Inspirational Quotes by Raisa Gorbacheva (Russian Activist)

Raisa Maximovna Gorbacheva (1932–99,) née Titarenko, was a Russian activist and educationalist. The wife of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, she was an intelligent, articulate woman who held a successful occupation as a lecturer at two Soviet universities.

Born in Rubtsovsk in a Siberian backwater of the Altai region, Gorbacheva studied sociology at Moscow University, where she met Gorbachev. Gorbacheva pursued a career in sociological research and lecturing. She taught Marxism and did sociological research into collective-farmers’ lives at Stavropol Teacher Training Institute 1957–61 and was a lecturer at Stavropol Agricultural Institute 1959–78 and Moscow State University 1977–85.

Gorbacheva had gained standing in her own right before 1985 when Gorbachev became the Communist Party’s general secretary. Raisa was bitterly resented at home. She was accused of creating a cult of personality and interfering in political decisions. She frequently accompanied him on special tours and charmed westerners with her intellect, poise, and elegance.

Gorbacheva served as Gorbachev’s confidant in his strategy to modernize and humanize the Communist superpower. She also raised funds to preserve Russian cultural heritage and the treatment programs for children’s blood cancer.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Gorbachevs retreated from public view, lived in Moscow, received a modest pension, wrote autobiographies, established the Gorbachev Foundation, and attended fund-raising dinners.

Gorbacheva’s autobiography is Ya nadejus (1991; I Hope: Reflections and Reminiscences.) Urda Jèurgens wrote Raisa: The 1st First Lady of the Soviet Union (1990.)

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