Soviet party and state, as well as Russian public figure. General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee (1985-1991), President of the USSR (1990-1991).

Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev was born on March 2, 1931 in the village of Medvezhensky district of the North Caucasus region of the RSFSR (now in) in the family of MTS machine operator Sergei Andreevich Gorbachev (1909-1976).

In the village of Privolnoye, M. S. Gorbachev graduated from a seven-year school. In 1946 he joined the Komsomol. During the harvest of 1946, he worked as a helmsman for his father, a combine operator. At the age of 16 (1947) he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor for high-threshing grain on a combine harvester. In 1950 he graduated from school No. 1 in the village with a silver medal.

In 1950-1955, M. S. Gorbachev studied at the Faculty of Law of Moscow state university them. M. V. Lomonosov. He actively participated in the activities of the Komsomol organization of the university, and in 1952 he joined the CPSU.

In 1955, M. S. Gorbachev was sent to work at the Stavropol Regional Prosecutor's Office. In 1955-1956, he served as deputy head of the agitation and propaganda department of the Stavropol regional committee of the Komsomol, then in 1956-1958 he was the first secretary of the Stavropol city Komsomol committee, in 1958-1962 - the second and first secretary of the regional committee of the Komsomol.

In 1962, M. S. Gorbachev went to work in party bodies. His party career began with the position of party organizer of the Stavropol Territorial Production Agricultural Administration. In 1967, he graduated in absentia from the Stavropol Agricultural Institute.

In December 1962, M. S. Gorbachev was approved as head of the department of organizational and party work of the Stavropol rural regional committee of the CPSU. From September 1966, he served as first secretary of the Stavropol city party committee, in August 1968 he was elected second, and in April 1970 - first secretary of the Stavropol regional committee of the CPSU. In 1971, M. S. Gorbachev became a member of the CPSU Central Committee. While in these posts, M. S. Gorbachev met and. He developed a close and trusting relationship with the latter.

In November 1978, M. S. Gorbachev became Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee on issues of the agro-industrial complex, in 1979 - a candidate member, in 1980 - a member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee. After his death in March 1985, M. S. Gorbachev was elected General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee.

Having headed the Soviet state, M. S. Gorbachev initiated a radical reform of the party-state organism. The political course he proclaimed was called “perestroika,” which involved “improving socialism.” In May 1985, speaking at the party and economic activist meeting, the Secretary General did not hide the fact that the country’s economic growth rate had decreased and put forward the slogan “accelerate socio-economic development.” Gorbachev received support for his policy statements at the XXVII Congress of the CPSU (1986) and at the June (1987) plenum of the CPSU Central Committee.

In 1986-1987, hoping to awaken the initiative of the masses, M. S. Gorbachev and his supporters set a course for the development of glasnost and democratization of all sides public life. Since 1988, the process of creating initiative groups in support of perestroika, popular fronts, and other non-state and non-party organizations has been in full swing. public organizations. With the beginning of the processes of democratization and the reduction of party control in the Soviet Union, numerous interethnic contradictions came to light, resulting in interethnic clashes in some regions of the country.

In March 1989, elections of people's deputies of the USSR took place. Many intellectuals came to the deputy corps, critically assessing the role of the CPSU in society. The Congress of People's Deputies in May 1989 demonstrated a fierce confrontation between various currents both in society and among the parliamentarians. At this congress, M. S. Gorbachev was elected Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

In 1990, power passed from the CPSU to the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR - the first parliament in Soviet history elected on an alternative basis in free democratic elections. On March 15, 1990, the Congress elected M. S. Gorbachev as President of the USSR.

In international relations, M. S. Gorbachev pursued an active policy of détente based on the principles of “new thinking” that he formulated. His activity in this area made him one of the key figures in world politics at the end of the twentieth century. During 1985-1991, there was a radical change in relations between the West and the USSR - a transition from military and ideological confrontation to dialogue and the formation of partnership relations. The activities of M. S. Gorbachev played a decisive role in ending the Cold War and the nuclear arms race. In 1989, on the initiative of M. S. Gorbachev, the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan began, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany occurred. M. S. Gorbachev’s contribution to character change international development was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (October 15, 1990).

However, in domestic policy, especially in the economy, there were signs of a serious crisis. The shortage of food and everyday goods has increased. Since 1989, the process of disintegration has been in full swing political system Soviet Union. Attempts to stop this process by force (in Tbilisi, Baku, Vilnius, Riga) led to directly opposite results, strengthening centrifugal tendencies. The leaders of the opposition Interregional Deputy Group (A.D. Sakharov and others) organized rallies of thousands in their support. In the first half of 1990, almost all union republics declared their state sovereignty (RSFSR - June 12, 1990).

In the summer of 1991, a new union treaty was prepared for signing. Attempt coup d'etat in August 1991 not only crossed out the prospect of its signing, but also gave a powerful impetus to the beginning of the collapse of the state. On December 8, 1991, a meeting of the leaders of Ukraine and Belarus took place in Belovezhskaya Pushcha (Belarus), during which a document was signed on the liquidation of the USSR and the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). On December 25, 1991, M. S. Gorbachev announced his resignation as President of the USSR.

Since the early 1990s, M. S. Gorbachev has been involved in social activities. From 1992 to the present, he has been president of the International Foundation for Socio-Economic and Political Science Research (Gorbachev Foundation).

Age - 87 years old, zodiac sign - Pisces, place of birth - the village of Privolnoye, Stavropol Territory.

Mikhail Gorbachev does not need any special introduction, because his activities as president of the country are already part of not only Russian, but also world history. Where do future presidents come from?

Before big politics

The leader's parents were simple peasants; the family lived modestly, without luxury. In the 40s, the Gorbachevs found themselves under German occupation, which left an indelible mark on Misha’s soul.

A 13-year-old boy studied and worked hard - tractor mechanic, combine operator.

According to the recollections of fellow villagers, the young man was not afraid of any work, which is probably why he was awarded the Order of TKZ after he exceeded the plan for harvesting grain crops.

Despite his labor exploits, Gorbachev devoted most of his time to study. It is not surprising that after graduating from school, the silver medalist easily became a student at the Faculty of Law of Moscow State University.

At the age of 21 he became a member of the Communist Party, and upon graduation educational institution was appointed secretary of the Stavropol city committee of the Komsomol.

The path to big politics

Since then, Mikhail decided to build political career, which developed very dynamically. At 31, he became party organizer of the agricultural department in Stavropol. Focusing on work skills and work qualities, he showed himself to be a good business executive and a promising manager.

Good harvests allowed Gorbachev to take the post of ideologist for the development of the agricultural sector. Steps of the career ladder quickly replaced one another:

• at 43, Gorbachev became head of the Commission on Youth Problems;
• at 47 years old - Secretary of the Central Committee;
• at 49 - member of the Politburo, reformed the market economy and political system.

“Global reformer”—that’s what those around him called Mikhail Sergeevich. It is not surprising that in 1985 he was elected General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. The main course was aimed at democratizing society, later it was called “perestroika”.

The country was in deep stagnation when Gorbachev began to carry out fundamental changes.

He stopped the war in Afghanistan, introduced a ban on the purchase of alcohol and self-financing, suspended the long-term cold war, and weakened censorship. However, the leader did not have a clear plan for reform, which ultimately led to the collapse of one of the superpowers.

As President

Experts are sure: Gorbachev’s main mistake is inconsistent economic reforms, which aggravated the crisis in the country and, as a result, led to a decline in the living standards of the population. However, in 1990, presidential elections in the USSR took place, in which Gorbachev won a landslide victory.

Meanwhile, the situation continued to remain tense. Empty shelves and total shortages are the main signs of that time.

In 1991, Gorbachev's allies State Emergency Committee was created. As a result, Mikhail Sergeevich resigned during an armed coup.

In 1991, an agreement was signed in Belovezhskaya Pushcha on the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States, which in reality meant the complete collapse of the USSR. Subsequently, Gorbachev was engaged in purely public work, heading a foundation for socio-economic and political research, which finances with its own funds and attracts international investment.

