By Ashe O
Washington, Aug 31 (IANS): The world mostly knew the last titanic Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev as the man who ended the Cold War, brought down the iron curtain, retrieved the world from the brink of nuclear arms race that could have led to annihilation, and as perhaps the only Communist politician to win the Nobel Peace prize. But post-presidency, Gorbachev was much reviled at home and adored overseas with quite a few surprises.
Not many know about the life he led after he withdrew into the shadows after he lost his presidency, after the entire Soviet Union was dismembered, which never was his goal. The West remembers his perestroika and glasnost in Russia as the greatest milestone in economic reforms and the man behind Germany's reunification, the East Germans worship him as a hero.
Three years later, Gorbachev lost the love of his life -- his wife of 46 years, Raisa -- to cancer. The couple had one daughter, Irina. "In the worst moments I was always very calm and balanced. But now that she's gone -- I don't want to live. The central point in our lives is gone," he said out of depression.
But Gorbachev did go on, speaking out on nuclear disarmament, the environment, poverty -- and in his wife's memory, set up with the family the Raisa Gorbachev Foundation to fight children's cancer, the CNN reported.
Previously, he had established the Green Cross -- to deal with ecological issues -- and the International Foundation for Socio-Economic and Political Studies, or Gorbachev Foundation. In 2011, Gorbachev also launched the annual 'Gorbachev Awards' to celebrate "those who have changed the world for the better".
Gorbachev's involvement in Russian politics continued as well. He was head of the Social Democratic Party of Russia from 2001 until his resignation in 2004 over conflicts with party direction and leadership.
In 2007, he became head of a new Russian political movement -- the Union of Social Democrats, which in turn set up the opposition Independent Democratic Party of Russia, the CNN recalled.
CNN Host Larry King featured him in his Larry King Live show. He told CNN's Christiane Amanpour in 2012 that he agreed Russian democracy was "alive" but added: "That it is 'well'... not so. I am alive, but I can't say that I'm fine."
He explained that the "institutions of democracy are not working efficiently in Russia, because ultimately they are not free."
In another interview with CNN in 2019, Gorbachev said the US and Russia must strive to avoid a 'New Cold War' developing despite worsening tensions.
"This might turn out to be a hot war that could mean the destruction of our entire civilisation. This must not be allowed," he said.
On the demise of the 1987 treaty he signed with Ronald Reagan, Gorbachev expressed hope that such arms control agreements could be revived.
"All the agreements that are there are preserved and not destroyed. But these are the first steps towards destruction of [that which] must not be destroyed in any case," he said.
The ultimate goal of arms control, he added, must be to get rid of nuclear weapons completely.
Gorbachev's post-USSR life also included some surprises as he worked to raise money for his causes with appearances in advertisements for Pizza Hut and Louis Vuitton.
In 2004 Gorbachev won a Grammy award for best spoken word album for children for "Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf/Beintus: Wolf Tracks", which he recorded with former US President Bill Clinton and actress Sophia Loren.
Other awards included the 2008 Liberty Medal from the US National Constitution Center and Russia's highest honour, the Order of St. Andrew, which was given to him on his 80th birthday in 2011 by then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
Paradoxically, Gorbachev was a leader more respected in other countries than at home. In Russia, he was reviled by some for destroying the Soviet empire and by others for moving too slowly in freeing his nation from the grip of communism.
In 1996, he ran against his protege Boris Yeltsin for presidency and got less than 1 per cent of the votes.