Lyudvig Chibirov

Lyudvig Chibirov
Цыбырты Людвиг Людвиг Чибиров
Chibirov in 2015
1st President of South Ossetia
In office 27 November 1996 – 18 December 2001
Prime Minister	Valeriy Hubulov (acting) Aleksandr Shavlokhov Merab Chigoev Dmitry Sanakoyev
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Eduard Kokoity
Chairman of the Supreme Soviet
In office 1994 – 27 November 1996
Prime Minister	Feliks Zassiev Vladislav Gabarayev Valeriy Hubulov (acting)
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Chairman of the State Nyhas
In office 17 September 1993 – 1994
Prime Minister	Oleg Teziev Gerasim Khugayev Feliks Zassiev
Preceded by	Torez Kulumbegov
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Personal details
Born	(1932-11-19) 19 November 1932 Tskhinvali, South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast, Georgian SSR, USSR
Political party	Independent

Lyudvig Alekseyevich Chibirov (Ossetian: Цыбырты Алексейы фырт Людвиг Tseberte Alêksêye fert Lyudvig, Georgian: ლუდვიგ ჩიბიროვი, Russian: Лю́двиг Алексе́евич Чи́биров; born 19 November 1932) was the Chairman of the Parliament and later, following inaugural elections the first president of South Ossetia. Born in 1932, Chibirov is a former member of the South Ossetian Parliament. Prior to the elections in 1996, he had been South Ossetia's head of state since 1993. When the post of Chairman of the Parliament was abolished in favor of the presidency, Chibirov became the first occupant of the new office.

During the 1996 elections, he received 65% of the vote compared with former Prime Minister Vladislav Gabaraev, who advocates South Ossetia's secession from the Republic of Georgia and its unification with North Ossetia in Russia, won about 20%. Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze blasted the elections calling them "unlawful."

In the next elections in 2001, the 69-year-old Chibirov received less than 20% of the votes, while Stanislav Kochiev came in second with 25%, and the 38-year-old Eduard Kokoity (Kokoyev) won with more than 48% of the vote.