Mikhail Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990. He was born on 2 March 1931, in Privolnoye, Stavropol Krai, Russia. He joined the Komsomol (Young Communist League) in 1946 and worked for a state farm in Stavropol for four years. In 1952, he joined the Communist Party and entered law school at Moscow State University. He graduated with a law degree in 1955 and held a number of posts in the Komsomol and regular party organizations in Stavropol, becoming the first secretary in 1970. In 1971, he joined the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and in 1978, he was appointed secretary of agriculture. In 1979 he became a candidate member of the Politburo, and in 1980 he became a full member.
