Vladimir Volfovich Zhirinovsky (Russian: Влади́мир Во́льфович Жирино́вский, born April 25, 1946 as Vladimir Volfovich Eidelstein) is a Russian politician, colonel of the Russian Army, founder and the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), Vice-Chairman of the State Duma, and a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Despite its name, the LDPR is often described as an ultra-nationalist party.

Zhirinovsky was born in Alma-Ata, the former capital of the then-Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan. In July 1964, Zhirinovsky moved from Alma-Ata to Moscow, where he began his studies in the Department of Turkish Studies, Institute of Asian and African Studies at Moscow State University (MSU), from which he graduated in 1969. Zhirinovsky then went into military service in Tbilisi during the early 1970s. He would later get a law degree and work at various posts in state committees and unions. He was awarded a Ph.D. in philosophy by MSU in 1998.

Although he participated in some underground reformist groups, Zhirinovsky was largely inconsequential in Soviet political developments during the 1980s. While he contemplated a role in politics, a nomination attempt for a seat as a People's Deputy in 1989 was quickly abandoned.