Mikhail Gorbachev, former President – and last leader – of the Soviet Union, died on Tuesday at the age of 91. After significant global pressure, Gorbachev allowed Soviet Jews to emigrate. 2020 Genesis Prize Laureate and former refusenik Natan Sharansky – who spoke to 250,000 protestors at the 1987 Freedom Sunday Rally for Soviet Jews in Washington DC while Gorbachev and President Reagan were meeting – said of Gorbachev, "He understood that there was a need to give some freedom to people. What he didn’t understand was that if you give a little freedom, the people will demand a lot of freedom." #MikhailGorbachev #Gorbachev #NatanSharansky