Russian state agency TASS has reported that Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the USSR, died Tuesday at the age of 91 at the Central Clinical Hospital in Moscow.
Mikhail Sergeyyevich Gorbachev, born on March 2, 1931 in Stavropol (Russia), was General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1985 to 1991, Head of State of the USSR from 1988 to 1991 and President of the Soviet Union from 1990 to 1991 (he was the only person to hold this position).
Known as the father of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (reconstruction), his name is associated with the peaceful dissolution of the USSR, but the truth is that he never wanted to end either the Soviet Empire or communism, but rather to reform them.
Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 for the "leading role he played in the radical changes in East-West relations," according to the Nobel Committee's own motivation.
