Anatoly Aleksandrovich Sobtchak (1937 - 2000) - politician of the USSR and Russia, the first mayor of St. Petersburg.

For a long time he lived in Uzbekistan, then moved to Leningrad. In 1956, the life of Sobtchak was admitted to the State University of Leningrad in the law department. After graduating, Sobtchak worked in his specialty - a lawyer, then the head of a legal consultation office, an assistant professor at the Institute of the Pulp and Paper Industry. Becoming a professor, he headed the department of economic law, and then the entire faculty of law.

Sobtchak's political career developed quite quickly. After joining the CPSU (1988), he soon became a people's deputy, then chairman of the subcommittee of economic legislation .. Having become a deputy of the Leningrad council in 1990, he headed the council a month later, and a year later became the mayor of the city.

In 1991, Mayor Sobtchak created the Movement of Democratic Reforms bloc, but during the elections the bloc did not pass to the State Duma. In 1996, in the gubernatorial elections, Sobtchak lost to Yakovlev with a difference of 1.47%.

In 1997, a case was brought against the mayor. Sobtchak was accused of bribery, abuse of power, but in 1999 the case was closed. In February 2000, Sobtchak became a confidant of Putin (at that time a presidential candidate) .. Just a few days later, Sobtchak died of heart failure.