In America, the personality of the first lady is usually a subject of keen public interest. In postrevolutionary Russia, however, it has been considered almost indecent to pay too much attention to the private lives of the families of the country's leaders. We would like to flout this taboo and to present to our readers as objective a picture as possible of the intensely private Naina Yeltsina.

She has calm, serious eyes. Then you notice the high cheekbones, typical of Russian women, the auburn hair, and the unusually fresh complexion, with no trace of wrinkles.

"It always startles me whenever somebody calls me the 'first lady'; I'd rather be known simply as the president's ...