He is a Russian-speaking Jew, born in a grimy industrial town in Eastern Ukraine. As his talent for comedy and acting became more and more evident, he began to develop comedy sketches and eventually created a comedy act with some friends that became a sensation, not just in Ukraine but in Russia and other former Soviet republics as well.
Volodymyr Zelensky's talent, and controversially supported by a Ukrainian oligarch, eventually created an entertainment empire, in Russia. He could have continued on that path, but after Russia invaded Eastern Ukraine in 2014, Zelensky made the decision to move his operation to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, while working to perfect his Ukrainian. (Remember, the two languages are similar but definitely distinct.)
But the stunning irony in looking at where Zelensky came to the presidency from is this:
He created and starred in a comedy TV series, called Servant of the People, where he played a high school history teacher who, during a rant about political corruption in his country, is secretly filmed by a student. The video goes viral, the teacher is catapulted to notoriety, and he ends up as the elected president of the country.
This real life servant of the people has indeed catapulted to international fame in a matter of a week, proving to allies and enemies alike that he is willing to die in the protection of his country against Russian aggression.
This is not a given. Most would understand if Zelensky had accepted the US offer to evacuate him in order to form an exiled government. This insightful article reminds us that Charles de Gaulle vacated the Elyseé Palace for England when Germany invaded France, and we remember all too well the flight of Afghan president Ashraf Ghani upon the news that the Taliban were on the move.
Zelenski's approval ratings have not been impressive up until now. Some regarded him as weak in the face of Russian aggression in the East, and his complete lack of political experience was not seen as an advantage by many. But his defiant stance against Putin, filming selfie videos in the streets of his capital, has not only rallied his nation around him, but much of the world, as seen in the massive number of anti-war rallies around the world. This includes inside Russia itself.
I'll end with a couple of important facts, following up on last week's Wayfarer:
The correct pronunciation of the Ukrainian capital is keev; the ky-ev pronunciation dates back to the Soviet era and was changed as a symbolic break with Soviet domination after Ukraine gained its independence
Ukraine's physical borders as we know them are a relatively recent invention, dating back only to the dismantling of the Soviet Union. It's important to understand that many, many borders across the world are artificial lines that don't necessarily separate one ethnic or language group from another. There are ethnic Russians in Eastern Ukraine, there are ethnic Hungarians in Romania, there are Finnish speakers living in Sweden, and so on. The nation of Iraq did not even exist until the victors of World War I (namely the British Empire) took control of that parcel of land and almost arbitrarily (and largely without the input of the local tribes) created the country we know as Iraq.
To quote a French song by my dear friends François and Christine Reymond,
“it’s a crazy world — but it’s ours.”