戈巴契夫(1931年～)
Gorbachev, Mikhail (Sergeyevich)
苏联官员及最後一任总统（1990～1991）。1955年获国立莫斯科大学法学学位，1980年成为中央委员会政治局正式委员，1985年被推选为苏联共产党总书记。戈巴契夫开始对苏联的经济和政治制度实施改革，但他的开放政策（glasnost）和重建政策（perestroika）遭到党政官僚的严重抵制。戈巴契夫在1988修改苏联宪法，允许多党选举，1990年取消一党专政。在外交方面，他力图改善与美国的关系。当1989～1990年东欧的苏联集团国家陆续由民主选举的政府取代共产党政权时，他亦表示支持。1990年戈巴契夫由於在国际关系方面的显着成就，获得诺贝尔和平奖。俄罗斯的经济和政治困境，导致党中持强硬路线者在1991年发动政变。在总统叶尔钦和其他改革派坚定的抵抗下政变很快就失败，戈巴契夫恢复苏联总统职务，但他的地位已无可挽回地被削弱。戈巴契夫只得与叶尔钦结盟，脱离共产党，解散中央委员会，将基本政治权力移交各共和国，在叶尔钦领导下成立一个新的联合政体－－独立国协。1991年12月25日戈巴契夫辞去苏联总统职务，同日，苏联正式瓦解。
English version：
1931年～
Gorbachev, Mikhail (Sergeyevich)
Soviet official and last president of the Soviet Union (1990-91). After earning a law degree from Moscow State University (1955), he rose through the ranks to become a full Politburo member (1980) and general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1985-91). His extraordinary reform policies of glasnost and perestroika were resisted by party bureaucrats; to reduce their power, Gorbachev changed the Soviet constitution in 1988 to allow multicandidate elections and removed the monopoly power of the party in 1990. He cultivated warmer relations with the U.S., and in 1989-90 he supported the democratically elected governments that replaced the communist regimes of Eastern Europe. In 1990 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Russia's economic and political problems led to a 1991 coup attempt by hard-liners. In alliance with president Boris Yeltsin, Gorbachev quit the Communist Party, disbanded its Central Committee, and shifted political powers to the Soviet Union's constituent republics. Events outpaced him, and the various republics formed the Commonwealth of Independent States under Yeltsin's leadership. On December 25, 1991, Gorbachev resigned the presidency of the Soviet Union, which ceased to exist that same day.