Many people today criticize Mikhail Sergeevich for the collapse of the country, but the first and only president of the USSR himself denies this.

Today he supports well Russian President , however, warns that recent events could lead to a worsening of relations between the Russian Federation and the EU, and the threat of a nuclear confrontation.

A little about personal

Mikhail Sergeevich met his future and only wife at a dance. He liked the modesty and inner attractiveness of Raisa Titarenko. They married in 1953 and lived happily ever after. Raisa Gorbacheva was considered the most stylish first lady of the country. Many women of those years tried to imitate her and copied her outfits.

The misfortune happened in 1999, after a long illness, Raisa Maksimovna passed away... The couple had a daughter, Irina, who lives in Russia.

Mikhail Sergeevich’s health is unstable, as he was diagnosed with a severe form of diabetes. Despite this, Gorbachev continues to engage in creative activity, actively writes and publishes books and scientific articles.

For a long time he lived in Germany, but today he moved to Russia, closer to his relatives and two granddaughters who are married.

At a meeting with Moscow State University students in 2016, the leader said that it was he who destroyed the USSR. Because of harsh statements about Crimea, Gorbachev banned from entering Ukraine, however, Mikhail Sergeevich himself said that he was not going there in the near future.

One of his latest autobiographical books is called “Remaining an Optimist,” and it is impossible to doubt this.

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev
Born: March 2, 1931

Biography

Born on March 2, 1931 in the village of Privolnoye, Medvedensky district, Stavropol region (North Caucasus region), into a peasant family. Father - Gorbachev Sergei Andreevich (1909-1976), Russian. Mother - Gopkalo Maria Panteleevna (1911-1993), Ukrainian. Paternal grandfather, Andrei Moiseevich, individual peasant; for failure to fulfill the sowing plan in 1934 he was sent into exile in the Irkutsk region. Maternal grandfather, Panteley Efimovich Gopkalo (1894-1953), came from peasants in the Chernigov province, was the eldest of 5 children, lost his father at the age of 13, and later moved to Stavropol. He became the chairman of a collective farm and was arrested in 1937 on charges of Trotskyism. While under investigation, he spent 14 months in prison and endured torture and abuse. Panteley Efimovich was saved from execution by a change in the “party line”, the February 1938 plenum, dedicated to the “fight against excesses.” As a result, in September 1938, the head of the GPU of the Krasnogvardeisky district shot himself, and Panteley Efimovich was acquitted and released. Mikhail Gorbachev stated that his grandfather’s stories were one of the factors that inclined him to reject the Soviet regime. During the war, when Mikhail was more than 10 years old, his father went to the front. After some time, German troops entered the village, and the family spent more than five months under occupation. January 21-22, 1943 liberated by Soviet troops by attack from near Ordzhonikidze. After his release, a notification came that his father had died a heroic death. From the age of 13, he combined his studies at school with periodic work at MTS and on a collective farm. From the age of 15 he worked as an assistant combine operator at a machine and tractor station. In 1948 he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor as a noble combine operator. In the 10th grade, at the age of 19, he became a candidate member of the CPSU, recommendations were given by the school director and teachers. In 1950, he entered M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University without exams. After graduating from the Faculty of Law of Moscow State University in 1955, he was sent to Stavropol to the regional prosecutor's office, but did not work as assigned. He worked as Deputy Head of the Agitation and Propaganda Department of the Stavropol Regional Committee of the Komsomol, First Secretary of the Stavropol City Komsomol Committee, then Second and First Secretary of the Regional Committee of the Komsomol (1955-1962). In 1953 he married Raisa Maksimovna Titarenko (1932-1999). In 1952 he was accepted into the CPSU. Since March 1962 - party organizer of the regional committee of the CPSU of the Stavropol territorial production collective and state farm administration. In November 1961 he was a delegate to the XXII Congress of the CPSU. Since 1963 - head of the department of party bodies of the Stavropol Regional Committee of the CPSU. In September 1966, he was elected first secretary of the Stavropol City Party Committee. Graduated from the Faculty of Economics of the Stavropol Agricultural Institute (in absentia, 1967) with a degree in agronomist-economist. Twice Gorbachev’s candidacy was considered for joining the KGB. In 1966, he was proposed for the post of head of the KGB department of the Stavropol Territory, but his candidacy was rejected by V. Semichastny. In 1969, Yu. Andropov considered Gorbachev as a possible candidate for the post of deputy chairman of the KGB of the USSR. From August 1968, the second, and from April 1970, the first secretary of the Stavropol Regional Committee of the CPSU. In 1970, he was elected a member of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, where until 1974 he was a member Commission for Nature Protection of one of the chambers, then until 1979 Chairman of the Commission on Youth Affairs of the Union Council of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. In 1973, Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Peter Demichev made him an offer to head the propaganda department of the CPSU Central Committee, where for several years Alexander Yakovlev was acting director. After consulting with Mikhail Suslov, Gorbachev refused. According to the testimony of the former chairman of the State Planning Committee Baibakov, he offered Gorbachev the post of his deputy on issues Agriculture.After the removal of Politburo member Dmitry Polyansky from the post of Minister of Agriculture of the USSR (1976), Gorbachev’s mentor Kulakov spoke about the post of Minister of Agriculture, but Valentin Mesyats was appointed minister. The administrative department of the CPSU Central Committee proposed Gorbachev for the post of Prosecutor General of the USSR instead of R.A. Rudenko, but Gorbachev’s candidacy was rejected by member of the Politburo, Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee A.P. Kirilenko. In 1971-1992 he was a member of the CPSU Central Committee. According to Gorbachev himself, he was patronized by Yuri Andropov, who contributed to his transfer to Moscow. In November 1978, he was elected secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. From 1979 to 1980 - candidate member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee. Chairman of the Commission for Legislative Proposals of the Council of the Union of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in 1979-1984. In the early 80s, he made a series of foreign visits, during which he met Margaret Thatcher and became friends with Alexander Yakovlev, who then headed the Soviet embassy in Canada. From October 1980 to June 1992 - member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, from December 1989 to June 1990 - Chairman of the Russian Bureau of the CPSU Central Committee, from March 11, 1985 to August 24, 1991 - General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. On March 15, 1990, Mikhail Gorbachev was elected President of the USSR. At the same time, until December 1991, he was Chairman of the USSR Defense Council, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Armed Forces THE USSR. Reserve colonel. During the events of August 1991, he was removed from power by the State Emergency Committee, led by Vice-President Gennady Yanaev, and isolated in Foros; after the arrest of members of the State Emergency Committee, he returned from vacation to his post, which he held until the collapse of the USSR in December 1991. He was elected as a delegate. XXII (1961), XXIV (1971) and all subsequent (1976, 1981, 1986, 1990) congresses of the CPSU. From 1970 to 1989 he was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 8th-11th convocations. Member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from 1985 to 1990; Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from October 1988 to May 1989. Chairman of the Commission on Youth Affairs of the Union Council of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (1974-1979); Chairman of the Commission for Legislative Proposals of the Council of the Union of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (1979-1984); Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Council of the Union of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (1984-1985); People's Deputy of the USSR from the CPSU - 1989 (March) - 1990 (March); Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (formed by the Congress of People's Deputies) - 1989 (May) - 1990 (March); Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR of the 10th-11th convocations (1980-1990). On November 4, 1991, the head of the department for supervision over the implementation of laws on state security of the USSR Prosecutor General's Office, Viktor Ilyukhin, opened a criminal case against M. S. Gorbachev under Article 64 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR (Treason Motherland) in connection with the signing of resolutions of the USSR State Council of September 6, 1991 on granting independence to Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia; USSR Prosecutor General Nikolai Trubin closed the case, and two days later Ilyukhin was fired from the prosecutor's office. On June 13, 1992, convened with the permission of the Constitutional Court of the RSFSR, the plenum of the CPSU Central Committee expelled M. S. Gorbachev from the party. After the signing of the Belovezhskaya Agreement (overcoming Gorbachev’s objections), and the actual denunciation of the union treaty, on December 25, 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as head states. From January 1992 to the present - President of the International Foundation for Socio-Economic and Political Science Research (Gorbachev Foundation). At the same time, from March 1993 to 1996 - President, and since 1996 - Chairman of the Board of the International Green Cross. In September 1993, he condemned the unconstitutional dissolution of the Congress of People's Deputies and the Supreme Council of the RSFSR, describing the actions of President Boris Yeltsin as “stupid and undemocratic” and called on him “before it’s too late” to cancel his decree on the dissolution of the Congress and the Supreme Council. He supported the idea of ​​early elections of the president and people's deputies of Russia. The real cause of the crisis Gorbachev called the failure of the economic policy pursued by the President and the Supreme Council of Russia since the end of 1991. Ex-president The USSR criticized the bias of the media, especially television, in covering events. In 1994, Gorbachev visited Vladislav Listyev live on the Rush Hour program. Excerpt from their conversation: - Mikhail Sergeevich, tell me, do you now intend to return... to politics, or to run for President of Russia? - I am often asked this. So Raisa Maksimovna suggested something similar the other day... And I thought: What? And I firmly decided: I will run for President. - And then? - And then, as the people decide. After his resignation, he complained that he was “blocked in everything,” that his family was constantly “under the surveillance” of the FSB, that his phones were constantly tapped, that he could only publish his books in Russia “underground”, in small editions. In 1996, he exhibited his candidacy for the presidential elections Russian Federation and according to the voting results he received 386,069 votes (0.51%). In 2000, he became the head of the Russian United Social Democratic Party, which in 2001 merged with the Social Democratic Party of Russia (SDPR); from 2001 to 2004 - leader of the SDPR. On July 12, 2007, SDPR was liquidated (deregistered) by decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. On October 20, 2007, he became the head of the All-Russian public movement “Union of Social Democrats.” In 2008, in an interview with Vladimir Pozner on the first TV channel, Gorbachev said: - I regret now: I should not have left for Foros in August 1991. I think that Soviet Union would have been preserved... Just as there was another mistake - that I did not send Yeltsin forever to some country to procure bananas after the well-known processes when the Plenum demanded: “Exclude Yeltsin from the membership of the Central Committee!” - But I’ll tell you: we all made mistakes three more times. We were late in reforming the party. Secondly, we are late in reforming the Union. And third... When things got tight here, especially after 1989, in 1990 - when the whole country was in queues and we didn’t have enough goods to satisfy these requests, when we could get broken in line for Italian shoes... It was necessary to find 10-15 billion dollars. They could be found... In a 2009 interview with Euronews, Gorbachev reiterated that his plan did not “fail”, but on the contrary, then “democratic reforms began” and that perestroika won. If in the first years of Putin's reign Gorbachev supported him, then he began to be more and more critical of Putin’s policies. In January 2008, in interview The New York Times, Gorbachev severely criticized the state of the Russian electoral system. He called for a radical reform of the system in which all power is in the hands of the president’s entourage Putin. “There is something wrong with our elections, and our electoral system needs serious adjustment,” the former Soviet president said. In February 2011, in an interview with Radio Liberty, Gorbachev again formulated the main complaints against the “tandem”: the rollback of democracy, corruption and the dominance of security officers. Gorbachev is also dissatisfied with the fact that he was not allowed to register his Social Democratic Party. On March 2, 2011, on his 80th birthday, by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation D. Medvedev, he was awarded the Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called. March 2, 2013, in a congratulatory telegram on the occasion of the 82nd birthday of the former Soviet leader Russian President V. Putin noted significant initiatives Gorbachev in the field of international cooperation and his desire to strengthen Russia’s authority in the world.

