Mr Mikhail Gorbachev gazed lovingly at his wife of more than 40 years yesterday, weeping when her coffin was shut and Raisa was lowered into the ground at a stylish but simple funeral in bright autumn sun.
Mr Gorbachev, who as Soviet leader was instrumental in ending the Cold War, put an arm round his wife's head, stroking her face and hair and whispered to her before an archbishop covered her, chanting a liturgy and sprinkling sand on her body.
Raisa died on Monday of leukaemia in the German city of Munster, aged 67, and was buried in a grave at Moscow's elite Novodevichy cemetery.
Mr Gorbachev, who looked tired and sat numbly for most of the long day of religious and civil ceremonies, hugged his youngest granddaughter for support as Raisa's coffin was taken to the grave, covered in wreaths bearing her name.
The Gorbachevs' enduring and close partnership and Raisa's elegance became an enduring symbol of the reforms the Kremlin leader introduced in the late 1980s.
"Whenever we met they were together," the former German chancellor, Mr Helmut Kohl, one of the many dignitaries to have attended the funeral, said. "It was a significant factor - they were a pair, a couple."
Dr Kohl, President Yeltsin's wife, Naina, and German Chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schroder's wife Doris watched with heads bowed as Mr Gorbachev (68) and daughter Irina joined other mourners on the slow, silent walk down a flower-strewn path at the cemetery before the burial.
Those in the cortege crushed the long-stemmed roses under foot. It was a stylish touch in keeping with the renowned elegance of Raisa Gorbachev, who helped change the image of the Kremlin leadership, winning friends abroad but enemies at home.
Mourners then filed past the seated Mr Gorbachev, placing flowers by the open coffin. Some kissed Raisa's forehead, others bowed before her. One woman fell into the lap of Mr Gorbachev, who put a comforting arm around her and held her for a while.
A Russian Orthodox archbishop, dressed in a white cassock and a tall mitre, later covered the body with a white cloth. He and other priests sang, waved incense and the coffin was sealed.
As the coffin was lowered into the ground, Mr Gorbachev wept, wiping his face with a handkerchief, and walked around the grave. His daughter Irina clutched a handkerchief to her mouth.
Earlier, Mr Gorbachev, who led the officially atheist Soviet Union as president and Communist Party leader, attended a private religious service in the cemetery chapel.