Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev dies at age 91

"Mr. Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev passed away on the evening of August 30 after a long illness," the hospital where the Soviet leader was treated said.

Former President Gorbachev turned 91 in March 2022.

Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. Photo: AP

There was speculation earlier this summer that the Soviet leader’s health was deteriorating, but representatives of the Gorbachev Foundation dismissed the reports. It was also reported that in October 2021, Gorbachev was quarantined in hospital due to the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Gorbachev's time in power was marked by some of the most significant geopolitical events: the end of the Cold War, the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Mr. Gorbachev was born on March 2, 1931, into a peasant family. In 1955, he graduated from the Faculty of Law of Moscow University. After graduation, he was appointed to the Prosecutor General's Office of the Stavropol region in southern Russia and almost immediately turned to political activity in the All-Union Leninist Communist Youth League (Komsomol for short).

Mr. Gorbachev began his party work in 1962. From 1970 to 1978, he was First Secretary of the Stavropol Regional Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. He was a member of the Central Committee from 1971 to 1991 and from 1980 to 1991, he was a member of the Politburo and a member of the Central Committee.

In March 1985, Mr. Gorbachev was elected General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

During his tenure, Mr. Gorbachev launched a major initiative to reform the Soviet social system called "perestroika". The main goal of "perestroika" was to comprehensively reform the socialist system. Leader Gorbachev also played an important role in easing tensions with the West during the final stages of the Cold War. In 1990, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his leading role in the international peace process.

In 1991, Mr. Gorbachev tried to push through a draft of a new Union Treaty with the leaders of the 10 Soviet republics. However, on the day before the treaty was to be signed in Moscow, August 19, 1991, members of Mr. Gorbachev's cabinet, including the defense minister, attempted to seize power and form the State Committee on the State of Emergency.

They demanded that President Gorbachev, who was on holiday in Crimea, declare a state of emergency and temporarily transfer power to Vice President Gennady Yanaev. After the failed coup attempt on August 21, 1991, Mr. Gorbachev returned to power, but his position was significantly weakened.

On August 24, 1991, Mr. Gorbachev announced his resignation as General Secretary of the Party.

The history of the Soviet Union officially ended on December 25, 1991, after the Belovezhskaya agreement on the dissolution of the Soviet Union was signed by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Mr. Mikhail Gorbachev then announced his resignation as President of the Soviet Union./.