Awards and honorary titles

USSR - Russian Federation

Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called (March 2, 2011) - for great personal contribution to strengthening peace and friendship between peoples and many years of fruitful social activities
Order of Honor (February 28, 2001) - for his great contribution to the development of democratic reforms and in connection with his seventieth birthday
Order of Lenin - August 27, 1971, No. 401067 - for the successes achieved in the development of agricultural production, the implementation of the five-year plan for the sale of agricultural and livestock products to the state
Order of Lenin - December 7, 1973, No. 421714 - for successes achieved in the All-Union Socialist Competition and demonstrated labor valor in carrying out accepted obligations to increase production and sales to the state of grain and other agricultural products in 1973
Order of Lenin - February 28, 1981, No. 458897 - for great services to Communist Party and the Soviet state and in connection with the fiftieth anniversary of the birth
Order of the Red Banner of Labor - April 16, 1949, No. 88292 - for excellence in harvesting with the Stalinets-6 combine, which threshed 8854.14 centners of grain crops from the area harvested by it in 20 working days
Order of the October Revolution - February 22, 1978, No. 52596 - for the successes achieved in the All-Union Socialist Competition and demonstrated labor valor in fulfilling plans and socialist obligations to increase production and sales to the state of grain and other agricultural products in 1977
Order of the Badge of Honor - March 22, 1966, No. 207556 - for achievements in the development of livestock farming, increasing the production and procurement of meat, milk, eggs, wool and other products
Medal "For Labor Valor" - January 11, 1957
Medal "For Strengthening the Military Commonwealth" - June 2, 1980
Medal "In memory of the 1500th anniversary of Kyiv" - 1982
Jubilee medal "Forty years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War" Patriotic War 1941-1945." - April 23, 1985

Yugoslavia

Gold Commemorative Medal of Belgrade (Yugoslavia, March 1988)
Commemorative Medal of the Assembly of Yugoslavia (1988)

Poland

Silver medal of the Sejm of the People's Republic of Poland for outstanding contribution to the development and strengthening of international cooperation, friendship and interaction between the People's Republic of Poland and the USSR (Poland, July 1988)
Warsaw Commemorative Medal (1986)

Bulgaria

Medal “100 years since the birth of Georgiy Dimitrov” (1984)
Medal "40 years since
socialist Bulgaria" (1984)

France

Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters (1997)
Commemorative Medal of the Sorbonne (Paris, July 1989)

Vatican

Vatican Commemorative Medal (December 1, 1989)

Italy

Commemorative Medal of the Municipality of Rome (November 1989)
Award "Courageous Mind - Smart Courage" (May 22, 2009). Mikhail Gorbachev was awarded the "courage" award, while the late US President Ronald Reagan was posthumously awarded the "intelligence" award.

USA

“Medal of Freedom named after. Franklin Delano Roosevelt" (Washington, June 1990)
International Statesman Award from the Philadelphia Council on World Affairs (USA, 1993)
“Gateway of Freedom” Commemorative Award in honor of the 10th anniversary of the Jews of the former USSR being given the opportunity to emigrate freely (Israel Bonds, New York, 1998)
"Medal of Freedom" for 2008, awarded by the National Constitution Center of the United States, with the wording "for his courageous role in ending the Cold War." The medal was presented by US President George W. Bush at a ceremony in Philadelphia on September 18, dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Grammy Award: Mikhail Gorbachev and Bill Clinton - for scoring the musical fairy tale “Peter and the Wolf” 2004

Israel

"Star of the Hero" Ben-Gurion University (Israel, 1992)
Doctor of Philosophy Honoris causa of the University. Bar-Ilana (Israel, 1992)

Greece

Gold medal of the National Technical University of Athens "Prometheus" (Greece, 1993)
Gold medal of Thessaloniki (Greece, 1993)

Spain

Prince of Asturias Award (Spain, 1989)
Gold Badge of the University of Oviedo (Spain, 1994)

The Republic of Korea

Order of the Association of Latin American Unity in Korea "Grand Cross of Simon Bolivar for Unity and Freedom" (Republic of Korea, 1994)

San Marino

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Agatha (San Marino, 1994)

