Skip to content
People of the Revolution and the USSR
Activity
Affiliation(set)
Position(set)
Citizenship(set)
Background
Era
People of the Soviet Union
People of the wider world
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
Mikhail Nikolayevich Pokrovsky Михаил Николаевич Покровский
Founder of Soviet Marxist historiography, posthumously repudiated
Ideology and propaganda · Soviet Union state institutions
1868–1932
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
Mykola Oleksiyovych Skrypnyk Микола Олексійович Скрипник
Architect of Ukrainization: the cultural revolutionary who turned the gun on himself
Ideology and propaganda · Soviet Union state institutions
1872–1933
-
Pavel Pavlovich Lebedev Павел Павлович Лебедев
From tsarist major general to first Chief of the Red Army Staff, operational architect of Civil War victory
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1872–1933
-
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
-
Aron Aleksandrovich Solts Арон Александрович Сольц
The Bolshevik elder called 'conscience of the party': jurist who confronted the Prosecutor General during the Great Terror
Law and justice · Soviet Union state institutions
1872–1945
-
Pavel Ilyich Popov Павел Ильич Попов
The founder of Soviet statistics whom Lenin rebuked and relied on
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union state institutions
1872–1950
-
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
-
Gleb Maksimilianovich Krzhizhanovsky Глеб Максимилианович Кржижановский
Early architect of electrification and planning
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union state institutions
1872–1959
-
Augusts Kirhenšteins Augusts Kirhenšteins
Microbiologist who headed the puppet government chosen by the Soviet embassy in 1940 and requested Latvia’s incorporation into the USSR
Legislature and state representation · Soviet Union state institutions
1872–1963
-
Jukums Ioakimovich Vācietis Jukums Иоакимович Vācietis
The Red Army's first commander-in-chief: an Imperial colonel who built the revolutionary armed forces
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1873–1938
-
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
-
Inessa Fyodorovna Armand Инесса Фёдоровна Арманд
The woman Bolshevik closest to Lenin: death saved her from the Purge
Political and party leadership · Soviet Union state institutions
1874–1920
-
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
-
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
-
Vyacheslav Rudolfovich Menzhinsky Вячеслав Рудольфович Менжинский
Dzerzhinsky’s successor who ran OGPU from a sickbed
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union state institutions
1874–1934
-
Pyotr Germogenovich Smidovich Пётр Гермогенович Смидович
Iskra agent across three revolutions, KOMZET chairman who shaped Soviet nationality policy and the Birobidzhan Jewish experiment
Government and administration · Soviet Union state institutions
1874–1935
-
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
-
Vladimir Gustavovich Groman Владимир Густавович Громан
The Menshevik statistician who designed Gosplan's early control figures and balance method, leading voice of genetic planning
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union state institutions
1874–1940
-
Vladimir Petrovich Potemkin Владимир Петрович Потёмкин
The diplomat who pronounced Poland dead, then became education commissar
Diplomacy and international organization · Soviet Union state institutions
1874–1946
-
Nikolai Aleksandrovich Semashko Николай Александрович Семашко
Founder of Soviet public health who designed free universal healthcare (the 'Semashko model')
Science and technology · Soviet Union state institutions
1874–1949
-
Anatoly Vasilyevich Lunacharsky Анатолий Васильевич Луначарский
Russian revolutionary, first People's Commissar of Enlightenment, and literary critic
Education · Soviet Union state institutions
1875–1933
-
Ivan Adolfovich Teodorovich Иван Адольфович Теодорович
First Commissar for Food, purged for his NEP-era agrarian Marxism
Agriculture and land policy · Soviet Union state institutions
1875–1937
-
Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin Михаил Иванович Калинин
The long-serving formal head of state
Legislature and state representation · Soviet Union state institutions
1875–1946
-
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
-
Filipp Isayevich Goloshchyokin Филипп Исаевич Голощёкин
The revolutionary who led Kazakhstan's 'Little October'
Political and party leadership · Soviet Union state institutions
1876–1941
-
Nikolai Nilovich Burdenko Николай Нилович Бурденко
Founder of Soviet neurosurgery and Chief Surgeon of the Red Army
Science and technology · Soviet Union state institutions
1876–1946
-
Maxim Maksimovich Litvinov Максим Максимович Литвинов
The diplomat of collective security, removed in 1939
Diplomacy and international organization · Soviet Union state institutions
1876–1951
-
Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky Feliks Dzierżyński
“Iron Felix”: the ascetic who forged the revolution’s sword
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union state institutions
1877–1926
-
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