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People
Activity
Affiliation(set)
Position
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Background(set)
Era
People of the Soviet Union
People of the wider world
GlossaryRussian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP)→
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Vera Ivanovna Zasulich Вера Ивановна Засулич
From a narodnik revolver to Marxist criticism, half a century of one woman's revolutionary life
Scholarship and theory · Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP)
1849–1919
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Pavel Borisovich Axelrod Павел Борисович Аксельрод
Theorist of the mass workers' party: the argument that lost to Lenin's vanguard
Political and party leadership · Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP)
1850–1928
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Lev Grigorievich Deitch Лев Григорьевич Дейч
Co-founder of the Emancipation of Labour group and a Menshevik pioneer at the origins of Russian Marxism
Scholarship and theory · Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP)
1855–1941
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Georgi Valentinovich Plekhanov Георгий Валентинович Плеханов
The father of Russian Marxism: against his own pupils’ revolution
Scholarship and theory · Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP)
1856–1918
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Mikhail Stepanovich Olminsky Михаил Степанович Ольминский
Founder of Istpart and architect of Bolshevik party historiography
Ideology and propaganda · Soviet Union state institutions
1863–1933
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Viktor Konstantinovich Kurnatovsky Виктор Константинович Курнатовский
One of Russia's first Marxists, from Narodnaya Volya to leader of the 1905 Chita Republic
Social movements and organizing · Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP)
1868–1912
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Mikhail Nikolayevich Pokrovsky Михаил Николаевич Покровский
Founder of Soviet Marxist historiography, posthumously repudiated
Ideology and propaganda · Soviet Union state institutions
1868–1932
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Alexei Maximovich Gorky Алексей Максимович Горький
The stormy petrel, caged
Literature and arts · Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP)
1868–1936
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Maria Fyodorovna Andreyeva Мария Фёдоровна Андреева
Actress turned Bolshevik financial agent whom Lenin called 'Comrade Phenomenon'
Literature and arts · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1868–1953
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Alexander Nikolayevich Potresov Александр Николаевич Потресов
One of the six who built Iskra: the Menshevik theorist who parted with Lenin
Political and party leadership · Mensheviks (RSDLP)
1869–1934
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Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaya Надежда Константиновна Крупская
She built the Soviet school and library system from the shadow of her husband
Education · Soviet Union state institutions
1869–1939
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Alexander Nikolayevich Vinokurov Александр Николаевич Винокуров
The Bolshevik physician who built the USSR Supreme Court and led it for fourteen years
Law and justice · Soviet Union state institutions
1869–1944
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Yekaterina Dmitriyevna Kuskova Екатерина Дмитриевна Кускова
A publicist who moved between reformist socialism and anti-party politics
Scholarship and theory · Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP)
1869–1958
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Vladimir Ilyich Lenin Владимир Ильич Ленин
The helmsman who changed course at every fork
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1870–1924
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Leonid Borisovich Krasin Леонид Борисович Красин
From revolutionary engineer to Soviet diplomatic architect, the only Bolshevik who could do business with Western capital
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union state institutions
1870–1926
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Ivan Ivanovich Skvortsov-Stepanov Иван Иванович Скворцов
Bolshevik intellectual who brought Capital into Russian and served as the first People's Commissar of Finance
Ideology and propaganda · Soviet Union state institutions
1870–1928
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Pyotr Ananyevich Krasikov Пётр Ананьевич Красиков
First Procurator General of the USSR and architect of revolutionary legality
Law and justice · Soviet Union state institutions
1870–1939
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Pyotr Berngardovich Struve Пётр Бернгардович Струве
From Marxism through liberalism to conservative anti-Bolshevism: the thinker who traced the arc of a Russian intelligentsia
Scholarship and theory · Constitutional Democratic Party (Kadets)
1870–1944
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Fyodor Ilyich Dan Фёдор Ильич Дан
Menshevism's theoretical pillar who stood for democratic socialism against Lenin
Political and party leadership · Mensheviks (RSDLP)
1871–1947
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Sergei Nikolaevich Prokopovich Сергей Николаевич Прокопович
An economist who analysed the tension between markets and state control
Scholarship and theory · Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP)
1871–1955
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Georgy Vasilyevich Chicherin Георгий Васильевич Чичерин
The first foreign commissar who translated the revolution into diplomacy
Diplomacy and international organization · Soviet Union state institutions
1872–1936
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Alexandra Mikhailovna Kollontai Александра Михайловна Коллонтай
The first woman cabinet minister, who made women's liberation the revolution's business
Diplomacy and international organization · Soviet Union state institutions
1872–1952
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Gleb Maksimilianovich Krzhizhanovsky Глеб Максимилианович Кржижановский
Early architect of electrification and planning
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union state institutions
1872–1959
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Ivan Vasilyevich Babushkin Иван Васильевич Бабушкин
The worker-organizer Iskra trusted most: archetype of the Bolshevik worker
Social movements and organizing · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1873–1906
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Yuri Mikhailovich Steklov Юрий Михайлович Стеклов
First Soviet editor of Izvestia, architect of the Soviet constitution
