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People of the Revolution and the USSR
Activity
Affiliation
Position
Citizenship
Background
Era(set)
People of the Soviet Union
People of the Chinese revolution and the People’s Republic
People of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era
People of the wider world
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Nikolai Nikolayevich Inozemtsev Николай Николаевич Иноземцев
Intellectual architect of Brezhnev-era détente
Scholarship and theory · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1921–1982
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Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov Андрей Дмитриевич Сахаров
He built the hydrogen bomb, then turned on the system
Science and technology · Soviet Union state institutions
1921–1989
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Vladimir Mikhailovich Vinogradov Владимир Михайлович Виноградов
Soviet Middle East diplomat who witnessed the 1973 war and the Iranian Revolution from inside
Diplomacy and international organization · Soviet Union state institutions
1921–1997
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Viktor Georgiyevich Kulikov Виктор Георгиевич Куликов
Longest-serving Warsaw Pact supreme commander, who led its forces for twelve years
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1921–2013
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Pyotr Stepanovich Pleshakov Пётр Степанович Плешаков
Architect of Soviet radio-electronic warfare
Industry and production · Soviet Union state institutions
1922–1987
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Georgi Nikitovich Bolshakov Георгий Никитович Большаков
The GRU officer who ran the secret backchannel between Khrushchev and the Kennedys
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1922–1989
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Viktor Grigoryevich Afanasyev Виктор Григорьевич Афанасьев
Longest-serving Pravda editor and gatekeeper of Brezhnev-era print orthodoxy
Ideology and propaganda · Soviet Union state institutions
1922–1994
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Muhammetnazar Gapurovich Gapurov Мухамедназар Гапурович Гапуров
16-year leader of Brezhnev-era Turkmenistan who integrated its cotton and gas economy into the Soviet center
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1922–1999
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Nikolai Gennadiyevich Basov Николай Геннадиевич Басов
Nobel-winning physicist who laid the foundations of the maser and laser, then extended quantum electronics into missile defense
Science and technology · Soviet Union state institutions
1922–2001
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Vadim Alekseyevich Kirpichenko Вадим Алексеевич Кирпиченко
KGB First Chief Directorate deputy who ran Soviet foreign intelligence for twelve years
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union state institutions
1922–2005
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Oleg Genrikhovich Ivanovsky Олег Генрихович Ивановский
The engineer who turned early Soviet spacecraft designs into tested machines
Science and technology · Soviet Union state institutions
1922–2014
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Leonid Mitrofanovich Zamyatin Леонид Митрофанович Замятин
Information architect of the Brezhnev system
Ideology and propaganda · Soviet Union state institutions
1922–2019
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Viktor Mikhailovich Glushkov Виктор Михайлович Глушков
Father of Soviet cybernetics whose OGAS network envisioned real-time socialist planning decades before the internet
Science and technology · Soviet Union state institutions
1923–1982
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Alexander Ivanovich Koldunov Александр Иванович Колдунов
The top Yak ace of the war who rose to command the Air Defence Forces, and fell after a teenager landed on Red Square
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1923–1992
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Viktor Mikhailovich Chebrikov Виктор Михайлович Чебриков
KGB chairman from late stagnation into perestroika
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union state institutions
1923–1999
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Vladimir Fyodorovich Utkin Владимир Фёдорович Уткин
Father of the SS-18 'Satan' and architect of the late Cold War nuclear balance
Science and technology · Soviet Union state institutions
1923–2000
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Filipp Timofeyevich Yermash Филипп Тимофеевич Ермаш
The party functionary who ran Soviet cinema as a state Hollywood: blockbusters, Oscars, and ideological control
Ideology and propaganda · Soviet Union state institutions
1923–2002
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Heydar Alirza oghlu Aliyev Heydər Əlirza oğlu Əliyev
The KGB general who rose from Baku to the Kremlin and founded independent Azerbaijan
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1923–2003
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Boris Ivanovich Stukalin Борис Иванович Стукалин
Brezhnev-era chief of all Soviet publishing and censorship
Ideology and propaganda · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1923–2004
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Boris Pavlovich Bugayev Борис Павлович Бугаев
Brezhnev's personal pilot who became Chief Marshal and the head of Soviet civil aviation
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union state institutions
1923–2007
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Grigory Vasilyevich Romanov Григорий Васильевич Романов
From Leningrad to Moscow: the successor halted one step short
Social movements and organizing · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1923–2008
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Mikhail Mitrofanovich Zaitsev Михаил Митрофанович Зайцев
GSFG Commander-in-Chief and Army General who oversaw Soviet operations in Afghanistan
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1923–2009
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Georgy Arkadyevich Arbatov Георгий Аркадьевич Арбатов
The USSR's preeminent Americanist who built a think-tank on Arbat Street, not in Akademgorodok, and designed détente
Scholarship and theory · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1923–2010
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Sergei Iosifovich Manyakin Сергей Иосифович Манякин
The longest-serving regional party secretary in Soviet history, who led Omsk for 26 years
