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On Monday, January 25, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is celebrating his 43rd birthday.

The Servant of the People Party has already congratulated the president via Telegram.

"Happy Birthday to the head of state! Thank you for your fruitful work and courage in difficult decision-making. Wishing you strength and perseverance to build in the future a new, strong, and successful Ukraine," the party members said.

UNIAN has gathered major facts about Volodymyr Zelensky and his path from showbiz to top politics.

Volodymyr Zelensky's earlier days

Zelensky was born in the city of Kryviy Rih on January 25, 1978. While he was growing up, for four years he lived with his parents in the city of Erdenet, Mongolia. He also went to primary school there. After that, his family returned to Kryviy Rih where he studied at School No. 95 with extensive English learning.

In 1995, he entered Kryviy Rih Institute of Economics, which is part of Kyiv National Economic University, where he received a degree in law. He underwent a two-month internship during his time at the University.

Showman's path

Volodymyr Zelensky became famous in 1990s thanks to a highly-acclaimed KVN stand-up TV show. He was a member of various teams until he skyrocketed to his first big standup success with the launch in 1997 of a 95 Kvartal team. His founding teammates were Denys Manzhosov, Yuriy Krapov, and Oleksandr Pikalov. The team was named after one of his hometown Kryviy Rih's districts. Soon the team entered the KVN's Major League.

In 2003, a conflict erupted between the team and KVN's operator, a creative association led by host Alexander Maslyakov, AMiK, after which Zelensky's team left the League.

"Roaming free": Studio Kvartal 95

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In 2005, after a conflict with KVN, the Vechirniy Kvartal [Evening Quarter] TV show appeared on one of the Ukrainian channels. Soon, the program became the highest rated on Ukrainian TV in a comedy segment.

Later, Studio Kvartal-95 was launched. After that, Zelensky along with his partners launched a number of other successful TV projects.

Zelensky's movie career

In 2008, he played one of the main roles in the Love in the Big City comedy, and later in its sequels released in 2010 and 2013.

TSN

In 2011, a remake of The Office Romance Soviet-era film was released, where Zelensky also played a major role. Then he featured in the Rzhevsky against Napoleon comedy.

Zelensky also played the role of a Ukrainian teacher Vasyl Holoborodko, who suddenly became president, in a highly popular television series Servant of the People (three seasons have already been released).

No less successful and popular project by Volodymyr Zelensky and Studio Kvartal 95 is the comedy series Svaty [Matchmakers], which was recently banned in Ukraine, while one of its main actors, Russian national Fyodor Dobronravov, was banned from entering Ukraine for national security reasons.

Volodymyr Zelensky: Wife and children

Zelensky has been married to Olena Kiyashko since 2003, whom he had been dating for about seven years. They studied in the same school and the same year.

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The couple's daughter Oleksandra was born in 2008. Their son Kyrylo was born in early 2013.

Start of Zelensky's political career

Ukrainian media had since 2017 been reporting that Volodymyr Zelensky could take part in the 2019 presidential election.

Addressing the audience during the Kvartal 95 New Year's Eve late night show on 1+1 TV Channel, Zelensky announced he would run for presidency. Later, the Servant of the People party made him an official candidate.

On March 31, in the first round of the presidential election in Ukraine, Zelensky secured a safe lead with 30.24% of votes. Poroshenko was a runner-up with 15.95%. In the second round of presidential elections, 73.21% of the voters supported Zelensky, while 24.46% voted for incumbent President Petro Poroshenko.

Volodymyr Zelensky was sworn in as President on May 20, 2019. He became the youngest head of state in the history of Ukraine.