Leonid ( ; ; ) is a Slavic version of the given name Leonidas. The French version is Leonide. People with the name include: Leonid Andreyev (1871–1919), Russian playwright and short-story writer who led the Expressionist movement in the national literature Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982), leader of the USSR from 1964 to 1982 Leonid Buryak (b. 1953), USSR/Ukraine-born Olympic-medal-winning soccer player and coach Leonid Bykov (1928–1979), Soviet and Ukrainian actor, film director, and script writer Leonid Desyatnikov (b. 1955), Soviet and Russian opera and film composer Leonid Feodorov (1879–1935), a bishop and Exarch for the Russian Catholic Church, and survivor of the Gulag Leonid Filatov (1946–2003), Soviet and Russian actor, director, poet, and pamphleteer Leonid Gaidai, (1923–1993), Soviet comedy film director Leonid Geishtor (b. 1936), USSR (Belarus)-born Olympic champion Canadian pairs sprint canoer Leonid Gobyato (1875–1915), Russian lieutenant-general and designer of the modern, man-portable mortar Leonid Hurwicz (1917–2008), Russian-born American economist and mathematician who shared the 2007 Nobel Prize in Economics Leonid Ivanov (disambiguation), several people Leonid Kadeniuk (b. 1951), first and only astronaut of independent Ukraine to fly into outer space Leonid Kharitonov (singer) (1933–2017), Soviet and Russian bass-baritone singer Leonid Khrushchev (1917–1943), missing aviator Leonid Kogan (1924–1982), Soviet and Russian violinist Leonid Kantorovich (1912–1986) Soviet and Russian mathematician, economist, and only winner from the USSR of the Nobel Prize in Economics Leonid Kolumbet (b. 1937), Soviet and Ukrainian Olympic cyclist Leonid Kostandov (1915–1984), Soviet politician Leonid Krasin (1870–1926), Soviet and Russian engineer and politician Leonid Kravchuk (1934–2022), Ukrainian politician and first President of Ukraine Leonid Krupnik (b. 1979), Ukrainian-born American-Israeli former soccer player and current soccer coach Leonid Kuchma (b. 1938), second President of Ukraine Leonid Kuravlyov (1936–2022), Soviet and Russian actor Leonid Levin (b. 1948), Soviet-American computer scientist Leonid Fyodorovich Myasin, French transliteration: Léonide Massine (1896–1979), Russian choreographer and ballet dancer Leonid Mezheritski (1930–2007), Soviet and Israeli still-life, portrait and landscape painter Leonid Moseyev (b. 1952), Soviet and Russian long-distance runner Leonid Pasternak (1862–1945), Russian Impressionist painter Leonid Reiman (or Reyman) (b. 1957), Russian businessman and government official, currently Minister of Communications and Information Technologies of the Russian Federation Leonid Rozhetskin, (1966–20??), Russian-American financier and lawyer who disappeared in 2008; remains found in 2013 Leonid Sagayduk (1929–1998), Soviet swimmer Leonid Sigal, Russian violinist and conductor Leonid Sobinov (1872–1934), Russian opera singer Leonid Stadnyk (1970–2014), Ukrainian man named "world's tallest living man" by Guinness World Records 2008 Leonid Stein