Dmitry Medvedev, the man likely to be the next Russian president, fell in love with his wife when they were both teenagers, put himself through university by working as a street sweeper and calls his mother every day.

Medvedev lifted the lid on his closely guarded personal life in a six-page interview published yesterday, less than two weeks before a presidential election he is favorite to win after outgoing President Vladimir Putin endorsed him.

The interview was paid for by Medvedev's campaign and appeared to be part of an effort to give a more human face to a public persona most Russians associate with his role as a low-key bureaucrat who has spent years in Putin's shadow.