Nikolai Merkushkin, head of the Republic of Mordovia
Born on February 5, 1951 in the village of Novye Verkhissy, Insar District, Mordvinian ASSR.
1973: Graduated with honours from the electronics department at Ogaryov Mordvinian State University, qualifying as an "electronics engineer" for dielectrics and semiconductors.
1974: Elected secretary of the YCL committee at Ogaryov Mordvinian State University.
1977-1986: Secretary, second secretary and first secretary of the Mordvinian YCL Committee.
1986-1990: First secretary of the Tengushevsky CPSU District Committee.
1990-1991: Second secretary of the Mordvinian Republican Committee of the Russian Communist Party.
1992-1994: Chairman of the Republican Property Fund.
January 1995: Elected speaker of the State Assembly of the Republic of Mordovia and, at the constitutional assembly in September of the same year, elected head of the Republic of Mordovia.
February 1998: Again elected head of the Republic of Mordovia. Re-elected to the same post in 2003.
November 2005: Granted the powers of head of the Republic of Mordovia for a period of five years by the State Assembly of the Republic of Mordovia on the recommendation of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
November 2010: Again assumed the post of head of Mordovia when deputies of the State Assembly of the Republic of Mordovia approved his candidacy on the recommendation of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
Member of the State Council of the Russian Federation, member of the United Russia party's Supreme Council bureau.
Married with two sons.
