We are deeply saddened to learn of the death of President Mikhail Gorbachev, one of the patrons of the Margaret Thatcher Scholarship Trust.

President Gorbachev was the last president of the USSR and a close ally of Margaret Thatcher. As she put it, he was “a man with whom the West could do business”. He was fundamentally a man of peace, who recognised the need for freedom and had the determination to effect change. Together with Margaret Thatcher, Gorbachev helped bring down the Iron Curtain and end both the Cold War and the threat of nuclear war after 43 long years, changing Europe for the better.

He will be remembered as a man of unwavering commitment to peace who worked tirelessly to prevent war; as someone who understood the value of freedom; and for his courage, vision and determination to bring about change, economically through perestroika and politically through glasnost.

President Gorbachev was a keen supporter of the MTST. As recently as May 2021, he wrote from hospital to congratulate the Trust on its success and to give his best wishes to all the young people whom the Trust supports in their studies and research for the future. We thank him, and offer our condolences to his family and friends.

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