Mikhail Gorbachev to speak at Harvard University

Mikhail Gorbachev, former leader of the Soviet Union, will speak on “Looking Back on Perestroika” at Harvard University at 4pm on Monday, November 11.

Mikhail Gorbachev served as leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 until its dissolution in 1991. He began to democratize the oppressive system he inherited, bringing an end to Communist rule in the USSR and Eastern Europe. Gorbachev brought two words into the global lexicon: perestroika (restructuring) and glasnost (openness), and in an effort to secure relations with the West, he signed two broad disarmament pacts. As a result of his extraordinary achievements, Mikhail Gorbachev was the recipient of the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize. He is currently president of the Gorbachev Foundation, known as the International Foundation for Socio-Economic and Political Studies.

Gorbachev’s address, “Looking Back on Perestroika,” is presented by the Kathryn W. and Shelby Cullom Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University. The event begins at 4pm on Monday, November 11 in Sanders Theatre, located in Memorial Hall at 45 Quincy Street on the Harvard campus. Tickets will be available to Harvard ID holders beginning Monday, November 4, and to the public, pending availability, beginning Thursday, November 7 at the Harvard Box Office in Holyoke Center. Tickets are free of charge.