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Mikhail Gorbachev

Soviet and Russian politician who led the USSR from 1985 to 1991 and initiated major reforms.

Mikhail Gorbachev is one of 1262 people in the A–Z index, listed under M.

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Who is Mikhail Gorbachev?

Mikhail Gorbachev is best known for Last leader of the Soviet Union, known for reforms like glasnost and perestroika. On Dead or Alive, Mikhail Gorbachev is listed in the World Leaders of the 80s and Nobel Laureates categories, where you can test yourself on similar names. Dead or Alive is a trivia game: you decide whether a famous person is still alive, then see the answer. The status for Mikhail Gorbachev is checked against public sources such as Wikidata and is shown only after you answer.

Facts

Known for: Last leader of the Soviet Union, known for reforms like glasnost and perestroika
Listed under: World Leaders of the 80s and Nobel Laureates

About Mikhail Gorbachev

He served as General Secretary of the Communist Party from 1985, and additionally as head of state from 1988. Ideologically, he initially adhered to Marxism–Leninism, but moved towards social democracy by the early 1990s. In his youth, Gorbachev operated combine harvesters on a collective farm, before joining the Communist Party, which then governed the Soviet Union as a one-party state. Studying at Moscow State University, he married fellow student Raisa Titarenko in 1953 and received his law degree in 1955. Gorbachev was appointed the first party secretary of the Stavropol Regional Committee in 1970, overseeing the construction of the Great Stavropol Canal. In 1978, Gorbachev returned to Moscow to become a secretary of the party's Central Committee. He joined the governing Politburo (25th term) as a non-voting member the following year and as a voting member in 1980. Although committed to preserving the Soviet state and its Marxist–Leninist principles, Gorbachev believed significant reform was necessary for its survival. He withdrew troops from the Soviet–Afghan War, and embarked on summits with United States president Ronald Reagan to limit nuclear weapons and end the Cold War. Domestically, Gorbachev's policy of glasnost ("openness") and demokratizatsiya ("democratization") allowed for enhanced freedom of speech and the press, while his perestroika ("restructuring") sought to decentralize economic decision-making to improve its efficiency.

Text from the Wikipedia article Mikhail Gorbachev, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Sentences about life status are left out so the game is not spoiled.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mikhail Gorbachev known for?

Mikhail Gorbachev is known for Last leader of the Soviet Union, known for reforms like glasnost and perestroika.

Which Dead or Alive categories include Mikhail Gorbachev?

Mikhail Gorbachev appears in World Leaders of the 80s, Nobel Laureates.

Is Mikhail Gorbachev still alive?

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