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People of the Revolution and the USSR
Activity
Affiliation(set)
Position(set)
Citizenship
Background
Era
People of the Soviet Union
People of the wider world
GlossaryRussian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP)→
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Gleb Ivanovich Bokii Глеб Иванович Бокий
Father of Soviet signals intelligence and founder of the Cheka Special Department
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union state institutions
1879–1937
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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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Eero Haapalainen Eero Haapalainen
Trade union leader who commanded the Finnish Red Guards from January to March 1918
Military command · Communist Party of Finland (SKP)
1880–1937
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Nikolai Ilyich Podvoisky Николай Ильич Подвойский
The operational commander of October, sidelined by the revolution he led
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1880–1948
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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
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Alexei Ivanovich Rykov Алексей Иванович Рыков
Lenin’s successor as premier, destroyed as the Right Opposition
Government and administration · Soviet Union state institutions
1881–1938
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Platon Mikhailovich Kerzhentsev Платон Михайлович Керженцев
Proletkult theorist who became architect of Stalin-era arts censorship
Scholarship and theory · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1881–1940
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Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov Климент Ефремович Ворошилов
Stalin’s marshal, sustained by loyalty more than command
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1881–1969
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Kamo Симон Тер-Петросян
The Bolsheviks' legendary expropriator, the revolutionary who feigned madness and survived four death sentences
Social movements and organizing · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1882–1922
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Yuri Mikhailovich Larin Юрий Михайлович Ларин
An imaginative economic theorist who bridged NEP and central planning, co-founded Gosplan, and championed Jewish agricultural settlement
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union state institutions
1882–1932
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Nikolai Mikhailovich Yanson Николай Михайлович Янсон
Estonian Bolshevik and Soviet People's Commissar of Justice who helped design the Gulag camp system
Law and justice · Soviet Union state institutions
1882–1938
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Osip Aronovich Piatnitsky Осип Аронович Пятницкий
From Comintern underground courier to its organizational backbone, then devoured by the machine he built
Diplomacy and international organization · Comintern
1882–1938
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Pyotr Alekseevich Bogdanov Пётр Алексеевич Богданов
Architect of NEP industrialization who championed trusts against Glavkist centralization
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union state institutions
1882–1938
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Aleksei Kapitonovich Gastev Алексей Капитонович Гастев
From proletarian poetry to the science of labour: founder of Soviet social engineering who trained half a million workers
Scholarship and theory · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1882–1939
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Abram Yakovlevich Belenky Абрам Яковлевич Беленький
Cheka founding member who guarded Lenin personally
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union state institutions
1882–1941
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Alexander Antonovich Troyanovsky Александр Антонович Трояновский
From tsarist artillery officer to Stalin's first ambassador to Washington: a Russian nobleman who crossed revolution and diplomacy
Diplomacy and international organization · Soviet Union state institutions
1882–1955
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Sofia Sigizmundovna Dzerzhinskaya Софья Сигизмундовна Дзержинская
Polish Social Democrat who forged an independent revolutionary path from the SDKPiL underground to the Comintern
Social movements and organizing · Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania (SDKPiL)
1882–1968
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Fyodor Andreyevich Sergeyev Фёдор Андреевич Сергеев
Founder and head of the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic, close friend of Stalin and Kirov
Government and administration · Soviet Union state institutions
1883–1921
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Grigory Yevseyevich Zinoviev Григорий Евсеевич Зиновьев
He opposed October, vouched for Stalin, and was shot by him
Diplomacy and international organization · Comintern
1883–1936
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Lev Borisovich Kamenev Лев Борисович Каменев
The party’s licensed voice of caution: his warnings outlived him
Diplomacy and international organization · Comintern
1883–1936
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Terenty Dmitriyevich Deribas Терентий Дмитриевич Дерибас
The security viceroy of the Far East
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union state institutions
1883–1938
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Olga Davidovna Kameneva Ольга Давыдовна Каменева
Trotsky's sister and Kamenev's wife: the architect of Soviet cultural diplomacy with the West
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1883–1941
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Ivan Dmitrievich Chugurin Иван Дмитриевич Чугурин
Vyborg worker-Bolshevik who handed Lenin his party card
Industry and production · Soviet Union state institutions
1883–1947
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Aleksei Yegorovich Badayev Алексей Егорович Бадаев
Official publisher of Pravda who rose from Duma deputy to nominal head of the Russian republic
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union state institutions
