This day in Russian history and the History of the world.

September 20

September 20, 1999: Raisa Gorbachyova, wife of Mikhail Gorbachev, second-to-last General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, died. Raisa Gorbachyova was a major fundraiser for preservation of the Russian heritage, for new talents' education and for children's blood cancer treatment programs in Russia. In 1997 she established Raisa Maksimovna's Club, meant to galvanize the participation of women in politics. Raisa Gorbachyova was diagnosed with leukaemia and died on 20 September 1999 at Mnster University Hospital in Germany, aged 67. The Grave of Raisa Gorbachyova is at the Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow.

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