007, Boris Yeltsin, 1st President of Russia, died of cardiac arrest. For 12 days before his death, he was admitted to the Central Clinical Hospital in Moscow.

His funeral was held on 25 April 2007. By decree of the President of Russia, published on the day of the death of Boris Yeltsin, national mourning was declared on the day of his funeral.[1] The ceremony was broadcast live on the main Russian state TV channels. The funeral was attended by current and former heads of state, and a number of them expressed their condolences. During the lowering of the coffin into the grave he was given an artillery salute.

Boris Yeltsin was the first Russian head of state in 113 years to be buried in a church ceremony, after Emperor Alexander III.[2]

Last illness and cause of death

Yeltsin died 3:45 p.m. Moscow time at the Central Clinical Hospital as a result of heart failure caused by progressive multiple organ failure.[3][4] Yeltsin was hospitalized for 12 days before his death.[5][6] In his last week, Boris Yeltsin was almost all the time bedridden. His heart ached, and a sharp deterioration in his health status occurred in the past 3 days. On the morning of April 23 came a slight improvement, but then the first president of Russia experienced two cardiac arrests.[7] The first time doctors were able to return him to life, but the second time they could not help him. However, according to Renat Akchurin, the heart surgeon who in 1996 performed a bypass surgery on Boris Yeltsin, the former President's death, "nothing foretold." At the request of the relatives of Boris Yeltsin, the autopsy of his body was carried out.

Shortly before his death, Yeltsin traveled to the Middle East (Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian Territories), which, according to some doctors, could have contributed to the deterioration of his health.[8]

President Vladimir Putin telephoned Naina Yeltsin April 25, 2007. Also expressed their condolences to Angela Merkel, Jacques Chirac, George W. Bush, Lech Kaczynski, Helmut Kohl, Tony Blair and Bill Clinton.

A minute of silence and mourning was held to honor the memory of the First President by the students and the staff of his native Urals State Technical University.

Farewell ceremony and burial service

Widow and daughters of Boris Yeltsin

Farewell ceremony for Boris Yeltsin began at 16:30 Moscow time on April 24, 2007 at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. With open coffin, covered in the legs Russian flag was placed in the center of the Temple. Near the coffin stood a stand with awards achieved by the First President of Russia and his portrait. Nearby were honor guard soldiers Kremlin Regiment. The entrance to the temple was open all evening and all night so everyone could say goodbye to the body. According to news reports, around 25,000 people came to bid farewell to Boris Yeltsin in the Temple of Christ the Savior.[9] At the memorial service at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior were constantly present and accepted condolences to the Yeltsin family members: widow Naina, daughters Elena Okulova and Tatyana Dyachenko and Boris Yeltsin's grandchildren. Requiem liturgy was made by vicar of the Moscow diocese, Archbishop Arseny (Epifanov).

After the ceremony, the civil farewell, which ended at 12:30 pm on April 25, a farewell was held for officials and representatives of foreign states.

The funeral service was led by Metropolitan Krutitsy and Kolomna Juvenal (Poyarkov), assisted by Metropolitan Kirill (Gundyaev) and Clement (Kapalin). Metropolitan Juvenal read message was absent due to the hospitalization of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy II to Vladimir Putin, Boris Yeltsin's family and to all believers. During the reading of the Psalms, the funeral and the funeral lithium Yeltsin was remembered as "First President of Russia Boris Nikolayevich," and not a "servant of God, Boris," as in the usual case. Thus the fact was emphasized that the President is the modern Russian equivalent to the monarch: the use of titles and patronymic name corresponds to the formula heave offering of the monarch and members of the royal house to the abdication of Nicholas II.

The funeral

The coffin with the body of Boris Yeltsin carried out of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior
Boris Yeltsin's coffin was lowered into the grave

The coffin with the body of Boris Yeltsin was closed, then carried out of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and into the hearse, escorted by motorcyclists, delivered to the Novodevichy streets. Then, the officers carried the coffin from the hearse and placed it on a gun carriage decorated with the national flag, which was pulling an armored personnel carrier. Before the gates of the Novodevichy cemetery for the funeral procession moved on foot gun carriage. Yeltsin's coffin was removed from the mast, and 8 officers made it to the gates of the cemetery in her arms, with a bell of the Novodevichy Convent. Procession proceeded to the place of burial in the central avenue of the Novodevichy cemetery, where the grave had already been dug in front of which stood a small hearse. The Russian flag was removed from the Coffin and handed over to Sergey Sobyanin, who in its turn gave it to Naina Yeltsina.

