Video RUSSIA: RAISA GORBACHEV FUNERAL

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Foreign dignitaries and ordinary Russians have paid their last respects to Raisa Gorbachev, the wife of the former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.


While Raisa Gorbachev was deeply admired in the West, many Russians frowned upon her taste for elegant clothes and her prominent public role.


She was buried in the country's most historic cemetery.


Russians had a last chance to bid farewell to Raisa Gorbachev on Thursday morning.


Streams of mourners came to pay their respects, many carrying flowers.


The large turnout showed that Muscovites who had criticised the former First Lady for her taste in elegant clothes and her active role were ready to forgive her in death.


Throughout all the highs and lows of the Gorbachev era, Raisa was by her husband's side.


On Wednesday the crowds were so great that Mikhail Gorbachev asked for the ceremony to be extended by two hours, until six in the evening.


On Thursday, a delegation arrived from Germany including former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, Gorbachev's counterpart during the fall of the Berlin Wall.


Mikhail Gorbachev, relatives and dozens of prominent Russian and foreign guests attended Raisa's memorial service before her body was laid to rest in the historic Novodevichy cemetery.


A large picture of Raisa Gorbachev and a wreath from President Boris Yeltsin were carried in front of the coffin.


Thousands of ordinary Russians strained behind police barricades to catch a glimpse of the coffin.


Raisa Gorbachev was sharply criticised for ordinary Russians for her flamboyant dress sense and high profile.


But the sentiment changed when she was admitted to hospital in July after contracting a rare form of leukemia.


The Gorbachevs were then inundated with letters offering support, advice and money.


After Raisa died on Monday, her husband returned home with several boxes full of letters.


World leaders including United States President Bill Clinton, French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder sent their condolences.


The Novodevichy cemetery is Russia's most historic burial place, and many famous Russians - including former President Nikita Khrushchev, and writer Anton Chekhov - are buried there.




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