On September 20th Raisa Maksimovna Gorbachova passed away. As the spouse of the leader of the State she had to endure attacks of squares accusing her in «indiscretion», and at the same time was an object of envy and imitation. With her passing everything that was superficial dissolved. Its place was taken, in the first place, by pure admiration for her dignified manners she managed to keep to in any situation. «The lady», «the First Lady» were the words we heard on TV on the day of the official farewell. Much was told of the remarkably loving relations between Raisa Maksimovna and Michail Sergeevich Gorbachov, of her personally having broken a strong stereotype of how the spouse of the state leader should behave. But there were few mentions of Raisa Maksimovna’s independent social role which was directly related to a woman’s role in Russian society in general. This theme is very expansive and little studied and certainly awaits its researchers.
      I had a chance to make sure personally that Raisa Maksimovna was very much concerned with «women’s theme». In autumn of 1998 I contacted the Club of Raisa Maksimovna and suggested organizing an international conference «Women and mass-media». The special accent was to be given to the mass-media correctness in covering the «women’s theme». That idea won her attention and support. The conference was held on February 22nd 1999. Raisa Maksimovna’s thoughtful approach and genuine interest to all preliminary work and during the conference were amazing. It could seem that she should be sick and tired of this fuss and bustle after all those meetings, conferences and presentations she had visited. But it was nothing of the kind! She was exceedingly attentive to what every speaker was saying, had animated reaction and made deep comments.
      The conference was the last major even organized by Raisa Maksimovna’s Club that took place while she was still living. The sudden illness frustrated all plans. Her decease has been a grievous loss not only for her kin, but for all those who respected and admired her. The pain of this loss is still too sharp and sorrow too great, but it is already clear that this amazing woman stepped out of life and straight into History. The memory of her must be bright and active – like she herself was.