Raisa Maximovna Gorbacheva (russian: link=no, Раи́са Макси́мовна Горбачёва Romanized ''Raisa Maksimovna Gorbachyova'', , Титаренко; 5 January 1932 – 20 September 1999) was a Soviet-Russian activist and philanthropist who was the wife of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. She raised funds for the preservation of Russian cultural heritage, fostering of new talent, and treatment programs for children's

blood cancer Tumors of the hematopoietic and lymphoid tissues (American English) or tumours of the haematopoietic and lymphoid tissues (British English) are tumors that affect the blood, bone marrow, lymph, and lymphatic system. Because these tissues are all ...

Early life and education

Raisa Maximovna Titarenko was born in the city of

Rubtsovsk Rubtsovsk (russian: Рубцо́вск, ) is a city in Altai Krai, Russia, located on the Aley River ( Ob's tributary) southwest of Barnaul. Population: 167,000 (1975); 111,000 (1959); 38,000 (1939). History It was founded in 1892. A number ...

in the Altai region of

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...

. She was the eldest of three children of Maxim Andreyevich Titarenko, a railway engineer from

Chernihiv Chernihiv ( uk, Черні́гів, , russian: Черни́гов, ; pl, Czernihów, ; la, Czernihovia), is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, and his Siberian wife, Alexandra Petrovna Porada, from Veseloyarsk. She spent her childhood in the

Ural Mountains The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...

, and met her future husband while studying philosophy in Moscow. She earned an advanced degree at the Moscow State Pedagogical Institute and taught briefly at

Moscow State University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

Life with Mikhail Gorbachev

She married Mikhail Gorbachev in September 1953 and moved to her husband's home region of

Stavropol Stavropol (; rus, Ставрополь, p=ˈstavrəpəlʲ) is a city and the administrative centre of Stavropol Krai, Russia. As of the 2021 Census, its population was 547,820, making it one of Russia's fastest growing cities. It was known as ...

southern Russia Southern Russia or the South of Russia (russian: Юг России, ''Yug Rossii'') is a colloquial term for the southernmost geographic portion of European Russia generally covering the Southern Federal District and the North Caucasian Feder ...

upon graduation. There she taught Marxist–Leninist philosophy and defended her

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

research thesis about

kolkhoz A kolkhoz ( rus, колхо́з, a=ru-kolkhoz.ogg, p=kɐlˈxos) was a form of collective farm in the Soviet Union. Kolkhozes existed along with state farms or sovkhoz., a contraction of советское хозяйство, soviet ownership or ...

life. She gave birth to a daughter, Irina Mikhailovna (married name: Virganskaya; Ирина Михайловна Вирганская), on 6 January 1957. When her husband returned to Moscow as a rising

Soviet Communist Party "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first)Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

official, Gorbacheva took the post of a lecturer at her alma mater,

. She left the post when her husband became General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1985. Her public appearances beside her husband as first lady were a novelty at home and went a long way in humanizing the country's image. She was one of the few communist party leaders' wives to have a high public profile of her own. On 1 June 1990, Gorbacheva accompanied U.S. first lady

Barbara Bush Barbara Pierce Bush (June 8, 1925 – April 17, 2018) was First Lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993, as the wife of President George H. W. Bush, and the founder of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. She previously w ...

to Wellesley College in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

. Both women spoke before the graduating class during the commencement service, touching on the role of women in modern society. All the American television networks covered the addresses live;

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

provided live cable-TV coverage around the world. The events of the

Soviet Coup of 1991 The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, which attempted to depose her husband from power, left a lasting scar on Gorbacheva, who suffered a minor stroke on the final day. The political turmoil that followed pushed the Gorbachevs into the shadows.

Philanthropy

In 1989, following a personal address from Professor Rumyantsev and others, Gorbacheva contributed US$100,000 to the charity "International Association of Hematologists of the World for Children". This and further donations raised by both of the Gorbachevs helped to buy equipment for

blood bank A blood bank is a center where blood gathered as a result of blood donation is stored and preserved for later use in blood transfusion. The term "blood bank" typically refers to a department of a hospital usually within a Clinical Pathology laborat ...

s and to train Russian doctors abroad. In 1997 she established the Raisa Maksimovna's Club aimed at galvanizing the participation of women in politics. She also worked to raise awareness of children's issues (she had frequently welcomed youth delegations to the Kremlin when her husband could not be present).

Illness and Death

Gorbacheva suffered a stroke in October 1993. In July 1999, she was diagnosed with

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

by the Institute of Haematology RAMS. Shortly after, she travelled with her husband and daughter to

Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state di ...

in Germany for treatment at the medical clinic of the Münster University Hospital. She received treatment for two months under the supervision of Professor Thomas Büchner, a leading haematologist, but died on 20 September aged 67. She was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.

Legacy

In 2006, her family founded the Raisa Gorbacheva Foundation, which raises money to support those with childhood cancer. In 2007, the Raisa Gorbacheva Institute of Pediatric Hematology and Transplantology opened at the

First Pavlov State Medical University of St. Petersburg The First Pavlov State Medical University of St. Petersburg (russian: Первый Санкт-Петербургский государственный медицинский университет имени академика И. П. Павл� ...

Books

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Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gorbacheva, Raisa 1932 births 1999 deaths People from Rubtsovsk Russian people of Ukrainian descent Spouses of Russian and Soviet national leaders Moscow State Pedagogical University alumni Moscow State University alumni Mikhail Gorbachev Deaths from leukemia Deaths from cancer in Germany Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery