Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Gorbachev was general secretary of the Soviet Union Communist Party from 1985–1991. He was also the first democratically elected President in 1990.

Mikhail Gorbachev played a key role in dismantling the Communist grip on power in both the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. His aspirations for democracy and reform opened up the way for the end of the Cold War and the bringing down of the Berlin Wall. He was removed from Presidential office in 1991, during a failed coup attempt. Since leaving office, Gorbachev has worked tirelessly promoting new efforts at social justice and concern for the environment through his own organization, the Green Cross.

Mikhail Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October 1990

Gorbachev was born in March 1931 in Stavropol, the North Caucasus to a poor peasant family. At the age of 11, the district was occupied by the Germans for three years, a tough time for all in the village. In 1950 he enrolled at Moscow University where he became a member of the Soviet Union Communist Party. It was here that Gorbachev met his future wife, Raisa Maxima, and they married soon after meeting.