Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev(/ˈɡɔrbəˌtʃɔ�f,-ˌtʃɒf/;^{[1]Russian:Михаи�л Серге�евич Горбачёв,tr.Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachov;IPA:[mʲɪx�ˈil sʲɪrˈɡʲejɪvʲɪtɕ ɡərb�ˈtɕɵf](listen); born 2 March 1931) is a formerSovietstatesman. He was the eighth and last leader of the Soviet Union, having served asGeneral Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Unionfrom 1985 until 1991 when the party was dissolved. He served as the countrys head of state from 1988 untilits dissolutionin 1991 (titled as Chairman of thePresidium of the Supreme Sovietfrom 1988 to 1989, as Chairman of theSupreme Sovietfrom 1989 to 1990, and asPresident of the Soviet Unionfrom 1990 to 1991). He was the only general secretary in the history of the Soviet Union to have been born after theOctober Revolution.}

Gorbachev was born inStavropol Kraiinto a peasantUkrainian–Russianfamily, and in his teens operatedcombine harvestersoncollective farms. He graduated fromMoscow State Universityin 1955 with a degree in law. While he was at the university, he joined the Communist Party, and soon became very active within it. In 1970, he was appointed the First Party Secretary of the Stavropol Regional Committee, First Secretary to the Supreme Soviet in 1974, and appointed a member of thePolitburoin 1979. Within three years of the death of Soviet leaderLeonid Brezhnev, following the brief "interregna" ofAndropovandChernenko, Gorbachev was elected General Secretary by the Politburo in 1985. Before he reached the post, he had occasionally been mentioned in Western newspapers as a likely next leader and a man of the younger generation at the top level.

Gorbachevs policies ofglasnost("openness") andperestroika("restructuring") and his reorientation of Soviet strategic aims contributed to the end of theCold War. He removed the constitutional role of the Communist Party in governing the state, and inadvertently led to thedissolution of the Soviet Union. He was awarded theOtto Hahn Peace Medalin 1989, theNobel Peace Prizein 1990 and theHarvey Prizein 1992, as well ashonorary doctoratesfrom various universities.

In September 2008, Gorbachev and business oligarchAlexander Lebedevannounced they would form theIndependent Democratic Party of Russia,^{[2]and in May 2009 Gorbachev announced that the launch was imminent.[3]This was Gorbachevs third attempt to establish a political party, having started theSocial Democratic Party of Russiain 2001 and theUnion of Social Democratsin 2007.[4]}