 After Stalin died in March 1953, Gorbachev and Mlynář joined the crowds amassing to see Stalin's body laying in state.At MSU, Gorbachev met Raisa Titarenko, a Ukrainian studying in the university's philosophy department.She was engaged to another man but after that engagement fell apart, she began a relationship with Gorbachev; together they went to bookstores, museums, and art exhibits.