Gorbachev's English Voice Speaks

When the history books picture key moments at the end of the Cold War, they will probably show the bald, mustachioed head of Pavel Palazhchenko popping up between U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.


The long-time English translator for Gorbachev, Palazhchenko described Reagan's proposals on arms control to the Kremlin and conveyed Gorbachev's thoughts to President George Bush hours before the Soviet president left office Dec. 25, 1991.


This month, Palazhchenko published his English-language memoirs, chronicling the last Cold War summits and the challenge of interpreting the father of perestroika's verbose and often fractured sentences into intelligible English.


"My problem was that I had to actually make all of those sentences and ... mangled structures that Gorbachev produced, I had to make them sound grammatical," Palazhchenko said in an interview. "It was even fun for me to do it because it was a challenge. It was a challenge I did not have with other speakers."


His ability in turning an earthy Russian phrase such as "Don't hang noodles on my ears" into "Don't try to fool me" made Palazhchenko the leading translator for Gorbachev and Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze for much of 1985 to 1991.


Sometimes, he played a role in U.S.-Soviet diplomacy as well. On Christmas Day 1991, the day the Soviet Union collapsed, it was up to him to figure out a way to get Gorbachev's call through to Bush without going through the hotline or the Foreign Ministry, by then run by the new Russian government. He found the home phone number of a top U.S. Embassy official, who helped route the call. "[Gorbachev] didn't want to use the hotline, he wanted to do it in a personal way," Palazhchenko said.


Among the foreign leaders Palazhchenko has met, he is especially warm in his praise for Bush. "I think that Bush is an interesting study in a kind of public spiritedness," he said. "I think he really liked government. I think he really liked to work on issues. He was well prepared on just about any issue. ... I think he was kind of underrated."


Reagan, by contrast, was "certainly not totally in command of the details," but one who had very good instincts and an ability to rely on wise aides. "Also, he was a person who, in my opinion, was very difficult not to like because he had this ability, you know, to convey the impression that he wants to be liked, and that he also likes you."


After Gorbachev left office, Palazhchenko was one of relatively few loyal aides to join him at the Gorbachev Foundation think-tank. He says that the ex-communist leader is holding up well despite being hated or ignored by most Russians. "He really is not a person who allows himself to concentrate on what others would regard as a tragedy, as what others would regard as a great personal injustice done by the people to him," Palazhchenko said. "I have never really heard him say 'I am such a great man and the people don't appreciate that.'"


Palazhchenko also believes Gorbachev's wife, Raisa, was unfairly condemned by many and falsely accused of being the power behind the throne. "That's so ridiculous," he said. "You cannot imagine Gorbachev being imposed on by whoever, certainly not by Mrs. Gorbachev."


Palazhchenko's memoirs are sparse in gossip or scandal -- which made it hard for him to find a publisher initially -- concentrating mostly on the diplomatic history he witnessed.


He does recall a few vignettes, such as a furious Gorbachev during Reagan's 1988 visit to Moscow when U.S. officials insisted on checking all spectators entering the Bolshoi Theater before the two leaders arrived.