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People of the Revolution and the USSR
Activity
Affiliation(set)
Position
Citizenship
Background
Era
People of the Soviet Union
People of the wider world
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Konstantin Fyodorovich Katushev Константин Фёдорович Катушев
Late Soviet foreign-economic official
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union
1927–2010
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Mikhail Ivanovich Shchadov Михаил Иванович Щадов
The last Soviet coal minister, who drove open-pit mining and led the miners into the Chernobyl tunnel
Industry and production · Soviet Union
1927–2011
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Tatyana Ivanovna Zaslavskaya Татьяна Ивановна Заславская
Founder of Soviet economic sociology; her 1983 report lit the intellectual fuse of perestroika
Scholarship and theory · Soviet Union
1927–2013
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Yuri Petrovich Batalin Юрий Петрович Баталин
The perestroika-era construction chief who built the West Siberian oil and gas complex and the Chernobyl sarcophagus
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union
1927–2013
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Boris Ivanovich Gostev Борис Иванович Гостев
The last orthodox Soviet finance minister who rejected market reform during perestroika
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union
1927–2015
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Dmitry Antonovich Volkogonov Дмитрий Антонович Волкогонов
From Soviet military propagandist to the historian who opened the secret archives
Military command · Soviet Union
1928–1995
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Viktor Pavlovich Karpov Виктор Павлович Карпов
The face of Soviet arms control diplomacy across SALT, INF, and START
Diplomacy and international organization · Soviet Union
1928–1997
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Nikolai Alexeyevich Maltsev Николай Алексеевич Мальцев
The minister who led Soviet oil to its peak through the West Siberian fields
Industry and production · Soviet Union
1928–2001
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Lev Petrovich Feoktistov Лев Петрович Феоктистов
From nuclear-weapon designer to critic of the arms race
Science and technology · Soviet Union
1928–2002
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Dzhermen Mikhailovich Gvishiani Джермен Михайлович Гвишиани
Philosopher who bridged Soviet planning science and Western systems analysis
Science and technology · Soviet Union
1928–2003
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Vladimir Mikhailovich Kamentsev Владимир Михайлович Каменцев
The technocrat who brought Soviet fisheries to global leadership
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union
1928–2003
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Igor Sergeyevich Belousov Игорь Сергеевич Белоусов
The shipbuilding minister who built the Soviet Navy's strategic parity
Industry and production · Soviet Union
1928–2005
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Alexei Dmitrievich Lizichev Алексей Дмитриевич Лизичев
The last GlavPUR chief who stood to defend the military political organs through perestroika
Military command · Soviet Union
1928–2006
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Chinghiz Torekulovich Aitmatov Чингиз Торекулович Айтматов
Kyrgyz writer and diplomat who carved a Central Asian voice into world literature
Literature and arts · Soviet Union
1928–2008
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Lev Alekseyevich Voronin Лев Алексеевич Воронин
Guardian of state material supply in the Gorbachev era
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union
1928–2008
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German Arsenyevich Goncharov Герман Арсеньевич Гончаров
Physicist from Sakharov's group who became the lead declassifier and historian of the Soviet H-bomb project
Science and technology · Soviet Union
1928–2009
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Eduard Ambrosiyevich Shevardnadze ედუარდ შევარდნაძე
The Soviet foreign minister who ended the Cold War, then led Georgia
Diplomacy and international organization · Soviet Union
1928–2014
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Valentin Karpovich Mesyats Валентин Карпович Месяц
Agriculture minister of late stagnation
Agriculture and land policy · Soviet Union
1928–2019
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Vladimir Nikolayevich Chernavin Владимир Николаевич Чернавин
The last C-in-C of the Soviet Navy, the nuclear submariner who first patrolled under the Arctic ice
Military command · Soviet Union
1928–2023
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Nikolai Vladimirovich Talyzin Николай Владимирович Талызин
Gosplan chairman of the perestroika era who built the world's first satellite TV broadcasting system
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union
1929–1991
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Viktor Petrovich Nikonov Виктор Петрович Никонов
Gorbachev's agriculture successor who became his last internal critic
Agriculture and land policy · Soviet Union
1929–1993
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Andriyan Grigoryevich Nikolayev Андриян Григорьевич Николаев
Soviet cosmonaut who flew humanity's first multi-day spaceflight aboard Vostok 3
Science and technology · Soviet Union
1929–2004
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Apollon Sergeyevich Systsov Аполлон Сергеевич Сысцов
Last Soviet Minister of Aviation Industry: from the Buran shuttle to the privatisation of a military-industrial empire
Industry and production · Soviet Union
1929–2005
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Yuli Mikhailovich Vorontsov Юлий Михайлович Воронцов
The arms-control negotiator who secured the INF Treaty and managed the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan
Diplomacy and international organization · Soviet Union
1929–2007
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Aleksandra Pavlovna Biryukova Александра Павловна Бирюкова
Gorbachev's highest-ranking woman, the 'Russian Margaret Thatcher' tasked with solving Soviet consumer shortages
