Tyazhlov was born in the city of
Kopeysk in the
South Ural. Before entering politics, he worked in construction organizations in the Chelyabinsk, Orenburg and Moscow regions. He graduated from the
Chelyabinsk Polytechnic Institute in 1964. From 1959 to 1969 he worked as a fitter at the Kopeysk Coal trust, as a bricklayer at the Chelyabinsk Civil Construction trust, then as a foreman, technologist, shop manager, head of department, chief engineer of the Orenburg precast concrete plant. Until August 1991 he was a member of the
CPSU. In 1990–91 — Chairman of the executive committee of the Moscow Regional Council. On 16 October 1991, by decree of the President of Russia
Boris Yeltsin, Tyazhlov was appointed
Head of Administration of Moscow Oblast. On 17 December 1995, he was
elected Governor of Moscow Oblast. Tyazhlov was politically close to Boris Yeltsin,
Viktor Chernomyrdin and
Yury Luzhkov, and he supported the integration between Moscow City and Moscow Oblast. In 1993 he was
elected as a deputy of the first
Federation Council (1994–96). In 1996–99 he was an
ex officio member of the second Federation Council. On 19 December 1999, at the
second gubernatorial elections, he came fourth (13% of the vote) and dropped out of the race. Tyazhlov also ran for the
3rd State Duma from the
Fatherland – All Russia bloc and became one of the deputies of the lower house (1999–2003). He died on July 28, 2008, at the age of 65. == References ==