CAUSE OF DEATH: Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, who sought to reform the Communist country and presided over its demise, has died at 91

Yet, when he set out his programme of reforms in 1985, his sole intention had been to revive his country’s stagnant economy and overhaul its political processes.

His efforts became the catalyst for a series of events that brought an end to communist rule, not just within the USSR, but also across its former satellite states.

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev was born on 2 March 1931 in the Stavropol region of southern Russia.

His parents both worked on collective farms and the young Gorbachev operated combine harvesters while in his teens.

By the time he graduated from Moscow State University in 1955 he was an active member of the Communist Party.

Gorbachev was Kennedy-esque in the sense he was a vibrant leader with a very glamorous wife — Raisa — who was a fashionista in the same vein as Jackie Kennedy.

He had a very distinct, large birthmark on his forehead … it was quite prominent, and on occasion, when he sat for an official photo, the birthmark was removed for the portrait.

By 1991, the Soviet Union had broken apart and Gorbachev stepped down and handed the mantle of power to Boris Yeltsin.

Gorbachev was 91. RIP. Gorbachev remained a strong critic of President Vladimir Putin, who he accused of running an increasingly repressive regime.

“Politics is increasingly turning into imitation democracy, said Gorbachev, “with all power in the hands of the executive branch.”

However, in 2014, Gorbachev defended the referendum that led to Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

“While Crimea had previously been joined to Ukraine based on the Soviet laws, which means party laws, without asking the people,” Gorbachev declared, “now the people themselves have decided to correct that mistake.”

On Gorbachev’s 90th birthday in March 2021, President Putin praised him as “one of the most outstanding statesmen of modern times who made a considerable impact on the history of our nation and the world”.

And Gorbachev’s own views of his legacy? It was right to end the totalitarian system and the Cold War, and reduce nuclear weapons, he said.

But there was still lament over the coup and the end of the Soviet Union. Many Russians still hold him responsible for its collapse.

Although a pragmatic and rational politician, Mikhail Gorbachev failed to realise that it was impossible to bring in his reforms without destroying a centralised communist system that millions in the USSR and beyond no longer wanted.

Gorbachev had been expected to succeed Andropov when the latter died in 1984 but instead the ailing Konstantin Chernenko became general secretary.

Within a year, he too was dead and Gorbachev, the youngest member of the Politburo, succeeded him.

He was the first general secretary to have been born after the 1917 revolution and was seen as a breath of fresh air after the stagnation of the Leonid Brezhnev years.

Gorbachev’s stylish dress and open, direct manner were unlike those of any of his predecessors, and Raisa was more like an American first lady than a general secretary’s wife.

Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, has died, per AFP.

He allowed companies like Pizza Hut to enter into Russia, and thus one of the greatest commercials of all time was created.