People of the Revolution and the USSR
Science and technology
Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
People of the thaw and the stagnation 1953–1985
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GlossarySoviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
- Aksel Ivanovich Berg Аксель Иванович Берг Admiral-engineer who built Soviet radar and revived cybernetics
- Aleksandr Nikolayevich Nesmeyanov Александр Николаевич Несмеянов Academy president who founded organoelement chemistry
- Mikhail Alekseyevich Lavrentiev Михаил Алексеевич Лаврентьев Mathematician who built Akademgorodok and pioneered explosive applications
- Sergei Alekseyevich Lebedev Сергей Алексеевич Лебедев Creator of the MESM and BESM, founder of Soviet computing
- Anatoly Petrovich Alexandrov Анатолий Петрович Александров Physicist who pioneered the Soviet nuclear navy and nuclear power, brought down by Chernobyl
- Jānis Voldemarovich Peive Ян Вольдемарович Пейве From trace elements to federal politics: a Latvian agrochemist who chaired the Soviet of Nationalities
- Andranik Melkonovich Petrosyants Андраник Мелконович Петросьянц Civilian face of the nuclear program who chaired the State Atomic Energy Committee for 24 years
- Sergei Pavlovich Korolev Сергей Павлович Королёв From the Gulag to space. The designer whose name was a state secret
- Nikolai Petrovich Kamanin Николай Петрович Каманин From Chelyuskin ice to Gagarin's flight: the general who built the cosmonaut corps
- Arkhip Mikhailovich Lyulka Архип Михайлович Люлька The designer who opened the Soviet jet age without copying a single German engine
- Valentin Petrovich Glushko Валентин Петрович Глушко Founder of Soviet liquid rocketry: his engines carried Sputnik, Gagarin, and Buran
- Boris Vasilyevich Petrovsky Борис Васильевич Петровский Cardiovascular pioneer who ran Soviet healthcare for 15 years under Brezhnev
- Vladimir Aleksandrovich Kotelnikov Владимир Александрович Котельников The scientist–head of state who discovered the sampling theorem and led the first radar probe of Venus
- Mikhail Sergeyevich Ryazansky Михаил Сергеевич Рязанский The 'radio man' of Soviet rocketry: Chief Designer of guidance and telemetry for every Soviet rocket and spacecraft
- Sergei Vladimirovich Kurashov Сергей Владимирович Курашов Khrushchev-era health minister who presided over the World Health Assembly
- Mikhail Kuzmich Yangel Михаил Кузьмич Янгель Designer whose storable-propellant rockets became the backbone of the Strategic Rocket Forces
- Mstislav Vsevolodovich Keldysh Мстислав Всеволодович Келдыш Academy president who coordinated space science
- Nikolai D. Dmitriyevich Kuznetsov Николай Дмитриевич Кузнецов From the NK-12 to the NK-33: the chief engine designer who powered Soviet skies and space
- Vladimir Alekseyevich Kirillin Владимир Алексеевич Кириллин Architect of Soviet civilian R&D policy in the age of the scientific-technical revolution
- Vladimir Nikolayevich Chelomey Владимир Николаевич Челомей The missile designer who overtook Korolev under Khrushchev's patronage, then faded when his patron fell
- Aleksandr Davidovich Nadiradze Александр Давидович Надирадзе The Georgian-born secret father of the Soviet mobile ICBM force
- Boris Viktorovich Rauschenbach Борис Викторович Раушенбах From labor camp to Vostok: pioneer of spaceflight control and guidance
- Grigory Vasilyevich Kisunko Григорий Васильевич Кисунько Soviet military scientist who designed the world's first operational anti-ballistic missile defense system
- Boris Yevgenyevich Paton Борис Евгеньевич Патон Father of electroslag welding who led Ukraine's Academy of Sciences for 58 years
- Viktor Mikhailovich Glushkov Виктор Михайлович Глушков Father of Soviet cybernetics whose OGAS network envisioned real-time socialist planning decades before the internet
- Vladimir Fyodorovich Utkin Владимир Фёдорович Уткин Father of the SS-18 'Satan' and architect of the late Cold War nuclear balance
- Viktor Petrovich Makeyev Виктор Петрович Макеев Founder of Soviet naval strategic rocketry, the man the CIA called 'the Ural Dragon'
- Vladimir Mikhaylovich Komarov Владимир Михайлович Комаров Voskhod 1 commander and the first human to perish in a spaceflight
- Dzhermen Mikhailovich Gvishiani Джермен Михайлович Гвишиани Philosopher who bridged Soviet planning science and Western systems analysis
- Pavel Romanovich Popovich Павел Романович Попович Cosmonaut No. 4, Vostok 4 pilot of the first simultaneous crewed spaceflight
- Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin Юрий Алексеевич Гагарин The first human smile to leave the Earth
- Alexei Arkhipovich Leonov Алексей Архипович Леонов First to open the door to the cosmos, and the first to draw it from inside
- Valery Fyodorovich Bykovsky Валерий Фёдорович Быковский The cosmonaut who spent five days alone in orbit, setting a solo spaceflight record that still stands
- Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova Валентина Владимировна Терешкова The textile-worker 'Chaika,' first woman in space