Marie Yovanovitch
Canadian-American diplomat (born 1958) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Marie Louise "Masha" Yovanovitch (born November 11, 1958) is a Canadian-American former diplomat and retired senior member of the United States Foreign Service.[1][2] She served in multiple State Department posts, including Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs (2004–2005), U.S. Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan (2005–2008), U.S. Ambassador to Armenia (2008–2011), Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs (2012–2013), and Ambassador to Ukraine (2016–2019). Yovanovitch is a diplomat in residence at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University.[3][4] On January 31, 2020, it was reported that she had retired from the State Department.[5][6]
Marie Yovanovitch | |
---|---|
United States Ambassador to Ukraine | |
In office August 29, 2016 – May 20, 2019 | |
President | Barack Obama Donald Trump |
Preceded by | Geoffrey Pyatt |
Succeeded by | Bridget Brink (2022) |
United States Ambassador to Armenia | |
In office September 22, 2008 – June 9, 2011 | |
President | George W. Bush Barack Obama |
Preceded by | John Evans |
Succeeded by | John Heffern |
United States Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan | |
In office February 4, 2005 – February 4, 2008 | |
President | George W. Bush |
Preceded by | Stephen Young |
Succeeded by | Tatiana Gfoeller |
Personal details | |
Born | Marie Louise Yovanovitch (1958-11-11) November 11, 1958 (age 65) Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
Education | Princeton University (BA) National Defense University (MS) |
While ambassador to Ukraine, Yovanovitch was the target of a conspiracy-driven smear campaign, amplified by President Donald Trump and his allies.[7] In May 2019, Trump abruptly recalled Yovanovitch from her post following claims by Trump surrogates that she was undermining Trump's efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate his political rival, former vice president and 2020 U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden.[8][9] Yovanovitch's removal preceded a July 2019 phone call by Trump in which he attempted to pressure Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to investigate Biden.[10] Following a whistleblower complaint about the phone call and attempts to cover it up, an impeachment inquiry against Trump was initiated by the U.S. House of Representatives. Yovanovitch testified in several House committee depositions in the inquiry.[11][12]