Georgy Shakhnazarov

Who was Georgy Shakhnazarov?

Georgy Khosroevich Shakhnazarov was a Soviet-Armenian politician and political scientist. He was one of the half-dozen aides closest to Mikhail Gorbachev both while he was Soviet leader and after his fall from power at the collapse of the Soviet Union. Shakhnazarov was an early advocate of reform and helped Gorbachev to shape his plans to open up the system to new ideas and freedoms, but, like his boss, he failed to articulate a clear vision of where he believed the country should go.

After Gorbachev was ousted by Boris Yeltsin, Shakhnazarov became a key figure in the newly established Gorbachev Foundation.

His loyalty to Gorbachev was unquestioned, and he was with him at many of the key moments as Soviet leader. He was at his side when Gorbachev failed to convince the East German Politbüro to reform at a strained meeting in East Berlin in October 1989. The two shared a celebratory private glass of champagne when Gorbachev was elected the first Soviet president in March 1990.