1931 - 2022
Mikhail Gorbachev was a Russian politician and statesman who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991 and as the last President of the Soviet Union from 1990 until its dissolution in 1991. He is best known for his reform policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring), which aimed to revitalize the Soviet economy and society but ultimately contributed to the end of Communist rule in the country and the cold war's conclusion. Gorbachev received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 for his role in reducing East-West tensions and promoting nuclear disarmament.