Portugal

Grand Cross of the Order of Liberty (Portugal, 6 September 1995)

Czech

Grand Cross of the Order White Lion(Czech Republic, 1999)

Dominican Republic

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Christopher Columbus (July 2001)

Ranks

Honorary Member Russian Academy arts

Honorary titles:

Honorary Doctor humanities University of Virginia (USA, 1993)
Honorary Doctorate in Leadership from the Jepson School of Leadership (Richmond, USA, 1993)
Honorary Doctorate from the Faculty of Law of the University of Westphalia (Münster, Germany, 2005)

Honorary degrees:

Autonomous University of Madrid (Spain, Madrid, October 1990)
Complutense University (Spain, Madrid, October 1990)
University of Buenos Aires (Argentina, 1992)
University of Cuyo (Mendoza, Argentina 1992)
University of C. Mendes (Brazil, 1992)
University of Chile (Chile, 1992)
University of Anahuac (Mexico, 1992) Bar-Ilan University (Israel, 1992)
Ben-Gurion University (Israel, 1992) Emory University (Atlanta, USA, 1992)
Pandion University (Piraeus, Greece, 1993)
Institute of International Law and international relations at the Aristotelian University (Thessaloniki, Greece, 1993)
Faculty of Law, Aristotle University (Thessaloniki, Greece, 1993)
University of Bristol (England, 1993)
University of Calgary (Canada, 1993)
Carleton University (Canada, 1993)
Soka Gakkai International (Pres. Ikeda) (Japan, 1993)
Kung Khi University (Republic of Korea, 1995)
Durnham University (England, 1995)
Modern University of Lisbon (Portugal, 1995)
Soka University (Japan, 1997)
University of Tromso (Norway, 1998)

Honorary citizen of the cities:

Badolatos (province of Seville, Spain, 1987) - honorary member of the municipality
Terrazine (Sicily, Italy, 1987)
Berlin (Germany, 1992)
Aberdeen (UK, 1993)
Piraeus (Greece, 1993)
Florence (Italy, 1994)
Sesto San Giovanni (Italy, 1995)
Kardamily (Chios Island, Greece, 1995)
El Paso (Key to the City) (USA, 1998)
Terni (Italy, 2001)
Dublin (Ireland, 2002)
Quito (Ecuador, 2004)

Awards

Annual Prize of the Mexican Human Rights Movement (December 1987, Mexico)
Prize of the International Organization "World Without War" (September 1988)
International Literary Prize "Mondello" (September 1988, Italy)
Peace Prize named after Indira Gandhi Award for 1987 (awarded November 19, 1988, India)
Commemorative medal “Personality of the Year” by the international jury “Personality of the Year” (January 1989, France)
Peace Prize of the Irish organization "County Tipperary Peace Convention" (January 1989, Ireland)
Golden Dove for Peace Award for contributions to peace and disarmament (pacifist organization Italian Disarmament Documentation Center and National League of Cooperatives, Rome, November 1989)
Nobel Prize "In recognition of his leading role in the peace process, which today characterizes an important component life of the international community." (1990)
Peace Prize named after Albert Einstein for his enormous contribution to the struggle for peace and mutual understanding between peoples (Washington, June 1990)
Honorary Award "Historical Figure" to an Influential religious organization USA - “Call of Conscience Foundation” (Washington, June 1990)
Honorary title "Humanist of the Century" and Albert Schweitzer Medal of Honor (August 1990)
International Peace Prize named after. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "A Peace Without Violence 1991" for his outstanding role in the struggle for world peace and human rights (Washington, June 1990)
International Fiuggi Prize (Fiuggi Foundation, operating in Italy) as “a person whose activities in the political and social fields can serve as an exceptional example of the struggle for the promotion of human rights” (Italy, 1990)
Benjamin M. Cardoso Award for Democracy (Yeshiva University, New York, USA, 1992)
Sir Winston Churchill Award in recognition of his contribution to peace in the Middle East (UK, 1993)
La Pleiade Prize (Piacenza, Italy, 1993)
International Journalism and Literary Award (Modena, Italy, 1993)
Hero of the Year Award from the Association of Small and Medium-sized Entrepreneurs of the Province of Bologna (Italy, 1993)
International Prize "Golden Pegasus" (Tuscany, Italy, 1994)
Prize of the University of Genoa (Italy, 1995)
King David Award (USA, 1997)
Enron Baker Institute Award for Distinguished Public Service (Houston, USA, 1997)
Milestone Award from the weekly Politika (Poland, 1997)
Budapest Club Prize (Frankfurt am Main, Germany, 1997)
Comet Prize (Germany, 1998)
International Women's Zionist Organization Award (Miami, USA, 1998)
National Freedom Award for Anti-Oppression (Memphis, USA, 1998)
Prize named after Dr. Friedrich Joseph Haas, awarded by the German-Russian Forum for special services in the field of German-Russian mutual understanding (2007)
Quadriga Prize with the formulation “Dynamism of Hope” (Berlin, Germany, 2009)
Dresden Prize for Nuclear Disarmament (Dresden, Germany, 2010)

Literary activity

"A Time for Peace" (1985)
"The Coming Century of Peace" (1986)
"Peace has no alternative" (1986)
"Moratorium" (1986)
"Selected Speeches and Articles" (vols. 1-7, 1986-1990)
“Perestroika and new thinking for our country and for the whole world” (1st ed. - 1987)
“August putsch. Causes and Effects" (1991)
“December-91. My position" (1992)
"Years of Hard Decisions" (1993)
“Life and Reforms” (2 vols., 1995)
“Reformers are never happy” (dialogue with Zdenek Mlynar, in Czech, 1995)
“I want to warn you...” (1996)
“Moral Lessons of the 20th Century” in 2 volumes (dialogue with D. Ikeda, in Japanese, German, French, 1996)
"Reflections on October revolution"(1997)
“New thinking. Politics in the era of globalization" (co-authored with V. Zagladin and A. Chernyaev, in German, 1997)
"Reflections on the Past and Future" (1998)
“Understand perestroika... Why is it important now” (2006)
“Alone with myself” (M.: Green Street, 2012)
Gorbachev’s wife, R. M. Gorbacheva, in 1991 personally agreed with the American publisher Murdoch to publish her book of “reflections” with a fee of $3 million. Some publicists believe that this was a disguised bribe, since the publication of the book was unlikely to cover the fee. In 2008 Gorbachev At the book exhibition in Frankfurt, he presented the first 5 books from his own 22-volume collected works, which will include all his publications from the 1960s until the early 1990s.

Discography

2009 - “Songs for Raisa” (Together with A.V. Makarevich)

Acting

Mikhail Gorbachev played himself (cameo) in the feature film by Wim Wenders “So Far, So Close!” (German: In weiter Ferne, so nah!; English: Faraway, So Close!; 1993), and also participated in a number of documentaries.
In 1997, he starred in an advertisement for the Pizza Hut pizzeria chain. According to the video, Gorbachev’s main achievement as head of state was the appearance of Pizza Hut in Russia.
In the 1990s, he starred in computer advertisements in the German magazine Stern.
In 2000 he starred in a commercial for National railways Austria.
In 2004, he received a Grammy Award for scoring Sergei Prokofiev’s musical fairy tale “Peter and the Wolf” (Grammy Awards of 2004, “Best Spoken Word Album for Children”, together with Sophia Loren and Bill Clinton).
In 2007, he starred in an advertisement for the leather accessories manufacturer Louis Vuitton. The same year he starred in documentary film Leonardo DiCaprio's The Eleventh Hour, which talks about environmental issues.
In 2009, he took part in the “Minute of Fame” project (member of the jury).
In 2010, he was an invited guest on a Japanese entertainment television show with a culinary focus - SMAPxSMAP.

