Boris Yeltsin

About Boris Yeltsin

Boris Yeltsin (1931-2007) was a pivotal Russian politician who served as the first President of the Russian Federation from 1991 to 1999. His historical significance stems from leading Russia through the tumultuous dissolution of the Soviet Union and overseeing the initial, often chaotic, transition to a market economy and a multi-party democracy. MIT's Pantheon project recognizes this profound global impact by ranking him #434 in historical importance among thousands of figures.

Despite his critical role in reshaping 20th-century geopolitics, Yeltsin's modern internet attention is less intense than his historical rank suggests. In 2025, his Wikipedia page accrued an annualized total of 1.3 million views, indicating an "overattention gap" of +3x relative to his importance ranking. While certainly receiving significant traffic, this suggests a level of attention more typical of figures less central to world-altering events than his position implies. For contrast, the much less historically important Pol Pot (#710) currently draws nearly double his traffic at 2.4 million views.

Looking at recent trends, Yeltsin's online presence shows a slight dip, with a -1.2% year-over-year view change and a -5% drop in momentum between Q1 and Q3 of 2025, suggesting his immediate post-Soviet legacy may be gradually receding from the forefront of public curiosity.