Social movements and organizing · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1923–2010
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Aleksandr Nikolayevich Yefimov Александр Николаевич Ефимов
Twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Il-2 assault ace who rose to command the Soviet Air Force at its zenith
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1923–2012
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Evald Vasilyevich Ilyenkov Эвальд Васильевич Ильенков
A Soviet European who excavated dialectical logic from Marx's Capital
Ideology and propaganda · Soviet Union state institutions
1924–1979
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Viktor Petrovich Makeyev Виктор Петрович Макеев
Founder of Soviet naval strategic rocketry, the man the CIA called 'the Ural Dragon'
Science and technology · Soviet Union state institutions
1924–1985
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Alexei Ivanovich Adzhubey Алексей Иванович Аджубей
Khrushchev's son-in-law and the editor who turned Izvestia into the most-read Soviet newspaper of the thaw
Ideology and propaganda · Soviet Union state institutions
1924–1993
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Mikhail Fyodorovich Reshetnev Михаил Фёдорович Решетнёв
The chief designer who built a Soviet satellite empire in the Siberian taiga
Science and technology · Soviet Union state institutions
1924–1996
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Vladimir Yefimovich Semichastny Владимир Ефимович Семичастный
The KGB chairman during Khrushchev’s fall
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union state institutions
1924–2001
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Vladimir Leonidovich Govorov Владимир Леонидович Говоров
Son of a marshal who led the Chernobyl response and turned Soviet civil defence toward peacetime emergencies
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1924–2006
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Vladimir Petrovich Pirozhkov Владимир Петрович Пирожков
The KGB constant: 20 years as deputy chairman under four chiefs
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union state institutions
1924–2009
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Karen Nersesovich Brutents Карен Нерсесович Брутенц
The International Department theorist who designed Soviet Third World policy under Brezhnev
Ideology and propaganda · Soviet Union state institutions
1924–2017
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Vladimir Ivanovich Dolgikh Владимир Иванович Долгих
The CC secretary who ran Soviet heavy industry and energy for 16 years under Brezhnev
Industry and production · Soviet Union state institutions
1924–2020
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Yuri Fyodorovich Orlov Юрий Фёдорович Орлов
The physicist who held the Kremlin to the Helsinki human-rights promises it signed
Ideology and propaganda · Soviet Union state institutions
1924–2020
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Pavel Ivanovich Belyayev Павел Иванович Беляев
The fighter pilot who commanded the first spacewalk
Science and technology · Soviet Union state institutions
1925–1970
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Andrei Donatovich Sinyavsky Андрей Донатович Синявский
Abram Tertz, from Novy Mir critic to symbol of the Soviet dissident movement
Literature and arts
1925–1997
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Georgy Markovich Korniyenko Георгий Маркович Корниенко
Gromyko's point man on America who ran arms-control talks, opposed the Afghan invasion, and demanded truth over KAL 007
Diplomacy and international organization · Soviet Union state institutions
1925–2006
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Yuri Ivanovich Drozdov Юрий Иванович Дроздов
Legendary Soviet spymaster who headed KGB illegal intelligence for 12 years
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union state institutions
1925–2017
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Boris Ivanovich Aristov Борис Иванович Аристов
The last Minister of Foreign Trade, who inherited a 27-year incumbent's post only to see the ministry itself abolished on his watch
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union state institutions
1925–2018
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Zhores Alexandrovich Medvedev Жорес Александрович Медведев
The dissident biologist who argued the archives contain no evidence Stalin planned a Jewish deportation
Scholarship and theory
1925–2018
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Filip Denisovich Bobkov Филипп Денисович Бобков
Architect of KGB ideological counterintelligence, 45-year Chekist under 12 chiefs
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union state institutions
1925–2019
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Roy Alexandrovich Medvedev Рой Александрович Медведев
The Marxist historian who put Stalinism on trial
Scholarship and theory · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1925–2026
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Vasily Aleksandrovich Arkhipov Василий Александрович Архипов
Soviet submarine officer who refused to launch a nuclear torpedo and prevented nuclear war
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1926–1998
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Vasily Aleksandrovich Shamshin Василий Александрович Шамшин
Engineer-turned-minister who led the modernization of Soviet communications infrastructure
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union state institutions
1926–2009
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Vladimir Mikhaylovich Komarov Владимир Михайлович Комаров
Voskhod 1 commander and the first human to perish in a spaceflight
Science and technology · Soviet Union state institutions
1927–1967
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Vadim Valentinovich Zagladin Вадим Валентинович Загладин
A Brezhnev favorite who became the Soviet face of dialogue with Eurocommunism
Ideology and propaganda · Soviet Union state institutions
1927–2006
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Fyodor Mikhailovich Burlatsky Фёдор Михайлович Бурлацкий
Architect of Khrushchev's reforms and pioneer of Soviet political science
Scholarship and theory · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1927–2014
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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 state institutions
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 state institutions
1928–2002