Maria Putina

Born on Apr. 28, 1985, Maria studied biology at St. Petersburg University and medicine at Moscow State University. According to Russian and Western media reports, she married a Dutch businessman called Jorrit Joost Faassen. Some reports claimed she lived in the Netherlands for a while, but this could not be confirmed. Earlier this year, Putin said both his daughters were living in Moscow, but gave no further details. Maria now uses the surname Faassen, and under that name she is pursuing a biomedical career specialising in the endocrine system, which controls the body’s hormones, according to academic listings and publications. On the website of Istina, a directory of scholars and their work at Moscow State University, she is listed as co-author of five studies published in the past two years, with titles including “The status of blood antioxidant system in patients with active acromegaly.” She is also the co-author of a book about “Idiopathic stunting” in children, published earlier this year by Lambert Academic Publishing. Maria is a PhD candidate at the Endocrinology Research Centre in Moscow, which runs a charity project, Alfa-Endo, that helps children affected by endocrine ailments. The project’s website includes a presentation by Maria.