Mikhail Gorbachev facts for kids

Mikhail Gorbachev
Михаил Горбачёв
Mikhail Gorbachev; Михаил Горбачёв
President of the Soviet Union
	In office; 15 March 1990 – 25 December 1991
Vice President	Gennady Yanayev
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Chairman of the Supreme Soviet
	In office; 25 May 1989 – 15 March 1990
Deputy	Anatoly Lukyanov
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Anatoly Lukyanov (Executive roles transferred to President)
Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet
	In office; 1 October 1988 – 25 May 1989
Preceded by	Andrei Gromyko
Succeeded by	Office abolished
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
	In office; 11 March 1985 – 24 August 1991
Deputy	Yegor Ligachev; Vladimir Ivashko (1990-1991)
Preceded by	Konstantin Chernenko
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Personal details
Born	2 March 1931 (age 89); Privolnoye, Stavropol Krai, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Nationality	Russian
Political party	Independent Democratic Party (2008–present); Union of Social Democrats (2007–present)
Other political; affiliations	Social Democratic Party (2001–2004); Communist Party (1950–1991)
Spouse(s)	Raisa Gorbachova (m. 1953–1999)
Alma mater	Moscow State University
Profession	Lawyer
Signature
Website	The Gorbachev Foundation

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (sometimes spelled Gorbachov) (born 2 March 1931) is a former Soviet politician. He was the last leader of the Soviet Union.

He was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union (head of state) from 1988 until 1991 and the first (and last) president of the Soviet Union from 1990 until it was dissolved in 1991. Gorbachev is known for forming a friendship with President of the United States Ronald Reagan. Both of them would help end the Cold War.

Early life

Gorbachev was born in Privolnoye, Stavropol Krai, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union.

Secretary General of the Soviet Union

Reagan and Gorbachev at the Geneva Summit in 1985

His attempts at reform and partnership with Ronald Reagan led to the end of the Cold War. His main intent was to improve the economy of the USSR. To do this, he set in motion two major reforms:

Perestroika: restructuring of the economy
Glasnost: gave more freedom to the people, and allowed them to express their opinions more freely.

Indirectly, this may have helped cause the end of the power of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), and the break-up of the Soviet Union into smaller countries. However, it should be noted that the need to modernise the economy, and to conduct government less ruthlessly than Stalin, was agreed by the previous two leaders. They, Andropov and Chernenko, were elderly and died before real changes could be put in place.

In 1990, Gorbachev created the office of President of the Soviet Union. It was to be based on the systems in France and the United States. The office merged together office of General Secretary and head of state. The President was to be elected by the Soviet People but its only holder was Gorbachev who wasn't elected. Gorbachev saw the office mainly as a position for himself to remain influential in Soviet politics. His main goal was to keep the Soviet Union together, controlled by Moscow.

After the August coup in 1991 Gorbachev resigned as leader of the Communist Party and held onto the Soviet presidency. When Union republics began to turn away from the Soviet system, Gorbachev's power was dramatically reduced. By late 1991 he had almost no influence outside of Moscow. When Russia, Ukraine and Byelorussia became independent, Gorbachev was basically a President of a country that only existed on paper. He resigned on December 25, 1991.

Personal life

Gorbachev studied law at Lomonosov Moscow State University where he also met his future wife Raisa Gorbachova. Raisa studied sociology. After retiring from politics in 1991, Gorbachev started The Gorbachev Foundation, which is currently headed by his daughter Irina. In 2004, he traveled to the United States to represent Russia at Ronald Reagan's funeral.

Awards

He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990. He won a Grammy Award in 2004 with Bill Clinton and Sophia Loren for Best Spoken Word Album for Children for their recording of Sergei Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf.

Related pages

Images for kids

Gorbachev and his Ukrainian maternal grandparents, late 1930s
Identity cards of the general secretary Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) Mikhail Gorbachev (1986–1991 yy.)
Gorbachev in 1966
U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev shaking hands at the American-Soviet summit in Washington, D.C., in 1987
Gorbachev at the Brandenburg Gate in 1986 during a visit to East Germany
Gorbachev with Erich Honecker, East Germany
Gorbachev meets Romanian leader Nicolae Ceauşescu, 1985
Reagan and Gorbachev with wives (Nancy and Raisa, respectively) attending a dinner at the Soviet Embassy in Washington, 9 December 1987
Reagan and President-elect Bush meeting with Gorbachev on Governors Island, New York City, 7 December 1988
Gorbachev and George H. W. Bush, 1990
Gorbachev addressing the United Nations General Assembly in December 1988. During the speech he dramatically announced deep unilateral cuts in Soviet military forces in Eastern Europe.
Anti-Armenian and anti-government Dushanbe riots in Tajikistan, 1990
Berlin Wall, "Thank you, Gorbi!", October 1990
Gorbachev with Indian spiritual leader Sri Chinmoy
Gorbachev, daughter Irina and his wife's sister Lyudmila at the funeral of Raisa, 1999
Gorbachev (right) being introduced to Barack Obama by Joe Biden, 20 March 2009
Inauguration of Vladimir Putin, 7 May 2000
Former President of the United States Ronald Reagan awards Gorbachev the first ever Ronald Reagan Freedom Award at the Reagan Library, 4 May 1992
Gorbachev on 12 March 2013
Gorbachev at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, 16 June 1992
The official Soviet portrait of Gorbachev had been retouched to remove the birthmark.