During my career, I was lucky enough to meet many notable people. But there were not many world leaders among them. If I exclude being in the same room as Margaret Thatcher and bumping into Bill Clinton in Piccadilly on Saturday afternoon, my tally of statesmen is low. In fact, the only Great Person I can claim to have spent any time with is, surprisingly, Mikhail Gorbachev when he came to my office for a farewell dinner in 1993.
Mikhail Gorbachev’s death yesterday at the age of 91 brought back memories of the period of November and December of that year when my company had the task of organising a speaking tour of Britain by the former General Secretary.
My then colleague Geoffrey Bowden handled the task on behalf of the company, but it was down to me to lay on the final event when the great man would dine with leading British politicians in our offices in Little College Street, next to College Green, across from the House of Lords.
Welcome
On the evening of 7 December 1993, a long procession of cars drew up outside the house where I was waiting with colleagues to welcome Mikhail Gorbachev and his late wife, Raisa Gorbacheva. To say I was nervous would be an understatement. I was terrified.
In the record of the signing of the visitors’ book above, you can see Mr Gorbachev flanked by Geoffrey Bowden and Michael Evans, now impersonating the editor of Macfilos. What you don’t see are the stone-faced security men surrounding us on both sides. To this day, I am still fascinated by the powerful signature and the Russian date form — 7.xii.93goda.
I can remember the moment as if it were yesterday; there are some things in life you just don’t forget. It was wholly unnerving to stand next to a man I had seen previously only on television, bestriding the world stage. I visualised him smiling alongside Ronald Raegan or Margaret Thatcher, both of whom did so much to encourage him in his policies of perestroika and glasnost leading up to those momentous events of 1989. Yet the presence, the confidence of a great man, was palpable. Raisa was charming and a stark contrast with previous Soviet First Ladies, it has to be said.
That pen
Slight unease rippled across my mind as I handed over my prized sterling silver Montblanc fountain pen, [footnote]The significance of the pen? I had bought it from a smart pen shop in Fasanenstrasse, Berlin, on the morning after the Wall fell. The evening before, I had watched East German citizens streaming over the border, most of them streaming with tears. Wittenbergplatz, Breitscheidplatz and Kurfürstendamm were crowded throughout the night, and Coca-Cola vans were handing out free drinks on every corner. There was so much emotion, especially when my old friends from East Berlin came over to the west for the first time in nearly 30 years.[/footnote] which I had purchased, not expecting such a happy set of circumstances, in Berlin on the day the Wall fell. Would I get it back? One thing is for sure; I could never have asked for it back…
This is how I came to spend an evening with a great statesman and his wife, enjoying a formal dinner in our company offices. It’s one for the book of memories, and they are all the more potent on the day Gorbachev died.
A cup of coffee works wonders in supporting Macfilos
Did you know that Macfilos is run by a dedicated team of volunteers? We rely on donations to help pay our running costs. And even the cost of a cup of coffee will do wonders for our energy levels.
My senior civil servant neighbour who recently met Richard Faulkner drew this blog to my attention. I have other photographs of the visit to Little College Street. The most notable are the photographs of the dinner. Apart from the Gorbachevs and their interpreter Pavel Palazhchenko, the other guests around the table were former Speaker of the House Lord Bernard Wheatherill, Sir David Steel, Denis Healey, his wife Edna, Sir Geoffrey Howe and his wife Elspeth. The dinner preceded a Question Time session held in nearby Central Hall Westminster.
The two KGB officers distinguished themselves during the speaking tour. The London base was the Dorchester Hotel where the guest room drinks cabinets were stocked with full sized bottles of the finest spirits and Champagne (not a miniature in sight!). The charmers emptied the cabinets each evening and had the contents parcelled up and sent back to Moscow in the diplomatic bag. Their extras after two nights totted up to more than £15k! The extras for the Gorbachev’s room was a mere £12 for some long distance calls back home.
Hello Geoffrey, so good to hear from you after all this time.
It was indeed an exciting couple of weeks entertaining the Gorbachevs and a significant milestone for the company. You did so much work to make it happen and, as you intimate, it was no easy task.
I remember on the evening of the dinner, it fell to me to entertain Edna Healey for over an hour — she had arrived far too early and Denis arrived late. We soon ran out of small talk and were rescued only by a discussion of her recently published history of the bank, Coutts & Co., which gave us some common ground.