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev
Predecessor:	Position established
Successor:	Position established
Predecessor:	The position has been created; himself as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR
Successor:	Anatoly Ivanovich Lukyanov
11th Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR October 1, 1988 - May 25, 1989
Predecessor:	Andrey Andreevich Gromyko
Successor:	The position has been abolished; himself as Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR
Predecessor:	Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko
Successor:	Vladimir Antonovich Ivashko (acting) Oleg Semenovich Shenin as Chairman of the Council of the UPC-CPSU
	1) CPSU (1952 - 1991) 2) RUSDP (2000-2001) 3) SDPR (2001 - 2007) 4) SSD (since 2007)
Education:
Profession:
Religion:
Birth:
	Sergei Andreevich Gorbachev
	Maria Panteleevna Gopkalo
	Raisa Maksimovna, born. Titarenko
	Irina Gorbacheva (Virganskaya)
Autograph:

At party work

Foreign policy

Relations with the West

Official recognition of Soviet responsibility for Katyn

Results foreign policy

The situation in Transcaucasia

Conflict in the Fergana Valley

Entry of Soviet troops into Baku

Fighting in Yerevan

Baltic conflicts

After resignation

Family, personal life

Awards and honorary titles

Nobel Prize

Literary activity

Discography

Acting

In works of culture

Interesting Facts

Nicknames

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev(March 2, 1931, Privolnoye, North Caucasus Territory) - General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee (March 11, 1985 - August 23, 1991), first and last President USSR (March 15, 1990 - December 25, 1991). Head of the Gorbachev Foundation. Since 1993, co-founder of New Daily Newspaper CJSC (see Novaya Gazeta). He has a number of awards and honorary titles, the most famous of which is the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize. Head of the Soviet State from March 11, 1985 to December 25, 1991. Gorbachev’s activities as head of the CPSU and state are associated with a large-scale attempt at reform in the USSR - perestroika, which ended with the collapse of the world socialist system and the collapse of the USSR, as well as the end of the Cold War. Russian public opinion regarding Gorbachev's role in these events is extremely polarized.

Childhood and youth

Born on March 2, 1931 in the village of Privolnoye, Krasnogvardeisky district, Stavropol Territory (then North Caucasus Territory), into a peasant family. Father - Gorbachev Sergei Andreevich (1909-1976), Russian. Mother - Gopkalo Maria Panteleevna (1911-1993), Ukrainian.

From the age of 13, he periodically combined studying at school with work at MTS and on a collective farm. From the age of 15 he worked as an assistant combine operator at a machine and tractor station. In 1948, at the age of seventeen, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor as a noble combine operator. In 1950, he entered M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University without exams. After graduating from the Faculty of Law of Moscow State University in 1955, he was sent to Stavropol to the regional prosecutor's office. He worked as Deputy Head of the Agitation and Propaganda Department of the Stavropol Regional Committee of the Komsomol, First Secretary of the Stavropol City Komsomol Committee, then Second and First Secretary of the Regional Committee of the Komsomol (1955-1962).

In 1953 he married Raisa Maksimovna Titarenko (1932-1999).

At party work

In 1952 he was admitted to the CPSU.

Since March 1962 - party organizer of the regional committee of the CPSU of the Stavropol territorial production collective and state farm administration. Since 1963 - head of the department of party bodies of the Stavropol Regional Committee of the CPSU. In September 1966, he was elected First Secretary of the Stavropol City Party Committee. Graduated from the Faculty of Economics of the Stavropol Agricultural Institute (in absentia, 1967) with a degree in agronomist-economist. From August 1968 - second, and from April 1970 - First Secretary of the Stavropol Regional Committee of the CPSU.

In 1971-1992 he was a member of the CPSU Central Committee. Gorbachev was patronized by Andropov, Yuri Vladimirovich, who contributed to his transfer to Moscow. In November 1978, he was elected Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. From 1979 to 1980 - candidate member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee. In the early 80s, he made a series of foreign visits, during which he met Margaret Thatcher and became friends with Alexander Yakovlev, who then headed the Soviet embassy in Canada. Participated in the work of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee to resolve important government issues. From October 1980 to June 1992 - member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, from December 1989 to June 1990 - Chairman of the Russian Bureau of the CPSU Central Committee, from March 1985 to August 1991 - General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee.

During the August 1991 putsch, he was removed from power by the State Emergency Committee, led by Vice-President Gennady Yanaev, and isolated in Foros; after the restoration of legitimate power, he returned from vacation to his post, which he held until the collapse of the USSR in December 1991.

He was elected as a delegate to the XXII (1961), XXIV (1971) and all subsequent (1976, 1981, 1986, 1990) congresses of the CPSU. From 1970 to 1990 he was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 8-12 convocations. Member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from 1985 to 1990; Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from October 1988 to May 1989. Chairman of the Commission on Youth Affairs of the Union Council of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (1974-1979); Chairman of the Commission for Legislative Proposals of the Council of the Union of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (1979-1984); Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Council of the Union of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (1984-1985); People's Deputy of the USSR from the CPSU - 1989 (March) - 1990 (March); Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (formed by the Congress of People's Deputies) - 1989 (May) - 1990 (March); Deputy of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR 10-11 convocations.

On March 15, 1990, Mikhail Gorbachev was elected President of the USSR. At the same time, until December 1991, he was Chairman of the USSR Defense Council and Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the USSR Armed Forces.

Activities as Secretary General and President

Being at the pinnacle of power, Gorbachev carried out numerous reforms and campaigns, which later led to a market economy, the destruction of the monopoly power of the CPSU and the collapse of the USSR. The assessment of Gorbachev's activities is contradictory.

Conservative politicians criticized him for the economic devastation, the collapse of the Union and other consequences of perestroika.

Radical politicians criticized him for the inconsistency of his reforms and his attempt to preserve the old centrally planned economy and socialism.

Many Soviet, post-Soviet and foreign politicians and journalists welcomed Gorbachev's reforms, democracy and glasnost, the end of the Cold War, and the unification of Germany. The assessment of Gorbachev’s activities abroad in the former USSR is more positive and less controversial than in the post-Soviet space.

Here short list his initiatives and events directly or indirectly associated with him:

• On April 8, 1986, M.S. visited. Gorbachev in Tolyatti, where he visited the Volzhsky Automobile Plant. The result of this visit was the decision to create an engineering enterprise on the basis of the flagship of the domestic mechanical engineering industry - an industry scientific and technical center(NTC) JSC AVTOVAZ, which was a significant event in the Soviet automobile industry. At his speech in Togliatti, Gorbachev clearly uttered the word “perestroika” for the first time; this was picked up by the media and became the slogan of the new era that had begun in the USSR.
• On May 15, 1986, a campaign began to intensify the fight against unearned income, which was locally understood as a fight against tutors, flower sellers, drivers who picked up passengers, and salespeople homemade bread in Central Asia. The campaign was soon curtailed and forgotten due to subsequent events.
• The anti-alcohol campaign in the USSR, launched on May 17, 1985, led to a 45% increase in prices for alcoholic drinks, a reduction in alcohol production, cutting down vineyards, the disappearance of sugar in stores due to moonshine and the introduction of sugar cards, an increase in life expectancy among the population, a decrease in the level of crimes committed due to alcoholism.
• Acceleration - this slogan was associated with promises to dramatically increase industry and the well-being of the people in a short time; the campaign led to an accelerated disposal of production capacity, contributed to the start of the cooperative movement and prepared perestroika.
• Perestroika with alternation of hesitant and drastic measures and countermeasures to introduce or limit market economy and democracy.
• Power reform, introduction of elections to the Supreme Council and local Councils on an alternative basis.
• Glasnost, the actual lifting of party censorship on the media.
• Suppression of local national conflicts in which the authorities took brutal measures, in particular the forceful dispersal of a youth rally in Almaty, the deployment of troops into Azerbaijan, the dispersal of demonstrations in Georgia, the unfolding of a long-term conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, the suppression of separatist aspirations of the Baltic republics.
• During the Gorbachev period there was a sharp decrease in the reproduction of the population of the USSR.
• The disappearance of food from stores, hidden inflation, the introduction of a rationing system for many types of food in 1989. The period of Gorbachev's rule was characterized by the washing out of goods from stores, as a result of pumping the economy with non-cash rubles, and subsequently by hyperinflation.
• Under Gorbachev, the Soviet Union's external debt reached a record high. Debts were taken out by Gorbachev at high interest rates - more than 8% per annum - from different countries. Russia was able to pay off the debts incurred by Gorbachev only 15 years after his resignation. At the same time, the gold reserves of the USSR decreased tenfold: from more than 2,000 tons to 200. It was officially stated that all these huge funds were spent on the purchase of consumer goods. Approximate data are as follows: 1985, external debt - 31.3 billion dollars; 1991, external debt - 70.3 billion dollars (for comparison, total amount Russian external debt as of October 1, 2008 - $540.5 billion, including state external debt in foreign currency - about 40 billion dollars, or 8% of GDP - for more details, see the article External Debt of Russia). Peak Russian government debt occurred in 1998 (146.4% of GDP).

