Twenty-six years ago today, on September 20, 1999 (August 11, 1999 lunar calendar), Raisa, wife of former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, passed away. Gorbachev and his wife Raisa At 2:55 am on September 20, 1999, Raisa Gorbacheva, wife of former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, who had made a splash on the international stage, died after weeks of battling leukemia at the University Hospital of Manster in northern Germany due to ineffective treatment. As a first lady who did not hold political office, Raisa's death caused a rare shock in the West, and German newspapers paid tribute to the extraordinary figure who played a special role in the Soviet era with large photos and full-page memoirs. In July 1999, Raisa was diagnosed in Russia with an incurable disease, leukemia, and Germany's best specialists tried their best to treat her. The initial chemotherapy seemed to be working well, but the leader of the medical team, Professor Thomas Bichner, told Gorbachev from the beginning that the disease was dangerous, that there was no guarantee of a cure, and that the chemotherapy itself was dangerous. Raisa's condition soon deteriorated again, and the medical team decided to make a last-ditch effort with a bone marrow transplant. Raisa's sister was selected as a bone marrow donor and rushed to Germany from Russia immediately. However, due to a shock in Raisa's circulatory system, her constitution fell sharply, and she could no longer accept a bone marrow transplant. Gorbachev and his wife are famous for their deep friendship. Gorbachev once said that Raisa was the most precious gift he had ever received in his life. After his diagnosis in July, Gorbachev called it a "July snow." During the nine weeks of treatment in Germany, he was by his side day and night. After Raisa's death, Gorbachev held her already cold hand in the rescue room and cried loudly for two hours before staggering out of the hospital and returning to the hotel. His eyes were red and swollen, his face was pale, and his spirit was completely broken. At 8:40 that night, Gorbachev, accompanied by his daughter, came to the hospital again to bid farewell to his beloved wife. At 21:30, Gorbachev returned to the hotel and met the Russian writer @Matov in the front room. He said to the latter: "I am not alone, my daughter and grandson will live with me." After Raisa came to Germany for medical treatment, German dignitaries have been very concerned. Former Chancellor Kohl kept in touch with Gorbachev by phone, asking for warmth. Kohl also published a signed article in the newspaper Le Monde, praising Raisa as a "very intelligent, very active and very influential" woman. Chancellor Schroeder rushed to Manster to comfort Gorbachev when he heard that Raisa was seriously ill in France. As he parted, Schroeder had tears in his eyes and hugged Gorbachev tightly. During Raisa's stay in the hospital, flowers from various sources were piled up in front of the hospital every day. Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher praised Raisa in London as a "learned, articulate and charismatic" woman who "made a great contribution to reform". French President Chirac offered his condolences to Gorbachev "in the name of the French people". Pope Paul II also called Gorbachev to express his "deep condolences". On the 22nd, Russian President Boris Yeltsin sent a "Tu-154" plane to pick up Raisa's body and return it to Moscow, with Gorbachev in the coffin. Raisa, the former first lady of the Soviet Union and a philosophy professor from the Siberian town of Lobtsovsk, was laid to rest in Moscow's Notre Dame Cemetery after 67 years of legendary life.