Scholarship and theory · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1873–1941
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Vladimir Dmitrievich Bonch-Bruevich Владимир Дмитриевич Бонч-Бруевич
He built the Soviet government apparatus and studied the religious dissenters of the empire
Government and administration · Soviet Union state institutions
1873–1955
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Semyon Ivanovich Balashov Семён Иванович Балашов
Bolshevik leader of Ivanovo-Voznesensk who built the first soviet alongside Frunze during the 1905 general strike
Social movements and organizing · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1874–1925
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Dmitry Ivanovich Kursky Дмитрий Иванович Курский
Architect of revolutionary legality and the first Soviet People's Commissar of Justice and Prosecutor General
Law and justice · Soviet Union state institutions
1874–1932
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Sergei Ivanovich Gusev Сергей Иванович Гусев
Architect of the Red Army's political apparatus, Old Bolshevik who opposed Trotsky's military line
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1874–1933
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Vladimir Alexandrovich Bazarov Владимир Александрович Базаров
The Machist philosopher-economist of Gosplan who proposed a genetic-teleological planning synthesis
Literature and arts · Soviet Union state institutions
1874–1939
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Alexander Alekseevich Vannovsky Александр Алексеевич Ванновский
A revolutionary who turned to Japanese literature and philosophy
Social movements and organizing · Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP)
1874–1967
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Anatoly Vasilyevich Lunacharsky Анатолий Васильевич Луначарский
Russian revolutionary, first People's Commissar of Enlightenment, and literary critic
Education · Soviet Union state institutions
1875–1933
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Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin Михаил Иванович Калинин
The long-serving formal head of state
Legislature and state representation · Soviet Union state institutions
1875–1946
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Vasily Nikolayevich Kayurov Василий Николаевич Каюров
Vyborg Bolshevik organizer who turned the Women's Day protest into the February Revolution
Social movements and organizing · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1876–1936
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Vladimir Ivanovich Nevsky Владимир Иванович Невский
The revolutionary-historian who seized the railways in October and wrote the party's history
Scholarship and theory · Soviet Union state institutions
1876–1937
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Georgy Stepanovich Khrustalev-Nosar Георгий Степанович Носарь
A non-party workers' lawyer elected the first chairman of the Petersburg Soviet in 1905
Social movements and organizing · Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP)
1877–1919
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Avel Safronovich Yenukidze Авель Сафронович Енукидзе
Stalin's close friend and the 17-year organizational backbone of the Soviet state, the first fall that opened the Great Purge
Legislature and state representation · Soviet Union state institutions
1877–1937
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Nikolai Ivanovich Muralov Николай Иванович Муралов
The revolutionary soldier who founded Post No. 1 at Lenin's Mausoleum
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1877–1937
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Viktor Pavlovich Nogin Виктор Павлович Ногин
First commissar to resign demanding a coalition, buried on Red Square
Political and party leadership · Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP)
1878–1924
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Maria Ilyinichna Ulyanova Мария Ильинична Ульянова
Lenin's youngest sister who edited the revolution with a pencil: press organizer in her own right
Ideology and propaganda · Soviet Union state institutions
1878–1937
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Yakov Mikhailovich Yurovsky Яков Михайлович Юровский
The Cheka executioner who personally shot the last Tsar
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union state institutions
1878–1938
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Mikhail Sergeyevich Kedrov Михаил Сергеевич Кедров
Old Bolshevik who led the Cheka Special Department, building the Red Terror in the North and the earliest Soviet camp system
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union state institutions
1878–1941
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Emelyan Mikhailovich Yaroslavsky Емельян Михайлович Ярославский
The Party's Chief Atheist, Called 'the Soviet Priest'
Scholarship and theory · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1878–1943
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Vladimir Viktorovich Adoratsky Владимир Викторович Адоратский
IMEL director and the first Marxist philosopher to publicly anoint Stalin as a theorist
Scholarship and theory · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1878–1945
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Solomon Abramovich Lozovsky Соломон Абрамович Лозовский
The Bolshevik who led the Profintern and was shot with the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee
Diplomacy and international organization · Comintern
1878–1952
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Leon Davidovich Trotsky Лев Давидович Троцкий
The orator who built the Red Army, felled by an ice axe
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1879–1940
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Zinovy Yakovlevich Litvin-Sedoy Зиновий Яковлевич Литвин-Седой
Organizer of Presnya’s workers’ fighting squads
Social movements and organizing · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1879–1947
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Mikhail Pavlovich Tomsky Михаил Павлович Томский
Chief of the Soviet trade unions, third man of the Right Opposition
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union state institutions
1880–1936
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Vyacheslav Alekseyevich Karpinsky Вячеслав Алексеевич Карпинский
Lenin's trusted Bolshevik publicist and a 68-year party veteran
Social movements and organizing · Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP)
1880–1965
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Serafima Ilyinichna Gopner Серафима Ильинична Гопнер
First woman to lead the Ukrainian Bolshevik party; delegate to all seven Comintern congresses
Diplomacy and international organization · Comintern
1880–1966