The famous Soviet leader known for his policies of glasnost and perestroika is Mikhail Gorbachev. Serving as General Secretary of the Communist Party from 1985 to 1991, Gorbachev introduced glasnost (meaning "openness") to encourage transparency and freedom of expression in government and society. Simultaneously, perestroika (meaning "restructuring") aimed to reform the Soviet economy by introducing market-like reforms and reducing state control. These policies intended to revitalize the Soviet system, but they also inadvertently exposed systemic weaknesses and fueled demands for greater autonomy across various Soviet republics, ultimately contributing to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.