St. Petersburg offers clues about native son Putin

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- With its orderly planning, understated grandeur and rich contribution to European culture, President Vladimir Putin's hometown is not a typical Russian city. But then, Putin, with his reserved manner and Western tastes, is no typical Russian politician.

St. Petersburg, the former imperial capital, stands apart from the rest of Russia in its appearance, traditions and heritage; locals pride themselves on their cultural distance from both Moscow and the Russian hinterland. As President Bush will likely discover when he travels here this week, the city offers many clues to Putin's personality and priorities.

When Putin was born here in 1952, it was still called Leningrad, after the founder of the Soviet Union. Its return to its old name symbolizes the spirit of change that swept through the country when the Soviet Union collapsed.

Putin spent his boyhood in a communal apartment in the city's beautiful but dilapidated center. He married and began his KGB career in the city, returning after a stint in East Germany for his first foray into politics.

"Putin is a Leningrader," said St. Petersburg historian Lev Lurye. "Putin wants to seem civilized in a European, German fashion."

Known as Russia's window to Europe, St. Petersburg was founded in 1703 by Czar Peter the Great, who so admired the West that he gave his future capital a European-sounding name. The city was built with right-angled precision, borrowing the idea of canals from Amsterdam and cathedral styles from Rome.

Looking for leaders

St. Petersburg and Moscow have not produced any national leaders in modern times. Josef Stalin was born in Georgia, Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev in Ukraine, Mikhail Gorbachev in southwestern Russia, Boris Yeltsin, in the Ural Mountains.

Many Russians believe that's part of what makes Putin different. His Leningrad upbringing is reflected in both his foreign policy and personal tastes, Lurye said. Putin has forged friendships with Western leaders such as German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, while his preferences lean toward downhill skiing and away from vodka, the national drink.

More broadly, said Lurye, Putin values "the idea of decorum" -- a trait St. Petersburg residents believe other, less Westernized Russians lack. This, and not only Putin's KGB past, may explain his reticence.

Putin's tightlipped and careful style contrasts starkly with the often impulsive behavior and emotional tone of his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, which embarrassed many Russians.

The ghosts of World War II no doubt also left their mark on the young Putin. In "The First Person," a book of interviews published in 2000, Putin recounts how his parents lost a son to diphtheria and his mother nearly starved to death during the siege, while his father had several brushes with death on the front lines.