Volodymyr Zelenskyy was born on January 25, 1978, in Kryvyi Rih, in the Dnipropetrovsk region of Ukraine. He graduated in law from the Kyiv National University of Economics, earning a qualification as a lawyer, although he chose not to pursue a legal career. Instead, he was drawn to the entertainment industry and began working as an actor, screenwriter, and artistic director of the Kvartal 95 comedy group between 1997 and 2003.
From 2003 to 2011, Zelensky served as the artistic director of Kvartal 95 Studios, before taking on the role of chief producer at Inter TV. He later returned to Kvartal 95 Studio LLC as artistic director, a position he held from 2013 to 2019. During this time, he also founded the popular comedy competition League of Laughter, starred in ten feature films, and won more than 30 national television awards (“Teletriumph”), along with numerous distinctions from film and television festivals both in Ukraine and abroad.
His breakthrough came with the television series Servant of the People, in which he played a modest teacher who unexpectedly becomes president of Ukraine. The show’s success resonated deeply with the public and eventually inspired the creation of a political party of the same name, officially registered in March 2018. Capitalizing on this momentum, Zelensky ran for office and won the presidential election on April 21, 2019, marking a remarkable transition from actor and producer to head of state.