Very few Australians ever got as close to Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, as Peter Tesch.
Mr Gorbachev, who died on Tuesday, was not an easy person to meet, let alone develop a personal relationship with.
"I think he was very conscious that people would seek to use that proximity for perhaps their own ends," Mr Tesch, who served as Australia's main man in Moscow between 2016 and 2019, said.
But via a mutual friend in the diplomatic world, our ambassador to Russia was invited to a few small dinners with Mr Gorbachev, near his dacha in an elite quarter on the outskirts of the country's capital.
It was an offer no diplomat would dream of declining.
"He was very interested to meet the Australian ambassador, to discover an Australian ambassador who spoke Russian," Mr Tesch said, reflecting the conversations they had about the world were "very engaging".
As they got to know each other more, "Gorby", dropped a not-to-subtle hint that he'd never been invited to the Australian ambassador's residence in Moscow
"I asked him, 'if I invite you, will you come?' He said, 'of course'," Mr Tesch explained.
"I also discovered he was a big fan of hats."
Slightly under the influence after a long-dinner, Mr Tesch – while trying not to slur – called Akubra to place a special order.
"To their credit, they didn't hang up," Mr Tesch said.
A major socialist anniversary and the day that silenced an embassy
When the present was ready, the ambassador planned a party.
The first Tuesday in November in 2017 was not only Melbourne Cup Day in Australia but also the 100th anniversary of the so-called Great October Socialist Revolution that brought the Bolsheviks to power.
"This is something that is unrepeatable," Mr Tesch said.
"You had the first and last president of the USSR, the last Secretary-General of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in your embassy on Melbourne Cup Day on the centenary of the November Bolshevik revolution."
"It was quite remarkable."
The event didn't entirely go off without a hitch.
Mr Gorbachev was unwell.
He was diabetic and had been hospitalised the morning of the event but checked himself out determined to make an appearance. Apparently, he'd had something of a disagreement with his doctor.
"When he walked into the cavernous central hall of the Australian residence in Moscow at 9pm at night, there were about 95 people there and there was silence.
"He looked around, looked up at the ceiling, looked at the frescoes, looked at the audience and then the audience spontaneously burst into applause."
"It was evident that it warmed him because he has most unfairly been reviled and depicted as the man who destroyed the Soviet Union," Mr Tesch said.
Akubra's require a specific size and the hat wasn't quite right, though on the evening he wore it for a lot of photos.
"He said, '61 is good, 62 would be better'", Mr Tesch said.
"I got the hint and thankfully Akubra came to the party and we quickly got a replacement."
Mr Gorbachev enjoyed visiting Australia
Meeting Mr Gorbachev was a high-point of Mr Tesch's long career at the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Getting him to appear at a party was the icing on the cake.
The former ambassador says Mr Gorbachev was curious about our society.
The former Soviet leader last visited Australia for an environment forum in 2006, where he urged the then Howard Government to sign the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.
"He was really struck by what he observed of Australia as a harmonious, multi-ethnic community, a prosperous country that was comfortable in itself and not seeking to throw itself around the region and the world," Mr Tesch said.
Those observations could be inferred to be a comment about modern Russia under Vladimir Putin, which has invaded its neighbours.
But Mr Tesch says it was obvious Mr Gorbachev had no intention of commenting directly in any way on domestic politics in his country.
"He had lived a lot of his life in isolation," Mr Tesch explained.
"He was well looked after but he was kept a bit removed and he was also very studious about not injecting himself into contemporary politics."
Gorbachev brought Soviet system into a 'more modern fit'
Mr Tesch has just retired from his influential role in Defence, as Deputy Secretary Strategy, Policy and Industry.
This week he is in Europe and due to meet former contacts in Berlin, where he also served as Australian ambassador.
Among those he is scheduled to catch up with is Alexei Venediktov, a very prominent Russian journalist and former editor-in-chief of Echo of Moscow, a radio station which was closed down in March amid the invasion of Ukraine.
In diplomatic and intelligence circles in Canberra, Mr Tesch's views on Russia and Vladimir Putin's regime are very highly regarded.
As the world reacts to Mr Gorbachev's death, his legacy is being hotly debated but Mr Tesch said academic and media outlets shouldn't let an overly simplified "cartoonish, two dimensional view" of the man dominate.
"Gorbachev should be regarded as a man who found himself at a historical inflection point and was confronted with choices for which anybody would be singularly ill-prepared," Mr Tesch said.
"He took it upon himself to drag the moribund Soviet system into a more modern, fit for the future format.
"It caused lot of angst, did a lot of damage in the eyes of people who saw their livelihoods being eroded but he was a man who made choices not just in his own selfish interest, and certainly not just in the interests of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
"His choices were informed by a deeper understanding of the truly global imperative of averting a nuclear arms race and bringing about a more stable and secure environment," Mr Tesch said.
Mr Tesch said until the end, Mr Gorbachev had a deep respect and affection for Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States.
"It was a recurring theme of our conversations," he said.
In 2019, Mr Tesch landed on USS Ronald Reagan during the Talisman Sabre military exercises in Queensland and sent the former Soviet Union leader a ship's cap, which he apparently appreciated.
"When we think about it, those two men really made an extraordinary difference to the world," Mr Tesch said.
"It's a legacy which we are still enjoying, even if it is being eroded."
