What is known for the only President of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev

August 30 in Moscow after a long illness died the last general secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the only president of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev. Details of his biography – in the help of “Kommersant”.

Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeevich was born on March 2, 1931 in the village of Privolskoye, Krasnogvardeisky District, North Caucasus Territory (now the territory of the Stavropol Territory). His father worked as a machine operator at a machine and tractor station, his mother worked on a collective farm. From the age of 15 he worked as an assistant combine operator.

In 1955 he graduated from the law faculty of Moscow State University, in 1967 he graduated from the correspondence department of the Stavropol Agricultural Institute, qualified as an agronomist-economist. After graduating from the university, he was sent to the Stavropol region to the regional prosecutor’s office, but quickly moved to work in the Komsomol.

In 1952 he joined the CPSU. In 1955–1956, he was deputy head of the agitation and propaganda department of the Stavropol Regional Committee of the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League. In 1956-1958 he served as the first secretary of the Stavropol city committee of the Komsomol, in 1961-1966 he was the first secretary of the regional committee of the Komsomol.

In 1961 he was elected a delegate to the XXII Congress of the CPSU, after which he was elected a delegate to the XXIV (1971) and all subsequent party congresses. From 1966 to 1970 he made his way from the first secretary of the Stavropol city committee of the CPSU to the first secretary of the regional cell of the party

In 1970-1989, he was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the VII-XI convocations. During this time, he headed the commissions on youth affairs, legislative proposals and foreign affairs.

In 1971 he became a member of the Central Committee of the CPSU. November 27, 1978 was elected Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, oversaw the issues of agriculture. October 21, 1980 joined the Politburo.

From March 11, 1985 to August 24, 1991, he served as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU.

On April 23, 1985, he announced a course towards “accelerating the socio-economic development of the USSR”, which later became known as “perestroika”. In May of the same year, an anti-alcohol campaign was launched. For three years, the production of alcoholic beverages has halved.

At the beginning of 1986, at the XXVII Congress of the CPSU, he announced the need for a policy of “glasnost”: the editors-in-chief were replaced in periodicals, literary works that had previously been banned began to be published. In 1988, the electoral system of the USSR was changed, it became possible to nominate candidates independent of the CPSU for elections. In 1986-1991, private commercial activity was legalized. From 1988 to 1991, under Mikhail Gorbachev, more than 1 million illegally convicted citizens of the USSR were rehabilitated. On June 12, 1990, the law “On the Press and Other Mass Media” was adopted, which abolished censorship.

In 1988 he was elected Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. May 25, 1989 became chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

In 1989, the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan and Eastern Europe began, and agreements were signed with a number of Western states on the reduction of nuclear weapons. In 1990, the Treaty on the Final Settlement with respect to Germany, as a result of which the GDR and the FRG were united.

In February 1990, he announced the need to create the post of President of the USSR and cancel the provision of the constitution on the leading role of the CPSU. The corresponding amendments were made on March 14 of the same year. On March 15, he took over as president of the USSR.

In April-July 1991, together with the heads of nine republics of the USSR, he developed an agreement on the creation of the Union of Sovereign States. Its signing was thwarted by an attempted coup. On August 18, 1991, he refused to cooperate with members of the State Emergency Committee and was isolated in a dacha in Foros. Four days later, the “August coup” ended in favor of supporters of the President of the RSFSR Boris Yeltsin.

From September 5 to December 25, 1991, he served as chairman of the USSR State Council. On September 6, he signed a resolution recognizing the independence of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

On December 25, 1991, after the signing of the Belovezhskaya Accords, Gorbachev resigned as president of the USSR. The next day, a declaration was adopted on the termination of the existence of the USSR.

Since January 1992, he has served as President of the International Foundation for Socio-Economic and Political Science Research. In 1993 he founded the international non-governmental organization Green Cross International. He was its president until 2017.

In 1996, he ran for the presidency of Russia, in the first round he won 0.51% of the vote.

In 1999, he was one of the initiators of the creation of the Forum of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates. In 2000-2001, he headed the public council of NTV.

In 2000 he created the Russian United Social Democratic Party, in 2001 it joined the Social Democratic Party of Russia (SDPR). Until 2004 he was its leader. In 2007, after the reorganization of the party, he headed the all-Russian social movement “Union of Social Democrats”.

In 2002-2009, he was co-chair of the Russian-German forum “Petersburg Dialogue”. In 2010, he organized the New Policy Forum and chaired the board of its founders.

Awarded more than 300 state and public awards, diplomas, certificates of honor and distinctions. Such as the Order of Lenin, the October Revolution, the Red Banner of Labor and others. In addition, he has received many foreign awards and prizes. Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990.

From 1953 to 1999 he was married to Raisa Gorbacheva (nee Titarenko). In 1957 their daughter Irina was born.