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People of the Revolution and the USSR
Activity
Affiliation
Position(set)
Citizenship
Background
Era(set)
People of the Soviet Union
People of the Chinese revolution and the People’s Republic
People of the wider world
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Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu
Romania's leader who combined independent diplomacy with a cult of personality
Political and party leadership · Romania state institutions
1918–1989
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Elena Ceaușescu Elena Ceaușescu
The regime insider who fused political power with scientific prestige
Political and party leadership · Romanian Communist Party (PCR)
1919–1989
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Viliam Šalgovič Viliam Šalgovič
The deputy interior minister who arrested Dubček and handed him to the Soviets
Security, intelligence and policing · Czechoslovakia state institutions
1919–1990
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Eduardo Chivambo Mondlane Eduardo Chivambo Mondlane
From US-educated anthropologist to founder of Mozambique's liberation front
Political and party leadership · Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO)
1920–1969
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Kaysone Phomvihane ໄກສອນ ພົມວິຫານ
Lao revolution and economic reform
Political and party leadership · Laos state institutions
1920–1992
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Hussein Kulmiye Afrah Xuseen Kulmiye Afrax
Leadership of Somalia’s revolutionary council
Security, intelligence and policing
1920–1993
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Tố Hữu Tố Hữu
Revolutionary poet laureate who, as the Party's ideology chief, policed its writers
Literature and arts · Communist Party of Vietnam / Workers' Party of Vietnam
1920–2002
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Tafari Benti ተፈሪ በንቲ
Early chairman of the Derg
Government and administration · Ethiopia state institutions
1921–1977
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Alois Indra Alois Indra
The KSČ hardliner who signed the letter inviting Soviet intervention to end the Prague Spring
Political and party leadership · Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ)
1921–1990
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Gerhard Schürer Gerhard Schürer
The GDR State Planning Commission chief who warned of bankruptcy but could not save the system
Economy, finance and planning · East Germany state institutions
1921–2010
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Wolfgang Leonhard Wolfgang Leonhard
Youngest member of the Ulbricht Group who fled to Yugoslavia in 1949 and became a leading Western scholar of Soviet communism
Ideology and propaganda · Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED)
1921–2014
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Agostinho Neto Agostinho Neto
Physician-poet who led Angola's liberation struggle and became its first president
Political and party leadership · Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA)
1922–1979
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Enrico Berlinguer Enrico Berlinguer
Architect of Eurocommunism who led the West's largest non-ruling communist party
Political and party leadership · Communist Party of Italy / Italian Communist Party (PCdI/PCI)
1922–1984
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András Hegedüs Hegedüs András
A young premier who bore responsibility at the revolution’s threshold
Government and administration · Hungary state institutions
1922–1999
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Võ Văn Kiệt Võ Văn Kiệt
Architect of Đổi Mới and prime minister of Vietnam
Government and administration · Vietnam state institutions
1922–2008
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Dipa Nusantara Aidit Dipa Nusantara Aidit
The organizer who built Indonesia's CP into the world's third-largest communist party
Political and party leadership · Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI)
1923–1965
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Markus Wolf Markus Wolf
A long-serving architect of Cold War intelligence
Security, intelligence and policing · East Germany state institutions
1923–2006
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José Ramón Álvarez Fernández José Ramón Fernández Álvarez
Cuban revolutionary commander credited with defeating the 1961 Bay of Pigs landing (Brigade 2506)
Government and administration · Cuba state institutions
1923–2019
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Mieczysław Zygmunt Jagielski Mieczysław Jagielski
A party official who contained crisis through concessions
Economy, finance and planning · Poland state institutions
1924–1997
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Agostinho André Mendes de Carvalho Agostinho André Mendes de Carvalho
Angolan nationalist and writer 'Uanhenga Xitu', a nursing auxiliary turned minister
Literature and arts · Independent activity
1924–2014
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Lubomír Štrougal Lubomír Štrougal
Husák's right hand who ran the normalization cabinet for eighteen years, then fell backing Gorbachev's perestroika
Government and administration · Czechoslovakia state institutions
1924–2023
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Ruth First Ruth First
The investigative journalist who exposed apartheid, the communist revolutionary who endured 117 days of solitary confinement
Literature and arts · African National Congress (ANC)
1925–1982
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Ramiz Alia Ramiz Alia
Albania after Hoxha
Political and party leadership · Party of Labour of Albania
1925–2011
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Czesław Jan Kiszczak Czesław Jan Kiszczak
Poland's interior minister who imposed martial law then co-chaired the Round Table
