Petr Simonenko First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine Date of Birth: 01.08.1952 Country: Ukraine

Biography of Petro Symonenko

Petro Mykolaiovych Symonenko was born on August 1, 1952, in the city of Donetsk, Ukrainian SSR. His parents were natives of the Zaporizhzhia region, with his father working as a tractor driver and his mother as a nurse in a hospital.

Symonenko graduated with honors from the Donetsk Polytechnic Institute in 1974, obtaining a degree in mining engineering and electromechanics. He worked as a designer at the Donetsk Project Institute "Dongiprouhlemash" from 1974 to 1975.

From 1975 to 1980, Symonenko held various positions in the Leninist Communist Union of Youth of Ukraine (LCYU) as an instructor, head of department, and second secretary of the Donetsk City Committee of the LCYU. He became a member of the Communist Party of Ukraine (CPU) in 1978.

In 1980, Symonenko was appointed as the secretary of the Donetsk Regional Committee of the LCYU, and in 1982, he was elected as the secretary of the Central Committee of the LCYU. In 1988, he became the secretary of the Mariupol City Committee of the CPU, and later that year, he was transferred to the Donetsk Regional Committee of the CPU, where he held the position of secretary for ideological work.

In 1991, after the banning of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the CPU, Symonenko became the deputy general director of the corporation "Ukruglemash." In the same year, he obtained a degree in political science from the Kiev Institute of Political Science and Social Management.

In 1993, Symonenko was elected as the first secretary of the Donetsk Regional Committee of the CPU. He played a crucial role in the reestablishment of the party, leading to its official registration in May 1993. Symonenko was elected as the first secretary of the CPU at the party's congress in June 1993.

Symonenko was elected as a member of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) in 1994, 1998, 2002, and 2006. He also participated in the presidential elections in 1999, where he finished in second place, and in 2004, where he finished fourth.

Throughout his political career, Symonenko served as the leader of the CPU faction in the Verkhovna Rada and was a member of various parliamentary committees. He advocated for the reinstatement of the Soviet-era constitution and the protection of workers' rights.

Symonenko married and has two sons. In 1998, his eldest son, Andrii Symonenko, married Kateryna Vashchuk, the daughter of the chairman of the Agrarian Party.

Symonenko has been a prominent figure in Ukrainian politics, championing communist ideals and advocating for the rights of workers and the working class.