• Reform of the CPSU, which led to the formation of several political platforms within it, and subsequently - the abolition of the one-party system and the removal of the constitutional status of the “leading and organizing force” from the CPSU.
• Rehabilitation of victims of Stalinist repressions who were not previously rehabilitated under Khrushchev.
• Weakening of control over the socialist camp (the Sinatra doctrine), which led, in particular, to a change of power in most socialist countries, the unification of Germany in 1990, the end of the Cold War (the latter in the United States is usually regarded as a victory for the American bloc).
• Ending the war in Afghanistan and the withdrawal of Soviet troops.
• The introduction of Soviet troops into Baku on the night of January 19-20, 1990, against the Popular Front of Azerbaijan. More than 130 dead, including women and children.
• Hiding the facts of the accident from the public Chernobyl nuclear power plant April 26, 1986.
• On November 7, 1990, there was an unsuccessful attempt on Gorbachev’s life.

Foreign policy

Relations with the West

Having come to power, Gorbachev tried to improve relations with the United States and Western Europe. One of the reasons for this was the desire to reduce exorbitant military spending (25% of the USSR state budget).

During the years of “perestroika,” the foreign policy of the USSR underwent serious changes. The reason for this was the slowdown in economic growth and economic stagnation in the first half of the 1980s. The Soviet Union was no longer able to withstand the arms race imposed by the United States.

During his years of rule, Gorbachev put forward many peace initiatives. An agreement was reached on the elimination of Soviet and American medium- and short-range missiles in Europe. The USSR government unilaterally declared a moratorium on nuclear weapons testing. However, peacefulness was sometimes regarded as weakness.

As the economic situation in the country worsened, the Soviet leadership considered reducing weapons and military spending as a way to solve financial problems, therefore, did not demand guarantees and adequate steps from its partners, while losing its position in the international arena.

Foreign policy of the USSR in the second half of the 1980s.

The withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the victory of democratic forces in Eastern Europe, the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the withdrawal of troops from Europe - all this became a symbol of the “loss of the USSR in the Cold War.”

On February 22, 1990, the head of the International Department of the CPSU Central Committee, V. Falin, sent a note to Gorbachev in which he reported new archival finds proving the connection between the sending of Poles from the camps in the spring of 1940 and their execution. He pointed out that the publication of such materials would completely undermine the official position of the Soviet government (about “lack of evidence” and “lack of documents”) and recommended urgently deciding on new position. In this regard, it was proposed to inform Jaruzelski that direct evidence (orders, instructions, etc.) allowing one to name the exact time and specific culprits of the Katyn tragedy had not been found, but “based on the indicated indications, it can be concluded that the death of the Polish officers in the Katyn area - the work of the NKVD and personally Beria and Merkulov."

On April 13, 1990, during Jaruzelski's visit to Moscow, a TASS statement about the Katyn tragedy was published, which read:

Gorbachev handed over to Jaruzelski the discovered NKVD transfer lists from Kozelsk, from Ostashkov and from Starobelsk.

On September 27, 1990, the Main Military Prosecutor's Office of the USSR began a criminal investigation into the murders in Katyn, which received serial number 159. The investigation started by the Main Military Prosecutor's Office of the USSR was continued by the Main Military Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation and was conducted until the end of 2004; During it, witnesses and participants in the massacres of Poles were interrogated. On September 21, 2004, the GVP announced the termination of the Katyn case.

Results of foreign policy

• easing international tensions;
• the real elimination of entire classes of nuclear weapons and the liberation of Europe from conventional weapons, the cessation of the arms race, the end of the Cold War;
• the collapse of the bipolar system of international relations, which ensured stability in the world;
• the transformation of the United States after the collapse of the USSR into the only superpower;
• a decrease in Russia's defense capability, Russia's loss of allies in Eastern Europe and the Third World.

Interethnic conflicts and forceful solutions to problems

December events in Kazakhstan

December events (Kaz. Zheltoksan - December) - youth protests in Almaty and Karaganda that occurred on December 16-20, 1986, which began with Gorbachev’s decision to remove from office the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan, Dinmukhamed Akhmedovich Kunaev, who had been in office since 1964, and replace him with someone who had not previously worked in Kazakhstan ethnic Russian, Gennady Vasilyevich Kolbin, first secretary of the Ulyanovsk regional party committee. Participants in the protests protested against the appointment of a person to this position who did not think about the fate of the autochthonous people. The performances began on December 16, the first groups of youth came to the New (Brezhnev) Square of the capital demanding the cancellation of Kolbin’s appointment. Telephone communications in the city were immediately cut off, and these groups were dispersed by the police. But rumors about the performance on the square instantly spread throughout the city. On the morning of December 17, crowds of young people came to the square named after L. I. Brezhnev in front of the Central Committee building, demanding their rights and democracy. The demonstrators’ posters read “We demand self-determination!”, “Every nation has its own leader!”, “Don’t be the 37th!”, “Put an end to great power madness!” There were rallies for two days, both times ending in riots. When dispersing the demonstration, troops used sapper shovels, water cannons, and service dogs; It is also alleged that scrap reinforcement and steel cables were used. To maintain order in the city, workers' squads were used.

The situation in Transcaucasia

In August 1987, Karabakh Armenians sent a petition to Moscow, signed by tens of thousands of citizens, with a request to transfer NKAO to the Armenian SSR. On November 18 of the same year, in an interview with the French newspaper L'Humanité, advisor to M. S. Gorbachev, A. G. Aganbegyan makes the statement: “ I would like to know that Karabakh has become Armenian. As an economist, I believe that it is more connected with Armenia than with Azerbaijan" Similar statements are made by other public and political figures. The Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh organizes demonstrations calling for the transfer of NKAO to the Armenian SSR. In response, the Azerbaijani population of Nagorno-Karabakh begins to demand the preservation of NKAO as part of the Azerbaijan SSR. To maintain order, M. S. Gorbachev sent a motorized infantry battalion of the 160th regiment of internal troops of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs to Nagorno-Karabakh from Georgia.

On December 7, 1990, a regiment of internal troops of the USSR from the Tbilisi garrison was introduced into Tskhinvali.

Conflict in the Fergana Valley

The pogroms of Meskhetian Turks in 1989 in Uzbekistan are better known as the Fergana events. At the beginning of May 1990, a pogrom of Armenians and Jews took place in the Uzbek city of Andijan.

The events of January 1990 in the city of Baku (the capital of the Azerbaijan SSR), which ended with the entry of Soviet troops, resulting in the death of more than 130 people.

Fighting in Yerevan

On May 27, 1990, an armed clash between Armenian armed forces and internal troops occurred, resulting in the deaths of two soldiers and 14 militants.

Baltic conflicts

In January 1991, events took place in Vilnius and Riga, accompanied by the use of military force. During the events in Vilnius, units of the Soviet army stormed the television center and other public buildings (so-called “party property”) in Vilnius, Alytus, and Siauliai.

