Buzz
Written by Keith Wagstaff
On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed that he and his wife, Lyudmila, were separating after 30 years of marriage. Speculation about their relationship had been ongoing ever since rumors about an affair with Alina Kabaeva, an Olympic gold medalist and gymnast half Putin's age, surfaced in 2008.
"It was a mutual decision: We barely see each other, and we lead separate lives," Putin explained on state television after attending the ballet with his wife. The couple, who married in 1983, share two daughters, Maria and Yekaterina.
Though it’s uncommon for heads of state to divorce while in office, it’s not without precedent.
1. President Nicolas Sarkozy, France
Nicolas Sarkozy made history as the first French president to divorce while in office, parting ways with his wife, Cécilia, in 2007. Within a year, Sarkozy married Carla Bruni, a singer and former model who has been romantically linked to Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton. The couple remains together in Paris with her son from a previous marriage and their young daughter.
2. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Italy
Given Silvio Berlusconi's notorious reputation for womanizing and his passion for "bunga-bunga" parties, his divorce from former actress Veronica Lario in 2009 came as no surprise. Earlier this year, Berlusconi claimed that "feminist, Communist judges" had forced him to pay Lario 26 million euros annually.
3. President Alvaro Colom, Guatemala
In one of the few instances of a world leader being accused of staging a divorce, President Alvaro Colom filed for divorce from his wife, Sandra Torres, in March 2011. His opponents called it a "cynical political maneuver" to bypass a law that barred close relatives of the president from running for office. Despite the divorce, the court ruled that Torres was still violating the constitution when she attempted to succeed her husband, eventually leading to Otto Perez Molina's victory in the presidential race.
4. President Nelson Mandela, South Africa
The 38-year marriage of Nelson Mandela and his wife, Winnie, endured the hardships of apartheid, but ended six years after his release from prison. In a 1996 court case, the 77-year-old Mandela accused Winnie of infidelity. The couple had been married for only five years before Mandela was imprisoned in 1963 on political charges.
5. President Hugo Chavez, Venezuela
Hugo Chavez was notorious for his many mistresses, though he was married only twice. In 2004, he divorced his second wife, Venezuelan radio journalist Marisabel Rodriguez, with her accusing him of infidelity and him attributing their split to her bad temper.
6. Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou, Greece
Before Andreas Papandreou assumed office, adultery was illegal in Greece. He swiftly reversed that law and, unsurprisingly, divorced his wife of 38 years, Margaret, in 1989 to marry his younger mistress, Dimitra Liani, a flight attendant more than 30 years his junior.
7. President Alberto Fujimori, Peru
The divorce between Alberto Fujimori and his wife, Susana Higuchi, in 1995 was filled with controversy. She accused his family of corruption, while he accused her of "disloyalty and blackmail." Their public dispute involved him locking her out of the presidential palace and declaring to the press that he was looking for a new wife "who is intelligent and has beautiful legs." In 2006, while in jail in Chile on corruption charges, he remarried.
8. King Henry VIII, England
One of the most famous divorces in history, King Henry VIII's split from Catherine of Aragon led to the creation of a new religion. He fell for Anne Boleyn, who was the sister of his former mistress, Mary Boleyn. After his request for an annulment was denied by Rome, Henry married Anne in 1533, making him the head of the Church of England. Anne was his second wife and the first to be executed.
Sources: Associated Press, BBC (2)(3)(4), The Guardian (2), The Huffington Post, The New York Times, Reuters, The Telegraph
More from The Week...
Everything You Need to Know about the Cronut
*
The Enigma of the Bird's Vanishing Penis
*
Here's What Antarctica Looks Like Without Ice
