Privolnoye, Stavropol Krai
# Privolnoye, Stavropol Krai

Privolnoye (Russian: Приво́льное, tr. Privólʹnoye, IPA:) is a rural locality (a selo) in Krasnogvardeysky District of Stavropol Krai, Russia, located on the Yegorlyk River. Population: 3,350 (2010 Census); 3,491 (2002 Census).

## History

A paternal family house in Privolnoye was the birthplace of former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev.

## Notable people

* Mikhail Gorbachev, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1985–1991), President of the Soviet Union (1990–1991) was born on 2 March 1931 in Privolnoye. As a child, Gorbachev (1931-2022) grew up in the aftermath of the Soviet famine of 1932–1933. He recalled in a memoir that "In that terrible year [in 1933] nearly half the population of my native village, Privolnoye, starved to death, including two sisters and one brother of my father."

## Notable places

At Krasnogvardeiskoye, a village 15 kilometers from Privolnoye, in the modest three-story building displays a metal plaque commemorates Gorbachev's former high school.

## In popular culture

* Vitaly Mansky's 2001 documentary Gorbachev: After Empire
