Mikhail Gorbachev

1931 – 2022

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev was the last leader of the Soviet Union, serving as General Secretary of the Communist Party from 1985 and as head of state until the country's dissolution in 1991. His policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) introduced sweeping political and economic reforms, freed political prisoners, and ended decades of state censorship, while his negotiations with U.S. President Ronald Reagan produced the historic INF Treaty and effectively ended the Cold War without bloodshed. He was awarded the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the peaceful transformation of Eastern Europe.

Last checked: May 10, 2026, 1:06 PM