Then the coffin was removed and opened the lid of the deceased person. Metropolitan Juvenal appealed to Yeltsin's family, after which the first Yelena Okulova, then Tatyana Dyachenko, and finally, Naina Yeltsin approached one by one to the coffin of Boris Yeltsin and were applied to the deceased. After that, there was a final memorial on lithium Yeltsin headed by Metropolitan Juvenal, assisted by Metropolitan Kirill and Kliment; "Eternal Memory" deceased singing female chorus of the Novodevichy Convent. Metropolitan Juvenal put on Yeltsin's brow corolla.

About 16:30 pm, after the lithium, the coffin was closed, decorated with flowers and lowered into the grave, with the coffin down into the grave accompanied by artillery salute (3 volleys), a military band played the Russian anthem.

After the funeral, a funeral reception in the Kremlin on behalf of Boris Yeltsin was held, where the sole of his that day speech, Vladimir Putin.

Guests

Former US Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton

The ceremony was attended by more than thirty foreign visitors. These were the heads of state and government and other representatives of various countries, as well as many former heads of state and government, working with Boris Yeltsin.

Representatives of States
 Armenia President Robert Kocharian
 Belarus President
Former Chairman of the Supreme Soviet
Alexander Lukashenko
Stanislav Shushkevich
 Bulgaria Former President Zhelyu Zhelev
 Canada Former Prime Minister Jean Chretien
 Estonia President Toomas Hendrik Ilves
 Georgia Chairman of the Parliament Nino Burjanadze
 Germany President
Former Chancellors
Horst Köhler
Gerhard Schroeder and Helmut Kohl
 Italy Former Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti
 Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev
 Kyrgyzstan Prime Minister
Former President
Almazbek Atambayev
Askar Akayev
 Latvia President
Former President
Vaira Vike-Freiberga
Guntis Ulmanis
 Lithuania President
Former President
Valdas Adamkus
Algirdas Brazauskas
 Poland Former President Lech Walesa
 Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov
 Finland Former President Mauno Koivisto
 France Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy
 Spain Chairman of the Constitutional Court María Emilia Casas
 Tajikistan Prime Minister Okil Okilov
 Ukraine Former Presidents
Prime Minister
Leonid Kravchuk and Leonid Kuchma
Viktor Yanukovych
 United Kingdom Former Prime Minister
Duke of York
John Major
Prince Andrew
 United States Former Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton
 Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov
 European Union Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner

Also, in addition to foreign leaders, there were many Russian politicians.

Representatives
President Vladimir Putin
Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Sergey Sobyanin
Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov
First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev
First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov
Chairman of the Federation Council Sergey Mironov
Chairman of the State Duma Boris Gryzlov
Ministry of Economic Development Herman Gref
Head of the Republic of Bashkortostan Murtaza Rakhimov
Prime Minister of Republic of Karelia Pavel Chernov
Governor of Krasnoyarsk Krai Alexander Khloponin
Governor of Irkutsk Oblast Alexander Tishanin
Governor of Sverdlovsk Oblast Eduard Rossel
Governor of Moscow Oblast Boris Gromov
Governor of Saint Petersburg Valentina Matviyenko
Mayor of Moscow Yury Luzhkov
Former Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin
Former President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev

Gallery

Perpetuation of the memory

The discovery of the tombstones on the grave of Boris Yeltsin

On April 8, 2008 in Yekaterinburg, where Boris Yeltsin had lived and worked a long time, January 9 street was renamed the Boris Yeltsin street.

On April 23, 2008 at Novodevichy Cemetery a grand opening ceremony was held for the monument to Boris Yeltsin, made by sculptor Georgy Frangulyan. The memorial is a broad headstone, made in the colors of the Russian flag - a white marble, blue Byzantine mosaics and red porphyry. On the pavement under the tricolor is an engraved Orthodox cross. The ceremony was attended by Boris Yeltsin's family, including widow, Naina, Russian President Vladimir Putin, the president-elect Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov, Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Sergey Sobyanin, government members, friends, colleagues and people who worked with the first President of the Russian Federation.

On April 23, 2008 Ural State Technical University was given the name of Boris Yeltsin.[10]

On January 25, 2015 in Yekaterinburg the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center opened.[11]

References