Raisa Gorbacheva Raisa Gorbacheva Raisa Maximovna Gorbacheva ( "Raisa Maksimovna Gorbachyova", , Титаре́нко; 5 January 1932 – 20 September 1999) was a Russian activist who was the wife of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. She raised funds for the preservation of Russian cultural heritage, fostering of new talent, and treatment programs for children's blood cancer. Raisa Maximovna Titarenko was born in the city of Rubtsovsk in the Altai region of Siberia. She was the eldest of three children of Maxim Andreyevich Titarenko, a railway engineer originally from Chernigov in Ukraine, and his Siberian wife, Alexandra Petrovna Porada, originally from Veseloyarsk. She spent her
Rosa Raisa also starring Titta Ruffo and sang the Marschallin in the South American premiere of "Der Rosenkavalier" in Italian with Gilda dalla Rizza as Octavian and the then unknown Amelita Galli-Curci as Sophie. All these operas were under the leadership of Gino Marinuzzi, the great Italian conductor and composer who for many years championed Raisa. Raisa made her La Scala debut as Francesca upon her return from South America. She performed many Francesca's and Aida's as well as Lida in Verdi's rare early opera "La battaglia di Legnano" at the Scala. It was after her Francesca at La Scala that she