Mikhail Gorbachev

The last leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev brought about huge political and social changes that led to the end of the Cold War and the fall of communism in Europe

Mar 2, 1931: Mikhail Gorbachevborn into peasant family in southernRussian territory of Stavropol

1952: Joins Communist Party. Enters law school at Moscow University, where he meets and later marries Raisa Titarenko (right). Couple have one daughter, Irina, born in 1957

1955: Graduates with law degree, goes on to hold number of Communist Party posts in Stavropol, becoming party leader in 1970

1978: Summoned to Moscow to take up post of Central Committee Secretary for Agriculture. Becomes full member of Politburo – USSR’s top ruling body – in 1980

Mar 1985: Made Soviet leader after Death of Konstantin Chernenko. Begins efforts to revive Soviet economy through policies of “glasnost” (openness) and perestroika (rebuilding)

1990: Receives Nobel Peace Prize for improving relations wit hWest and ending nuclear arms race

Aug 1991: Coup by Communist Party hard-liners fails after mass protests led by Russian President Boris Yeltsin

Dec 1991: His authority fatally undermined, Gorbachev resigns. Soviet Union officially dissolved

1992: Establishes political think-tank Gorbachev Foundation

Nov 1985: Meets U.S. President Ronald Reagan, for first time. Series of 1980s summits signal end of Cold War

1996: Makes one final bid for presidency of Russia, but receives just over one percent of vote

Source: Wire agencies  Pictures: Associated Press, Getty Images