Childhood: 1931–1950
Gorbachev was born on 2 March 1931 in the village of Privolnoye, Stavropol Krai, then in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, one of the constituent republics of the

On 10 March 1985, Chernenko died. Gromyko proposed Gorbachev as the next General Secretary; as a longstanding party member, Gromyko's

In the Revolutions of 1989, most of the Marxist–Leninist states of Central and Eastern Europe held multi-party elections resulting in regime change. In most countries, like Poland and

According to his university friend Zdeněk Mlynář, in the early 1950s "Gorbachev, like everyone else at the time, was a Stalinist." Mlynář noted, however, that unlike most other Soviet students,

Stavropol Komsomol: 1955–1969
In August 1955, Gorbachev started work at the Stavropol regional procurator's office, but disliked the job and used his contacts to get a transfer to work

Initial years: 1991–1999
Out of office, Gorbachev had more time to spend with his wife and family. He and Raisa initially lived in their dilapidated dacha on Rublevskoe Shosse, and were also allowed to privatise their smaller apartment on Kosygin

Reaching an adult height of 5 foot 9 inches (1.75 m), Gorbachev has a distinctive port-wine stain on the top of his head. By 1955 his hair was thinning, and