Mikhail Gorbachev

About Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Gorbachev (1931–2022) was the final leader of the Soviet Union, a political figure whose historical importance ranks highly at #218 according to the Pantheon project's Historical Popularity Index. His tenure is defined by the landmark reform policies of perestroika (restructuring) and glasnost (openness), which ultimately led to the dissolution of the USSR and the end of the Cold War. His profound, world-altering actions cement his status as a globally influential 20th-century statesman.

Despite this monumental historical role, Gorbachev's modern internet attention appears relatively modest in comparison to his significance. In 2025, his Wikipedia page accrued 2.3 million views. This level of attention translates to an Attention Gap of +5x, indicating that his online visibility is five times greater than what his historical importance might predict, suggesting he is currently overrepresented in internet focus when compared to many figures of similar or greater historical weight. To provide context, this is significantly fewer views than modern politicians like Richard Nixon (#748 importance) who garnered 4.1M views.

Furthermore, the data suggests a cooling in public interest, as his annualized view count dropped by 4.4% year-over-year, and his momentum between Q1 and Q3 of 2025 fell by 23%.