MIKHAIL GORBACHEV

Mikhail Gorbachev was a Soviet statesman, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991 and the first (and last) president of the Soviet Union from 1990 until its dissolution in 1991. Gorbachev's attempts at reform, summit conferences with the U.S. and reorientation of Soviet strategic aims contributed to the end of the Cold War and led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union. He was awarded the Nobel Peace prize in 1990