Good to hear from you, Geoffrey and thank you for getting in touch.
But surely you could have spent the time discussing Denis’ extensive photographic portfolio!
https://www.theguardian.com/education/gallery/2008/oct/08/denishealey.photographs
With Edna?
Yes, with Edna. He was famous for being a photographer – of some sort – and she’d have had several stories, no doubt, of being bored to tears by his saying “just sit here, Dear, and just look over there, Dear, and pretend you’re interested in the scenery..” and “..I must save up and buy a new Pentax..”
At the time I didn’t associate Denis with photography, so a missed opportunity indeed. It was a very unusual and stressful evening, entertaining a former leader of the USSR and such an eclectic mix for Britain’s great-and-good. I suppose photography was the last thing on my mind. We should have invited you, David.
Nyet ..thanks all the same!
Never mind. Just 30 years too late…
Hi Mike – what a fabulous story! It added a new twist to what has been wall-to-wall media coverage of the great man’s passing. And to have photographs of the occasion too! It was a thoroughly enjoyable read. I could not recognize the wristwatch you were wearing but I wonder if that is still in your possession and in good working order? Did you ever audition for a role in a James Bond movie by any chance. Your younger self looks like an ideal fit as either M or Q! Once again, a wild and most entertaining article! Keith
Thank you Keith. Unfortunately I don’t have the watch — a bi-metal Rolex Perpetual Oyster (I think it’s called). About 20 years ago I had a phase of buying nice watches but in the end cleared everything out except a lovely IWC Pilot Chronograph. I still have it, but it hasn’t been worn since I bought my first Apple Watch. I don’t suppose I will ever wear it again and I really ought to sell it. I can live with M or Q (after all I own both!). But 007 isn’t my style I’d be dead in ten minutes.
As your roving reporter, there is a lovely Panasonic S 18mm f/1.8 lens coming to fill out the already comprehensive Panasonic f1.8 lens line….Leica must appreciate Panasonic and Sigma making the L mount a success and without stealing sales from them 😂 as they do not have many competing products.
And then there are the Sigma 20/1.4 and 24/1.4 lenses available for preorder. My 20/1.4 is forecast to arrive in later September. Three cheers for L mount!
I think you have caught the wrong train, Brian. 🤔🤔
I have finally got around to covering the 20/1.4 and 24/1.4, and the article will appear next week. I noted the piece about the Panasonic S 18mm in Leica Rumors this morning, and, again, this is something I will cover when the press release arrives. I believe there is also a new M lens due, but it will have to wait until I get Leica’s press release.
Wow! If Putin turns up at your place I would tell him to keep the pen. 😂
Agreed, or at least ask him to fill it with gas.
Thank you for this snippet of history. I was reading his obituary this morning and had forgotten that he was loved abroad, but hated back home. He certainly seemed like a breath of fresh air, but as is often the case freeing up an ossified state is never easy.
Rather the opposite of the current incumbent, it seems.
A rare privilege Mike. Life sometimes lands us in strange circumstances. Thank you for sharing that with us. Did you get the pen back?
I did, thank you, and I still have it. But at the time I wondered what Russian conventions were on such matters. Perhaps it was accepted that the signer should keep the pen. Phew!
Wow, it’s nice to know he had a human side,here in states media always presented imperious personage! What a pair of dining partners.
Since neither spoke English (or didn’t choose to), the well-known interpreter was there, the discussion around the table tended to be communal rather than the usual chatting to your neighbour. I bet they wondered what on earth they were doing, but I suppose that’s life for statesman
President Gorbachev was a breath of fresh air, compared with earlier and later Russian heads of state.He partly unwound the coils of a communist dictatorship, before diehards changed gear and reversed direction. Gorbachev will always have a beneficial place in world affairs. How wonderful that he was allowed to live so long. A rare and precious moment in your former business life, Mike. Thank you for sharing this story.
Thank you, David. Yes, a memorable occasion, and it also brings back to be a yearning for the fun of running the business. Much was routine, but there were highlights, of which this was one. I retired early after selling the business and wanted to spend the rest of my life travelling. I soon got fed up with that, and, in retrospect, I should have taken another job. I was a bit lost until I found Macfilos, and I now treat it as a little business to run, not that it brings in any money. But it keeps me happy.