Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov (Russian: Серге́й Ви́кторович Лавро́в, pronounced ; born 21 March 1950) is a Russian diplomat and politician. In office since 2004, he is the Foreign Minister of Russia. Previously, he was the Russian Representative to the UN, serving in the role from 1994 to 2004.
Lavrov was born on 21 March 1950 in Moscow, to an Armenian father and a Russian mother from Georgia. His mother worked in the Soviet Ministry for Foreign Trade. Lavrov graduated from high school with a silver medal. Since his favorite class was physics, he planned to enter either the National Research Nuclear University or the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, but he entered the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) and graduated in 1972.
During his education at the MGIMO, Lavrov studied international relations. Soon he learned Sinhalese, then the only official language of Sri Lanka, as well as Dhivehi, the official language of the Maldives. Moreover, Lavrov learned English and French, but has stated that he is unable to speak the French language fluently. After he was admitted to the university, Lavrov, along with other students, was sent for a month to build the Ostankino Tower.