[gawr-buh-chawf, -chof; Russ. guh
r-buh-chawf] 
| Mi⋅kha⋅il S(er⋅ge⋅ye⋅vich) [mi-kahyl sur-gey-uh-vich, mi-keyl; Russ. myi-khuh-yeel syir-gye-yi-vyich] , born 1931, Soviet political leader: general secretary of the Communist party 1985–91; president of the Soviet Union 1988–91; Nobel peace prize 1990. |
| Gor·ba·chev (gôr'bə-chôf', -chŏf', gər-bə-chôf') Soviet politician who was general secretary of the Communist party from 1985 to 1991 and president of the USSR from 1989 to 1991, ushering in an era of unprecedented glasnost and perestroika. He won the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize. |