Liudmyla Kuchma

Liudmyla Mykolaivna Kuchma (née Talalaieva; born 19 June 1940) is the wife of second Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma and a former First Lady of Ukraine. She had previously worked as a design engineer.

Early life and education
Liudmyla Kuchma was born in Udmurtia, and studied at a music school located in the house-museum of Pyotr Tchaikovsky. She graduated from mechanical college.

Career
For thirty years, she worked as an engineer in the design office of a production association in Dnipropetrovsk.

Personal life
In 1967, she married Leonid Kuchma, the late president of Ukraine from 1994 to 2005. Her daughter Olena was born in 1970.

Honors
In 1998, Kuchma was awarded the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas. and Order of Princess Olga First Class (2010). Since 1996, she has been Honorary President of the National Fund for Social Protection of Mother and Child.

Since 12 May 2004, she has been Special Ambassador of UNESCO to help young talents.