Security, intelligence and policing · Poland state institutions
1925–2015
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Pavel Auersperg Pavel Auersperg
The ideology cadre who drafted the Action Programme, then served normalization to the end
Political and party leadership · Czechoslovakia state institutions
1926–1987
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Fidel Castro Fidel Castro
Leader of the hemisphere's first socialist revolution: forty-seven years against imperialism
Government and administration · Cuba state institutions
1926–2016
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Nuon Chea នួន ជា
Deputy Secretary of the CPK, 'Brother Number Two'
Political and party leadership · Democratic Kampuchea state institutions
1926–2019
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Nguyễn Thị Bình Nguyễn Thị Bình
PRG foreign minister, the only woman to sign the Paris Peace Accords, and later vice president of Vietnam
Diplomacy and international organization · Vietnam state institutions
1927–
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Vasile Milea Vasile Milea
Ceaușescu's last defence minister: his death on 22 December 1989 triggered the army's mass defection to the revolution
Military command · Romania state institutions
1927–1989
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Peter Fryer Peter Fryer
A communist journalist who chose the scene over the party line
Literature and arts · Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB)
1927–2006
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Che Guevara Ernesto "Che" Guevara
The internationalist icon who traded a stethoscope for a rifle
Military command · 26th of July Movement
1928–1967
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Hafizullah Amin حفیظالله امین
Khalq strongman who engineered the Saur Revolution and fell to Soviet guns three months after seizing power
Political and party leadership · Afghanistan state institutions
1929–1979
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Babrak Karmal ببرک کارمل
The Parcham leader installed by the Soviet invasion who presided over seven years of war but never won legitimacy
Political and party leadership · People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA)
1929–1996
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Günter Schabowski Günter Schabowski
The East German Politburo spokesman whose mistake brought down the Berlin Wall
Ideology and propaganda · Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED)
1929–2015
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Lúcio Lara Lúcio Lara
Ideologue of Angolan liberation, MPLA founding member
Political and party leadership · Angola state institutions
1929–2016
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Milan Kundera Milan Kundera
The Czech novelist who insisted the Prague Spring was a universal attempt to reconcile socialism with freedom
Literature and arts · Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ)
1929–2023
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Arnaldo Tomás Ochoa Sánchez Arnaldo Tomás Ochoa Sánchez
Cuban general of the African expeditionary campaigns
Military command · Cuba state institutions
1930–1989
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Károly Grósz Grósz Károly
Hungary's last old-guard party chief, caught between reform and retreat and overtaken by both
Political and party leadership · Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (MSzMP)
1930–1996
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Atnafu Abate አጥናፉ አባተ
The Derg's last independent leader
Military command · Ethiopia state institutions
1931–1977
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Khieu Samphan ខៀវ សំផន
Head of state of Democratic Kampuchea
Political and party leadership
1931–
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Mohammad Ali Samatar Maxamed Cali Samantar
Barre's vice-president who commanded the Ogaden War
Military command · Somalia state institutions
1931–2016
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Pascal Lissouba Pascal Lissouba
The scientist-president overthrown after the Congo's first free election
Government and administration · Republic of the Congo state institutions
1931–2020
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Raúl Castro Raúl Castro
From Moncada to the presidency: the Revolution's indispensable number two for over half a century
Political and party leadership · Communist Party of Cuba (PCC)
1931–
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Samora Moisés Machel Samora Moisés Machel
The Marxist revolutionary who overthrew Portuguese colonial rule and led Mozambique to independence
Political and party leadership · Mozambique state institutions
1933–1986
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Iko Carreira Iko Carreira
Founder of Angola's People's Armed Forces and its first Defence Minister
Military command · Angola state institutions
1933–2000
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Mathieu Kérékou Mathieu Kérékou
Benin’s people’s republic and transition
Government and administration · Benin state institutions
1933–2015
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Imre Pozsgay Pozsgay Imre
The reformist Politburo member who called 1956 a 'popular uprising' and dismantled his own party's orthodoxy
Ideology and propaganda · Hungary state institutions
1933–2016
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Heng Samrin ហេង សំរិន
Cambodian reconstruction after 1979
Political and party leadership
1934–
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Pen Sovann ប៉ែន សុវាន
First prime minister of the Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party
Political and party leadership · People’s Republic of Kampuchea state institutions
1936–2016
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Didier Ratsiraka Didier Ratsiraka
Madagascar’s socialist charter
Government and administration · Madagascar state institutions
1936–2021