A Russian expert who served as an adviser and interpreter to the Iron Lady at the culmination of the Cold War has died.

Richard Pollock – a resident of Brooklands, Sale – was a catalyst for the close relationship between Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and leader of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev in the 1980s.

An advocate of the exploration of a range of cultures and languages, he was also an inspiration to the students at Salford University in the 1960s then at Manchester University between 1988 and 1992.

Born in Nottingham but raised in Bristol and Swansea by parents Frederick Pollock and Jean Pollock, Professor Pollock excelled at Bristol Grammar School and Mill Hill School in the capital, where he entered sixth form at the age of 14.

He went on to read classics at Peterhouse College, Cambridge and education at Merton College, Oxford, with a spell of national service in between.

It was on this national service Professor Pollock was trained in Russian, an interest he maintained in a role as a teacher at Marlborough College thanks to an acquaintance with a caretaker from Crimea.

In the 1950s, he went on a trip to Leningrad and Moscow with a delegation of other teachers, one of whom was Janette Miller. Their blossoming romance saw them engaged in 1960 and married the following year.

A move to Brooklands, Sale came in 1964 when Professor Pollock took up a role as a lecturer at Salford University.

He remained for 58 years, even though his career took him to Bradford University for 16 years before he made the move to Manchester University.

As his reputation spread, Professor Pollock attracted the attention of the UK Government, for which he became an adviser and interpreter.

He went to the Soviet Union with Viscount William Whitelaw, then Deputy Prime Minister, who was so struck by him he recommended him to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

In the 1980s, Professor Pollock was present for trips by Mrs Thatcher to the Soviet Union and by President Gorbachev to the United Kingdom, both seen as an important milestone in relations between East and West.

A man of absolute discretion, he earned the respect and trust of the leaders and never disclosed the contents of their conversations to a soul.

After retirement in 1992, Professor Pollock was never recognised for his role in the culmination of the Cold War.

This is despite the efforts of daughter Eleanor Pollock, who obtained a number of letters of support for him to be appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George.

Professor Pollock died at home last month. He is survived by his four children and his four grandchildren.

His funeral was at the Church of St John the Divine yesterday, before an interment at Wilmslow Cemetery.

To donate to the British Red Cross Ukraine Crisis Appeal, a cause close to the heart of Professor Pollock, go to justgiving.com/fundraising/Eleanor-Pollock2.

This article was written by Jack Tooth. Jack is the reporter for The Messenger and covers anything and everything from within the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford.

To contact him, email jack.tooth@newsquest.co.uk or follow @JTRTooth on Twitter.