The Gorbachevs' only child, Irina, rested her head on her father's shoulder, as the visitors filed past the coffin. Her daughter, Krenia, stood to her right.

For the former Soviet leader, who brought an end to the Cold War, the sadness of parting with his wife was sometimes too great to bear.

The family held candles during a requiem on Thursday in Moscow's Novodevichy monastery.

Emotions overflowed again during a crowded memorial ceremony in the Novodevichy cemetery, the last resting place of many eminent Russians.