Skip to content
People of the Revolution and the USSR
Activity
Affiliation
Position(set)
Citizenship
Background
Era
People of the Soviet Union
People of the Chinese revolution and the People’s Republic
People of the wider world
-
Karl Marx Karl Marx
Author of Capital and leader of the First International
Scholarship and theory
1818–1883
-
Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels
Marx's co-author and patron; author of Socialism: Utopian and Scientific
Scholarship and theory
1820–1895
-
Franz Erdmann Mehring Franz Mehring
The elder theoretician of German Marxism: historian, literary critic, and Spartacus League co-founder
Scholarship and theory · Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD)
1846–1919
-
Sergei Gennadiyevich Nechayev Сергей Геннадиевич Нечаев
Author of the Catechism of a Revolutionary, the nihilist who demanded total sacrifice for the revolutionary cause
Social movements and organizing
1847–1882
-
Alexander Petrovich Karpinsky Александр Петрович Карпинский
First elected Academy president who steered science through the Revolution
Science and technology · Soviet Union state institutions
1847–1936
-
Elisabeth Lukinichna Dmitrieff Елизавета Лукинична Кушелева
Russian revolutionary who organized the Paris Commune's Women's Union
Social movements and organizing · International Workingmen's Association (First International)
1850–1918?
-
Dimitar Nikolov Blagoev Димитр Николов Благоев
Founder of Bulgarian socialism who organized Russia's first Marxist circle
Political and party leadership · Bulgarian Communist Party (BKP)
1856–1924
-
Clara Zetkin Clara Zetkin
Creator of International Women's Day, she set women's liberation at the heart of class struggle
Political and party leadership · Communist Party of Germany (KPD)
1857–1933
-
Sen Katayama 片山潜
Japanese communist founder who shook Plekhanov's hand and shaped Comintern East Asia strategy
Political and party leadership · Comintern
1859–1933
-
Mikhail Stepanovich Olminsky Михаил Степанович Ольминский
Founder of Istpart and architect of Bolshevik party historiography
Ideology and propaganda · Soviet Union state institutions
1863–1933
-
Alexei Nikolayevich Krylov Алексей Николаевич Крылов
Father of Soviet shipbuilding science who translated Newton's Principia into Russian
Science and technology · Soviet Union state institutions
1863–1945
-
Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky Владимир Иванович Вернадский
Founder of biogeochemistry who reconceived the Earth through the biosphere and noosphere
Science and technology · Soviet Union state institutions
1863–1945
-
Alexander Serafimovich Александр Серафимович
The Don Cossack's son who gave the revolution its epic
Literature and arts · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1863–1949
-
Anna Ilyinichna Yelizarova-Ulyanova Анна Ильинична Елизарова-Ульянова
Lenin's older sister, Old Bolshevik who organized the Iskra underground, edited Pravda, and co-founded the Soviet historical establishment
Ideology and propaganda · Soviet Union state institutions
1864–1935
-
Feliks Yakovlevich Kon Феликс Яковлевич Кон
From Warsaw boy patriot to Comintern old revolutionary: the Pole who returned in the sealed train
Political and party leadership · Soviet Union state institutions
1864–1941
-
Mikhail Ivanovich Tugan-Baranovsky Михаил Иванович Туган-Барановский
From Legal Marxism to ethical socialism: the economist who pioneered business cycle theory
Scholarship and theory · Constitutional Democratic Party (Kadets)
1865–1919
-
Pēteris Ivanovich Stučka Пётр Иванович Стучка
Architect of Soviet Marxist legal theory who defined law as class relations
Law and justice · Soviet Union state institutions
1865–1932
-
Nikolai Yakovlevich Marr Николай Яковлевич Марр
Creator of the Japhetic theory who, as the sole Imperial academician to join the Communist Party, dominated Soviet linguistics for decades
Scholarship and theory · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1865–1934
-
Andrei Yevgenyevich Snesarev Андрей Евгеньевич Снесарев
Tsarist general turned Red Army theorist who clashed with Stalin at Tsaritsyn
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1865–1937
-
Hugh Lincoln Cooper Hugh Lincoln Cooper
The American colonel who brought General Electric turbines and dam-building expertise to the Soviet Union's showcase construction site
Science and technology · Soviet Union state institutions
1865–1937
-
Ernst Friedrich Däumig Ernst Friedrich Däumig
German socialist and a leading figure in the workers’ council movement.