After resignation

After the signing of the Belovezhskaya Accords (overcoming Gorbachev’s objections), and the actual denunciation of the union treaty, on December 25, 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as head of state. From January 1992 to the present - President of the International Foundation for Socio-Economic and Political Science Research (Gorbachev Foundation). At the same time, from March 1993 to 1996 - President, and since 1996 - Chairman of the Board of the International Green Cross.

On May 30, 1994, Gorbachev visited Listyev in the first episode of the Rush Hour program. Excerpt from the conversation:

PSRL, t. 25, M. -L, 1949, p. 201

After his resignation, he complained that he was “blocked in everything,” that his family was constantly “under the surveillance” of the FSB, that his phones were constantly tapped, that he could only publish his books in Russia “underground”, in small editions.

In 1996, he nominated himself for the election of the President of the Russian Federation and, according to the voting results, received 386,069 votes (0.51%).

In 2000, he became the head of the Russian United Social Democratic Party, which in 2001 merged with the Social Democratic Party of Russia (SDPR); from 2001 to 2004 - leader of the SDPR.

On July 12, 2007, SDPR was liquidated (deregistered) by decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.

On October 20, 2007 he became head All-Russian public movement "Union of Social Democrats".

At the instigation of journalist Yevgeny Dodolev, the new US President Obama, some Russian journalists began to compare him with Gorbachev.

In 2008, in an interview with Vladimir Pozner on Channel One, Mikhail Gorbachev said:

PSRL, t. 25, M. -L, 1949, p. 201

PSRL, t. 25, M. -L, 1949, p. 201

In a 2009 interview with Euronews, Gorbachev reiterated that his plan did not “fail,” but on the contrary, then “democratic reforms began,” and that Perestroika won.

In October 2009, in an interview with Radio Liberty editor-in-chief Lyudmila Telen, Gorbachev admitted his responsibility for the collapse of the USSR:

PSRL, t. 25, M. -L, 1949, p. 201

Family, personal life

Spouse - Raisa Maksimovna Gorbacheva(née Titarenko), died in 1999 from leukemia. She lived and worked in Moscow for more than 30 years.

• Ksenia Anatolyevna Virganskaya(1980) - journalist in a glossy magazine.
• First husband - Kirill Solod, son of a businessman (1981), married on April 30, 2003 in the Griboyedovsky registry office,
• Second husband - Dmitry Pyrchenkov (former concert director of singer Abraham Russo), married in 2009
• Great-granddaughter - Alexandra Pyrchenkova (October 2008).

• Anastasia Anatolyevna Virganskaya(1987) - graduate of the Faculty of Journalism of MGIMO, works as chief editor on the Internet site Trendspase.ru,
• husband Dmitry Zangiev (1987), married March 20, 2010. Dmitry graduated from the Eastern University of the Russian Academy of Sciences, studied in graduate school at the Russian Academy of Civil Service under the President of the Russian Federation in 2010, and worked in 2010 in an advertising agency that advertises Louis Vuitton, Max Mara Fashion Group.

Brother - Alexander Sergeevich Gorbachev(September 7, 1947 - December 2001) - military man, graduated from higher education military school in Leningrad. He served in the strategic radar forces and retired with the rank of colonel.

Awards and honorary titles

Nobel Prize

"In recognition of his leading role in the peace process, which today characterizes an important part of the life of the international community", he was awarded the Nobel Prize peace. At the award ceremony, Gorbachev gave a Nobel lecture, in the preparation of which one of his assistants, Vladimir Afanasyevich Zots, took part. (Instead of Gorbachev, Deputy Foreign Minister Kovalev received the Nobel Prize)

Criticism

Gorbachev's reign was associated with radical changes that led to destruction and unjustified hopes. Therefore, in Russia Gorbachev was criticized from different positions.

Here are some examples of critical statements related to perestroika and Gorbachev, by which one can judge the discussions that unfolded on this topic:

• Alfred Rubiks: “We did not intend to seize power”

PSRL, t. 25, M. -L, 1949, p. 201

• There is also an opinion that Gorbachev acted essentially unethically towards the officers of the Soviet Army. After the agreements in Sochi, Gorbachev hastily and unilaterally ordered the withdrawal of the Soviet contingent from the GDR. In this case, the withdrawal took place to unprepared places, to the so-called field camps.

• There is an opinion that Gorbachev pursued his policy very naively, without taking into account historical realities. In his memoirs about his time in office, Gorbachev writes that the chancellor invited him to visit Germany. “In this way,” Gorbachev is still confident today, “we cemented our political friendship with personal obligations to be true to our word, and included an emotional component in politics.” Alla Yaroshinskaya (Rosbalt) argues that Gorbachev relied excessively on “ given word” and “emotional component”, not supported by any serious international documents. In her opinion, today's Russia still suffers from this.

Literary activity

• "A Time for Peace" (1985)
• "The Coming Century of Peace" (1986)
• "Peace has no alternative" (1986)
• "Moratorium" (1986)
• "Selected Speeches and Articles" (vols. 1-7, 1986-1990)
• “Perestroika: new thinking for our country and for the whole world” (1988)
• “August putsch. Causes and Effects" (1991)
• “December-91. My position" (1992)
• "Years of Hard Decisions" (1993)
• “Life and Reforms” (2 vols., 1995)
• “Reformers are never happy” (dialogue with Zdenek Mlynar, in Czech, 1995)
• “I want to warn you...” (1996)
• “Moral Lessons of the 20th Century” in 2 volumes (dialogue with D. Ikeda, in Japanese, German, French, 1996)
• "Reflections on the October Revolution" (1997)
• “New thinking. Politics in the era of globalization" (co-authored with V. Zagladin and A. Chernyaev, in German, 1997)
• "Reflections on the Past and Future" (1998)
• “Understand perestroika... Why is it important now” (2006)

In 1991, Gorbachev’s wife R. M. Gorbachev personally agreed with the American publisher Murdoch to publish her book of “reflections” with a fee of $3 million. Some publicists believe that this was a disguised bribe, since the publication of the book was unlikely to cover the fee.

In 2008, at a book exhibition in Frankfurt, Gorbachev presented the first 5 books from his own 22-volume collected works, which will include all his publications from the 1960s until the early 1990s.

Discography

• 2009 - “Songs for Raisa” (Together with A.V. Makarevich)

Acting

• Mikhail Gorbachev played himself in Wim Wenders' feature film So Far, So Close! (1993), and also participated in a number of documentaries.
• In 1997, he starred in an advertisement for the Pizza Hut pizzeria chain. According to the video, Gorbachev’s main achievement as head of state was the appearance of Pizza Hut in Russia.
• In 2000, he starred in a commercial for the Austrian National Railways.
• In 2004 - Grammy Award for scoring Sergei Prokofiev’s musical fairy tale “Peter and the Wolf” (Grammy Awards of 2004, “Best Spoken Word Album for Children”, together with Sophia Loren and Bill Clinton).
• In 2007, he starred in an advertisement for the leather accessories manufacturer Louis Vuitton. The same year, he starred in Leonardo DiCaprio's documentary The Eleventh Hour, about environmental issues.
• In 2009, he took part in the “Minute of Fame” project (member of the jury).
• In 2010, he was an invited guest on a Japanese entertainment television show with a culinary focus - SMAPxSMAP.

In works of culture

• “He came to give us freedom” - documentary, Channel One, 2011

Parodies

• Gorbachev’s recognizable voice and characteristic gestures were parodied by many pop artists, including Gennady Khazanov, Vladimir Vinokur, Mikhail Grushevsky, Mikhail Zadornov, Maxim Galkin, Igor Khristenko and others. And not only on the stage. This is what Vladimir Vinokur said.

• Gorbachev was also parodied by many KVN players - in particular, members of the DSU KVN team in the number “Foros” (to the tune of Vladimir Vysotsky’s song “The One Who Was With Her Before”).

