Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (Stavropol, March 2, 1931), the last Soviet leader, has died at the age of 91.
The first and last president of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and father of perestroika has died after "a serious and prolonged illness", as confirmed by the Moscow Central Clinical Hospital.
Gorbachev, who came to power as head of the USSR in 1985, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990.
Gorbachev, who assumed power at the head of the USSR as general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1985, then undertook two enormous reforms, 'glástnost' (transparency, in Russian) and 'perestroika' (restructuring ) aimed at ending the opacity of the Soviet regime and opening the economy to the market, respectively.
For his work he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990.
After the coup attempt of August 1991, perpetrated by the leadership of the KGB and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), his political position was greatly weakened.
He resigned in December of that year and dissolved the central committee.
A day later, on December 25, the Soviet Union ceased to exist.
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