Boris Yeltsin was the first freely elected President of Russia. He voluntarily resigned from the post after nine years, leaving the job to Putin.

Boris Karloff was an English-born actor who played the monster in Frankenstein and became synonymous with horror films of the 1930s.

Russian Boris Spassky held the title of World Chess Champion until his loss to American Bobby Fischer in the 1972 "Match of the Century."

Boris Pasternak was a Russian novelist and poet who wrote the epic Dr. Zhivago.

German tennis great Boris Becker became the youngest men's champion in history with his victory at Wimbledon as a 17-year-old in 1985.

Boris Godunov was a Russian statesman who was chief adviser to Tsar Fyodor I and was himself elected tsar after the extinction of the Rurik dynasty.