The Central Clinical Hospital announced that Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet Union’s first president, died on Tuesday at the age of 91.
“After a serious and prolonged illness, Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev has died,” the hospital said.
Gorbachev was born on March 2, 1931. He achieved a law degree from Moscow State University in 1955 and a second education from Stavropol Agricultural Institute in 1967.
Gorbachev joined the Communist Party in 1952 and became a member of its Central Committee in 1971. The last secretary general of the Communist Party’s Central Committee, he was elected to the post in 1985 following the death of his predecessor Konstantin Chernenko.
Gorbachev supported perestroika, a policy of political and economic changes, as well as glasnost, a policy of free debate of political and social concerns.
He served as the country’s first and sole president, having been elected in March 1990 and stepping down on December 25, 1991. In 1990, Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He was involved in social and literary activities after leaving his position as president of the Soviet Union.