Political and party leadership · Communist Party of Germany (KPD)
1866–1922
-
Julian Józefowicz Marchlewski Julian Marchlewski
A Pole who passed through the German and Russian revolutions and tried to bring revolution home
Political and party leadership · Communist Party of Germany (KPD)
1866–1925
-
Leo Jogiches Leo Jogiches
The revolution's underground organizer, always behind the scenes, until he had to lead
Political and party leadership · Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania (SDKPiL)
1867–1919
-
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
-
Tserendorj Цэрэндорж
First prime minister of the Mongolian People's Republic, diplomat of the old regime
Government and administration · Mongolia state institutions
1868–1928
-
Mikhail Nikolayevich Pokrovsky Михаил Николаевич Покровский
Founder of Soviet Marxist historiography, posthumously repudiated
Ideology and propaganda · Soviet Union state institutions
1868–1932
-
Alexei Maximovich Gorky Алексей Максимович Горький
The stormy petrel, caged
Literature and arts · Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP)
1868–1936
-
Alexander Grigorievich Shlikhter Александр Григорьевич Шлихтер
Bolshevik agrarian policymaker: first Agriculture Commissar, later VP of Ukraine's Academy of Sciences
Agriculture and land policy · Soviet Union state institutions
1868–1940
-
Filipp Yeseyevich Makharadze ფილიპე იესეს ძე მახარაძე
The Bolshevik elder removed by Stalin for trying to Sovietize Georgia gently
Political and party leadership · Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP)
1868–1941
-
Panteleimon Nikolayevich Lepeshinsky Пантелеймон Николаевич Лепешинский
Co-founder of Istpart, who laid the institutional foundations of Party historiography
Ideology and propaganda · Soviet Union state institutions
1868–1944
-
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
-
W. E. B. Du Bois W. E. B. Du Bois
"Capitalism cannot reform itself": father of the modern Negro liberation movement who joined the Communist Party at 93
Scholarship and theory · Communist Party USA (CPUSA)
1868–1963
-
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
-
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
-
Vladimir Leontyevich Komarov Владимир Леонтьевич Комаров
The botanist who led the Soviet Academy of Sciences through the Stalin years
Science and technology · Soviet Union state institutions
1869–1945
-
Marcel Cachin Marcel Cachin
Leader who took the SFIO majority into the Comintern at Tours in 1920, founding the French Communist Party, and ran L’Humanité
Political and party leadership · French Communist Party (PCF)
1869–1958
-
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
-
Nariman Najaf oglu Narimanov Нариман Наджаф оглы Нариманов
From Azerbaijani Enlightener to a Head of the Soviet State
Literature and arts · Soviet Union state institutions
1870–1925
-
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
-
Alexander Dmitrievich Tsyurupa Александр Дмитриевич Цюрупа
The Civil War food administrator who designed the grain dictatorship
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union state institutions
1870–1928
-
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
-
Fernand Loriot Fernand Loriot
French socialist and teachers’ union activist who led the Committee for the Third International
Social movements and organizing · Comintern
1870–1932
-
David Borisovich Riazanov Давид Борисович Рязанов
Founder of the Marx-Engels Institute and independent Marxist who never stopped disagreeing
Scholarship and theory · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1870–1938
-
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
-
Mikhail Dmitrievich Bonch-Bruyevich Михаил Дмитриевич Бонч-Бруевич
The first Imperial general to join the Bolsheviks: military director who led the founding of the Red Army
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1870–1956
-
Nikolai Yevgrafovich Fedoseev Николай Евграфович Федосеев
Russian revolutionary who organized the first Marxist circles in the Volga region
Social movements and organizing
1871–1898
-
Karl Liebknecht Karl Liebknecht
The lone vote against the war; the revolution's first martyr
Political and party leadership · Communist Party of Germany (KPD)
1871–1919
-
Rosa Luxemburg Rosa Luxemburg
“Freedom is always the freedom of the one who thinks differently”
Social movements and organizing · Communist Party of Germany (KPD)
1871–1919
-
Vatslav Vatslavovich Vorovsky Вацлав Вацлавович Воровский
The first Soviet diplomat, a bridge between revolution, letters, and diplomacy, felled by a bullet in Lausanne
Diplomacy and international organization · Soviet Union state institutions
1871–1923
-
Fyodor Aronovich Rothstein Фёдор Аронович Ротштейн
Bolshevik historian who became Soviet Russia's first ambassador to Persia after thirty years of exile in Britain
Diplomacy and international organization · Soviet Union state institutions
1871–1953