Viktor Stepanovich Chernomyrdin was a Russian politician. He was the first chairman of the Gazprom energy company and the longest-serving Prime Minister of Russia. He was a key figure in Russian politics in the 1990s, and a participant in the Russian transition from a planned to a market economy. From 2001 to 2009, he was Russia's ambassador to Ukraine. After that he was designated as a presidential adviser. Chernomyrdin is known in Russia and Russian-speaking countries for his unique language style, containing numerous malapropisms and syntactic errors. Many of his sayings became aphorisms and idioms in the Russian language, the most famous being his expression "We wanted the best, but it turned out like always.". Chernomyrdin died on 3 November 2010 after a long illness. He was buried beside his wife in Novodevichy Cemetery on 5 November, and his funeral was broadcast live on Russian federal TV channels. 

April 9th, 1938 in Orenburg Oblast  /  Died:   Nov 3rd, 2010