In 1987 he was made general secretary of the country’s Communist Party. Two years later he was swept aside by reform.
Author: NEIL GENZLINGER
Gita Ramjee, a Leading AIDS Researcher, Dies at 63
Working in South Africa, she led studies and drug trials, hoping to overcome not only H.I.V. but also cultural barriers to stopping its spread. She died of the coronavirus.
José Zalaquett, Leader in Chile’s Search for Truth, Dies at 77
He incurred the wrath of the dictator Augusto Pinochet, was exiled, and became an expert in how to heal traumatized countries.
Agnes Heller, 90, Hungarian Philosopher and Outspoken Dissident, Is Dead
Since the 1950s, she had been a thorn in the side of authoritarian governments on the left and the right, including Viktor Orban’s today.
L. Bruce Laingen, Senior Hostage During Iran Crisis, Dies at 96
A career diplomat, he had only recently arrived in Tehran for a temporary diplomatic posting when the embassy was seized in 1979.
Robert Levine, Who Studied Kindness, Identity and Time, Dies at 73
His social experiments explored how people around the world spend time, whether kindness varies by city and what compels us to buy things we may not need.
Mavis Pusey, Under-the-Radar Abstract Artist, Is Dead at 90
She favored bold geometric forms, especially in works inspired by urban construction and demolition in New York City.
Lothar Baumgarten Dies at 74; Artist Explored Collision of Cultures
Many of his conceptual pieces drew on the months he spent living with a tribe in the Amazon.
Jean Mohr, Photographer Who Found Heart Amid Bleakness, Dies at 93
He toured the world, often to record the aftermath of calamity, and collaborated on books with acclaimed writers.