People of the Revolution and the USSR
- Nariman Najaf oglu Narimanov Нариман Наджаф оглы Нариманов From Azerbaijani Enlightener to a Head of the Soviet State
- Konstantin Aleksandrovich Fedin Константин Александрович Федин Novelist who began as a Serapion Brother and became the chief gatekeeper of Soviet literature for 18 years
- Peretz Davidovich Markish Перец Давидович Маркиш A radical lyrical voice of Soviet Yiddish literature
- Alexei Alexandrovich Surkov Алексей Александрович Сурков Poet of "Zemlyanka" and the Writers' Union enforcer who led the campaign against Pasternak
- Alexander Alexandrovich Fadeyev Александр Александрович Фадеев Writers’ Union manager who killed himself at the thaw
- Aleksandr Trifonovich Tvardovsky Александр Трифонович Твардовский Novy Mir editor who opened the Thaw and national poet of Vasili Tyorkin
- Georgy Mokeevich Markov Георгий Мокеевич Марков The Brezhnev-era literary gatekeeper who celebrated Siberia while enforcing official aesthetics as head of the Writers' Union for 15 years
- Tikhon Nikolayevich Khrennikov Тихон Николаевич Хренников Gatekeeper of Soviet music for 43 years
- Sergey Vladimirovich Mikhalkov Сергей Владимирович Михалков The poet who wrote the anthem for Stalin, Brezhnev, and Putin
- Chinghiz Torekulovich Aitmatov Чингиз Торекулович Айтматов Kyrgyz writer and diplomat who carved a Central Asian voice into world literature
- Nikolai Nikolayevich Gubenko Николай Николаевич Губенко The last Soviet culture minister