Russian news agencies are reporting that former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has died at 91.
News organizations quoted a statement from the Central Clinical Hospital in Russia, as saying he died after a long illness. No other details were given, according to The Associated Press.Mikhail Gorbachev, who as the last leader of the Soviet Union waged a losing battle to salvage a crumbling empire but produced extraordinary reforms that led to the end of the Cold War, died Tuesday. He was 91.
A quarter-century after the collapse, Gorbachev told The Associated Press that he had not considered using widespread force to try to keep the USSR together because he feared chaos in a nuclear country. "I see myself as a man who started the reforms that were necessary for the country and for Europe and the world," Gorbachev told The AP in a 1992 interview shortly after he left office.
"In the ad, he should take a pizza, divide it into 15 slices like he divided up our country, and then show how to put it back together again," quipped Anatoly Lukyanov, a one-time Gorbachev supporter.Image 1 of 3Original Photo Caption - At center stage, both at the International Press Center and in the world scheme of things, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. president Ronald Reagan smile during concluding summit ceremony.
Once he began, one move led to another: He freed political prisoners, allowed open debate and multi-candidate elections, gave his countrymen freedom to travel, halted religious oppression, reduced nuclear arsenals, established closer ties with the West and did not resist the fall of Communist regimes in Eastern European satellite states.Long-suppressed ethnic tensions flared, sparking wars and unrest in trouble spots such as the southern Caucasus region.
"The process of renovating this country and bringing about fundamental changes in the international community proved to be much more complex than originally anticipated," Gorbachev told the nation as he stepped down. Despite stellar party credentials, Gorbachev’s family did not emerge unscathed from the terror unleashed by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin: Both grandfathers were arrested and imprisoned for allegedly anti-Soviet activities.
His performance earned him the order of the Red Banner of Labor, an unusual distinction for a 17-year-old. That prize and the party background of his parents helped him land admission in 1950 to the country’s top university, Moscow State. "They said: ‘We don’t believe it. It can’t be. You want to blame everything on Stalin now that he’s dead,’" he told The Associated Press in a 2006 interview.
But Gorbachev had to wait his turn. Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev died in 1982, and was succeeded by two other geriatric leaders: Yuri Andropov, Gorbachev’s mentor, and Konstantin Chernenko. After years of watching a parade of stodgy leaders in the Kremlin, Western leaders practically swooned over the charming, vigorous Gorbachev and his stylish, brainy wife. But perceptions were very different at home. It was the first time since the death of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin that the wife of a Soviet leader had played such a public role, and many Russians found Raisa Gorbachev showy and arrogant.
During her final days, Gorbachev spoke daily with television reporters, and the lofty-sounding, wooden politician of old was suddenly seen as an emotional family man surrendering to deep grief.
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has died, according to Russian news reportsRussian news agencies are reporting that former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has died at 91.
Read more »
Russian media: Ex-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev dead at 91Though in power less than seven years, Gorbachev unleashed a breathtaking series of changes.
Read more »
Mikhail Gorbachev, former Soviet leader who oversaw end of Cold War, dead at 91Mikhail Gorbachev, who led the Soviet Union in the late 1980s until its downfall in 1991, has died at the age of 91, Russian news agencies reported Tuesday.
Read more »
Ex-USSR leader Mikhail Gorbachev dead at 91, Russian media reportsMikhail Gorbachev, who as the last leader of the Soviet Union waged a losing battle to salvage a crumbling empire but produced extraordinary reforms that led to the end of the Cold War, has died at 91, Russian media reported Thursday.
Read more »
Mikhail Gorbachev, final leader of Soviet Union, dies at 91Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev has died 'after a serious and long illness,' the Central Clinical Hospital reported
Read more »