• The State Emergency Committee tried to remove Gorbachev “for health reasons,” but he himself left his post four months later “for reasons of principle,” although in his last decree he did not indicate the reason for his resignation from the post of head of the Soviet state.
• The text of the USSR constitution did not mention the resignation of the president.
• Military rank- reserve colonel (assigned by order of the USSR Minister of Defense in 1978)
• On November 12, 1992, Revolution Avenue was renamed in Grozny in honor of Gorbachev, but due to the deterioration of relations between Chechnya and the central authorities, Gorbachev Avenue was renamed back. Now it bears the name of the dancer Makhmud Esambaev.
• Gorbachev is the only leader of the USSR born after the 1917 revolution.

Nicknames

• "Bear"
• "Gorby" (English) Gorby) - a familiar and friendly name for Gorbachev in the West.
• “Marked” - for a birthmark on the head (in early photographs it was retouched). Found in one of Nikita Dzhigurda’s songs (“We read books//Tagged Bear//And delve into important matters”), currently this nickname is occasionally used as an allusion to the nickname of the main character of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game series.
• “Humpbacked” (association with the character in the film “The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed”) or “Humpbacked Man” for short. During Gorbachev’s reign, the proverbs “The hunchback’s grave will correct” and “God marks the rogue” among the broad masses were often pronounced with a double, unkind meaning.
• “Mineral Secretary”, “Sokin Son”, “Lemonade Joe” - for the anti-alcohol campaign (at the same time, Gorbachev himself stated: “They tried to make an inveterate teetotaler out of me during the anti-alcohol campaign”).
• G.O.R.B.A.CH.E.V - abbreviation: citizens - wait - rejoice - Brezhnev - Andropov - Chernenko - still - remember (Option: “Citizens - Rejoiced - Early - Brezhnev - Andropov - Chernenko - More - Remember"). Another option - “Ready to Cancel the Decisions of Brezhnev, Andropov, Chernenko, If I Survive” - appeared after he came to power, it was immediately noticed that his name contains a chronologically correct list of the names of the leaders of the USSR, and doubt about the duration of his reign, then people were under impressions of a series of funerals of predecessors.
• The first president of the USSR himself deciphered the CIS as “They managed to harm Gorbachev.”

Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeevich - politician, statesman, first and only President of the USSR.

Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for building relationships with foreign countries, including for ending the Cold War with the United States.

During his activities, the most significant events took place that had a great influence on the further development of the country.

Childhood and adolescence

On March 2, 1931, Mikhail Gorbachev was born in the Stavropol Territory, the village of Privolnoye. His parents were ordinary peasants.

Father - Sergei Andreevich Gorbachev was a foreman, and his father was the chairman of the local collective farm. Gopkalo's mother Maria Panteleevna was Ukrainian.

Childhood of the future statesman coincided with the beginning of the Great Patriotic War.

My father immediately went to the front, and Misha and his mother ended up in a village occupied by the Nazis.

Mikhail with his parents as a child

They lived under the yoke of German soldiers for 5 months. After liberation, the family received news from the front about the death of their father.

Mikhail had to combine his studies at school with work on the collective farm. At the age of 15, he already held the position of assistant combine operator.

For conscientious work and exceeding the plan in 1948, Mikhail was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.

Despite the difficulties and work, Mikhail graduated from school with a “silver” medal.

This allowed him to enter the Faculty of Law at Moscow State University without entrance exams, where he became the head of the Komsomol organization.

Occupying a public position, he was surrounded by fairly free-thinking fellow students.

His circle of friends included Zdenek Mlynar, who would become one of the leaders of the Prague Spring in the future.

In 1952, he joined the CPSU party. After 3 years, he received a law degree and was assigned to work in the Stavropol prosecutor's office.

In 1967 he received a second higher education agricultural economist.

Starting a career in politics

He worked at the prosecutor's office for only a week. He was immediately accepted into the regional committee of the Komsomol in the department of agitation and propaganda. He worked there for 7 years, from 1955 - 1962.

During this time, he served as first secretary of the city Komsomol committee, then as 2nd and 1st secretary of the regional committee of the Komsomol.

Afterwards, having support in the person of F.D. Kulakov, Mikhail Gorbachev’s career quickly began to grow upward.

By 1970, he was the first secretary of the regional committee of the CPSU. In addition, Mikhail has gained a good reputation in the agricultural sector.

Then he was elected a member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee. He spent 12 years in this service. He rose to the post of Chairman.

Years of Presidency and removal from office

In March 1985, a plenum of the CPSU Central Committee was held, at which Mikhail Gorbachev officially assumed the position of General Secretary of the central committee.

He became the political leader of one of the world superpowers - the USSR. Subsequently he career began to grow rapidly.

In 1989 he joined the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR as its chairman.

A year later he becomes President and Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.

He initiated a series of major reforms, called “perestroika,” which lasted in the country for 6 years (1985-1991).

As head of state, he carried out an anti-alcohol campaign, which was considered a big mistake.

His decisions in the international arena led to the end of the Cold War, the reduction of the threat of the use of nuclear weapons, and the unification of Germany.

Mikhail Gorbachev sought to reduce tensions between countries.

However, discontent was growing within the country, and against its background, external achievements did not look advantageous.

On June 12, 1990, a decree was signed proclaiming the independence of the RSFSR. As a result, other republics began to follow this example.

In 1991, the August Putsch occurred, which became the culmination of internal tensions, and its failure only completed the collapse of the allied power.

After such events, Mikhail Gorbachev was accused of treason and a criminal case was opened.

After some time, it was closed, and M. Gorbachev himself resigned from the post of head of state.

This happened on December 25, 1991. He led the country for only 1 year.

Afterwards he became the head of an international foundation that was engaged in socio-economic and political research.

People called it the “Gorbachev Foundation”. After 2 years, he headed the international environmental organization Green Cross.

Activities after retirement

In 1996, Mikhail again participated in the elections of the President of the Russian Federation. However, his candidacy was able to gain only 0.51% of the total votes.

In 2000, he took the post of head of the Social Democratic Russian Party, which a year later merged with the SDPR (Social Democratic Party).

For the next 3 years he was the leader of this party. In 2007, by court decision, SDPR was liquidated.

In the same year, Mikhail Gorbachev creates social movement"Union of Social Democrats" and heads it.

In 2008, he was invited to a program with Vladimir Pozner. In an interview, he admitted his mistakes that led to the collapse of the USSR.

On the occasion of his 80th anniversary on March 2, 2011, the current President signed a decree awarding M. Gorbachev the Order. Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called.

In 2014, he went to Germany, where he opened an exhibition dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the fall of the wall separating the eastern and western parts of Berlin.

On the last day of February, the ex-president of the USSR presented a book about himself, “Gorbachev in Life,” at his foundation.

In the spring of 2016, a meeting with future economists took place at the Moscow School at Moscow State University.

There he publicly acknowledged responsibility for his government decisions.

Personal life

Mikhail Gorbachev was married once. His first, faithful and only legal companion was Raisa Maksimovna Titarenko.

They met during their student years at one of the parties organized by Raisa’s friend.

Raisa was an exemplary student and spent all her time in the library. And at first she didn’t like Mikhail.

However, an incident changed everything. Raisa has a problem serious problems with health, and the only person who was nearby all the time was Mikhail.

With his wife Raisa

On September 25, 1953, the young couple registered their relationship. Parents were simply presented with a fait accompli.

Family life almost immediately began to test the strength of the young family’s feelings.

In the first year, Raisa became pregnant, but doctors forbade her to give birth due to heart problems.

The couple had to make a difficult decision - to agree to an abortion. Then, on the recommendation of the doctor, Mikhail and his wife decide to change the climate.

They move to Stavropol, to a small village. It starts there new life, and Raisa safely gives birth to a girl, Irina, in 1957.

At first, Raisa helps Mikhail in every possible way in his career. However, she herself does not sit at home either.

Raisa Gorbacheva begins teaching after moving to the capital.

Opens a fund to provide charitable assistance “Hematologists of the World for Children.”

At first this movement consisted of several centers. Then the fund goes international.