1883–1951
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Andrey Yanuaryevich Vyshinsky Андрей Януарьевич Вышинский
Stalin's Moscow-trial prosecutor who later carried hardline Soviet diplomacy to the UN
Law and justice · Soviet Union state institutions
1883–1954
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Dmitry Zakharovich Manuilsky Дмитрий Захарович Мануильский
ECCI secretary who carried out the Stalinist purges (1928–1943)
Diplomacy and international organization · Comintern
1883–1959
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Ivan Ksenofontovich Ksenofontov Иван Ксенофонтович Ксенофонтов
The Cheka's perpetual number two who built its revolutionary tribunal system
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union state institutions
1884–1926
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Vladimir Pavlovich Milyutin Владимир Павлович Милютин
First People's Commissar for Agriculture who laid the statistical foundations of Soviet planning
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union state institutions
1884–1937
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Yevgeny Ivanovich Zamyatin Евгений Иванович Замятин
The architect of a forbidden future
Literature and arts · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1884–1937
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Andrei Sergeyevich Bubnov Андрей Сергеевич Бубнов
From October Revolution Politburo member to the Enlightenment Commissar who led the fight against illiteracy
Education · Soviet Union state institutions
1884–1938
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Varvara Nikolayevna Yakovleva Варвара Николаевна Яковлева
The finance commissar who passed from Cheka to the Left Opposition
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union state institutions
1884–1941
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Mikhail Markovich Borodin Михаил Маркович Бородин
Sun Yat-sen's political advisor, architect of the First United Front, and the Comintern's global emissary
Diplomacy and international organization · Comintern
1884–1951
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Ivan Mikhailovich Maisky Иван Михайлович Майский
From Menshevik to Soviet envoy to the British Empire: a convert and survivor who stood at the center of world-war diplomacy
Diplomacy and international organization · Soviet Union state institutions
1884–1975
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Alexandra Petrovna Kim Александра Петровна Ким
The first Korean communist, who gave her life bridging the Russian Revolution and Korean liberation
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1885–1918
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Mikhail Vasilyevich Frunze Михаил Васильевич Фрунзе
Civil War front commander and Red Army reformer
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1885–1925
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Eino Rahja Eino Rahja
Petrograd Finnish Bolshevik who helped Lenin escape to Finland in 1917 and sat on the Red Guards’ three-man command in 1918
Military command · Communist Party of Finland (SKP)
1885–1936
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Nikolai Vasilyevich Krylenko Николай Васильевич Крыленко
Architect of revolutionary legal consciousness, consumed by the Great Terror
Law and justice · Soviet Union state institutions
1885–1938
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Yefim Afanasievich Shchadenko Ефим Афанасьевич Щаденко
From 1st Cavalry Army commissar to the purge's personnel executioner
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1885–1951
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Alexander Yakovlevich Parkhomenko Александр Яковлевич Пархоменко
Civil War commander who helped defend Tsaritsyn and establish Soviet power in Ukraine
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1886–1921
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Alexander Fyodorovich Myasnikov Александр Фёдорович Мясников
Lenin's periphery-builder who brought Soviet power to Belarus and Armenia
Government and administration · Soviet Union state institutions
1886–1925
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Sergei Mironovich Kirov Сергей Миронович Киров
The Leningrad organizer whose murder became the pretext for the Great Terror
Social movements and organizing · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1886–1934
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Grigory Konstantinovich Ordzhonikidze Григорий Константинович (Серго) Орджоникидзе
Commander of the industrial front: he pulled the trigger himself
Industry and production · Soviet Union state institutions
1886–1937
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Nikolai Pavlovich Glebov-Avilov Николай Павлович Глебов-Авилов
First People's Commissar of Posts and Telegraphs who later built Rostselmash, flagship of Soviet agricultural machinery
Industry and production · Soviet Union state institutions
1887–1937
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Jānis Ernestovich Rudzutaks Ян Эрнестович Рудзутак
Latvian Bolshevik who denounced NKVD case fabrication in court
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union state institutions
1887–1938
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Valerian Valerianovich Obolensky Валериан Валерианович Оболенский
First chairman of VSNKh; theorist of the Left Communists and of Democratic Centralism
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union state institutions
1887–1938
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Valerian Vladimirovich Kuibyshev Валериан Владимирович Куйбышев
Planning official of the first Five-Year Plans
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union state institutions
1888–1935
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Georgy Ippolitovich Lomov Георгий Ипполитович Оппоков
First People's Commissar for Justice, Gosplan deputy chairman, and victim of the Great Purge
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union state institutions
1888–1937
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Ivan Alekseyevich Akulov Иван Алексеевич Акулов
Founder of the Soviet Procuracy, caught between state security and socialist legality
Law and justice · Soviet Union state institutions
1888–1937