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union
1929–2008
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Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov Евгений Максимович Примаков
The Arabist premier who turned his plane around over the Atlantic
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union
1929–2015
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Anatoly Ivanovich Mayorets Анатолий Иванович Майорец
The last Soviet energy minister sent into the Chernobyl disaster zone
Industry and production · Soviet Union
1929–2016
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Yevgeny Ivanovich Chazov Евгений Иванович Чазов
The father of Soviet cardiology who ran Kremlin medicine for 20 years
Science and technology · Soviet Union
1929–2021
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Stepan Alekseyevich Shalaev Степан Алексеевич Шалаев
The last leader of the Soviet trade-union system
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union
1929–2022
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Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Kozlovsky Евгений Александрович Козловский
Longest-serving geology minister who presided over the 'golden age' of Soviet mineral exploration
Industry and production · Soviet Union
1929–2022
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Nikolai Ivanovich Ryzhkov Николай Иванович Рыжков
Premier during perestroika’s economic crisis
Government and administration · Soviet Union
1929–2024
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Vadim Andreyevich Medvedev Вадим Андреевич Медведев
The last ideology secretary who dismantled ideology opened the spetskhran and abolished party orthodoxy
Ideology and propaganda · Soviet Union
1929–2025
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Viktor Fyodorovich Grushko Виктор Фёдорович Грушко
The KGB operational deputy who bridged foreign intelligence and counterintelligence
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union
1930–2001
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Yuri Sergeyevich Plekhanov Юрий Сергеевич Плеханов
From KGB eavesdropping chief to head of leadership security, the man who pulled the coup's trigger
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union
1930–2002
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Pavel Romanovich Popovich Павел Романович Попович
Cosmonaut No. 4, Vostok 4 pilot of the first simultaneous crewed spaceflight
Science and technology · Soviet Union
1930–2009
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Stepan Aramaisovich Sitaryan Степан Арамаисович Ситарян
The highest-ranking Armenian economist in the Soviet apparatus, who pushed the Law on Cooperatives through the Politburo
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union
1930–2009
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Leonid Ivanovich Abalkin Леонид Иванович Абалкин
Chief economic theorist of late perestroika, architect of the 'regulated market' between radical reformers and conservative planners
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union
1930–2011
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Yuri Vladimirovich Dubinin Юрий Владимирович Дубинин
Soviet ambassador who personified perestroika diplomacy in Washington during the Gorbachev era
Diplomacy and international organization · Soviet Union
1930–2013
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Nikolai Pavlovich Laverov Николай Павлович Лавёров
The last chairman of Soviet state science policy and a uranium geologist
Science and technology · Soviet Union
1930–2016
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Nikolai Ivanovich Dementey Николай Иванович Дементей
A chairman caught between preserving the Union and Belarusian sovereignty
Agriculture and land policy · Soviet Union
1930–2018
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Anatoly Ivanovich Lukyanov Анатолий Иванович Лукьянов
Gorbachev's classmate turned critic: the last speaker of the Soviet parliament
Law and justice · Soviet Union
1930–2019
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Zhores Ivanovich Alferov Жорес Иванович Алфёров
Communist physicist whose semiconductor heterostructures opened the IT era
Science and technology · Soviet Union
1930–2019
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Richard Ivanovich Kosolapov Ричард Иванович Косолапов
Principal architect of the Brezhnev-era 'developed socialism' doctrine
Ideology and propaganda · Soviet Union
1930–2020
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Ivan Stepanovich Silayev Иван Степанович Силаев
The last head of government of the Soviet Union: from aviation minister to liquidator of an empire
Industry and production · Soviet Union
1930–2023
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Mikhail Sergeyevich Shkabardnya Михаил Сергеевич Шкабардня
The minister whose precision instruments controlled missiles and the Buran shuttle
Industry and production · Soviet Union
1930–2025
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Anatoly Stepanovich Dyatlov Анатолий Степанович Дятлов
The deputy chief engineer who supervised the Chernobyl safety test and later argued the reactor's design was the real cause
Science and technology · Soviet Union
1931–1995
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Boris Dmitrievich Pankin Борис Дмитриевич Панкин
The post-coup foreign minister of the collapsing Union
Diplomacy and international organization · Soviet Union
1931–
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Karen Serobovich Demirchyan Карен Серобович Демирчян
Modernized Soviet Armenia over 14 years, sacked for siding with Karabakh, returned and assassinated in parliament
Political and party leadership · Soviet Union
1932–1999
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Alexander Vladimirovich Vlasov Александр Владимирович Власов
Creator of OMON and the last communist prime minister of Russia, defeated by Yeltsin
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union
1932–2002
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Erlen Kirikovich Pervyshin Эрлен Кирикович Первышин
Minister of Communications Equipment Industry who oversaw Soviet military C3 infrastructure
Industry and production · Soviet Union
1932–2004