 He became President on June 12, 1991, and was re-elected three times, on March 24, 1996, on March 25, 2001, and on March 25, 2005.Shaimiev was born in the village of Anyakovo, in Aktanyshsky District of the Tatar ASSR.He graduated from the Kazan Agricultural Institute in 1959, and worked as an agricultural engineer.