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People of the Revolution and the USSR
Activity(set)
Affiliation
Position
Citizenship
Background
Era
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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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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Mieczysław Franciszek Rakowski Mieczysław Franciszek Rakowski
Poland's last communist prime minister, rejected by voters in the 1989 election
Political and party leadership · Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR)
1926–2008
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Vitaly Ivanovich Vorotnikov Виталий Иванович Воротников
The last RSFSR premier who tried not to break Russia away
Government and administration · Soviet Union state institutions
1926–2012
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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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Jiang Zemin 江泽民
The “core” plucked from Shanghai in 1989 who led post-Tiananmen China into the market economy and the “Three Represents”
Political and party leadership · People’s Republic of China state institutions
1926–2022
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Yefrem Yevseyevich Sokolov Яфрэм Евсеевич Сакалоў
A Belarusian party leader who combined agricultural development with late-Soviet reform
Political and party leadership · Soviet Union state institutions
1926–2022
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Rafiq Nishonovich Nishonov Rafiq Nishonovich Nishonov
The last chairman of the Soviet of Nationalities
Political and party leadership · Soviet Union state institutions
1926–2023
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Gennady Vasilyevich Kolbin Геннадий Васильевич Колбин
The unknown Russian party functionary whose appointment to Kazakhstan ignited the Zheltoksan uprising
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1927–1998
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Konstantin Fyodorovich Katushev Константин Фёдорович Катушев
Late Soviet foreign-economic official
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union state institutions
1927–2010
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Tadeusz Mazowiecki Tadeusz Mazowiecki
Catholic intellectual of Solidarity who became the Eastern Bloc's first non-communist prime minister
Government and administration · Poland state institutions
1927–2013
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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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Mykolas Martinovich Burokevičius Mykolas Burokevičius
The only Lithuanian to sit in the CPSU Politburo and the last pro-Moscow party leader, imprisoned for the January Events
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1927–2016
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Stanisław Kania Stanisław Kania
A party leader who lost power while seeking compromise
Political and party leadership · Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR)
1927–2020
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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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Li Peng 李鹏
The premier who declared martial law in May 1989, called “the butcher of Beijing”; Zhou Enlai’s ward
Government and administration · People’s Republic of China state institutions
1928–2019
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Arnold Rüütel Arnold Rüütel
The agronomist who pushed a sovereignty declaration through the Soviet system and led Estonia out of the empire
Legislature and state representation · Estonia state institutions
1928–2024
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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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Viktor Petrovich Nikonov Виктор Петрович Никонов
Gorbachev's agriculture successor who became his last internal critic
Agriculture and land policy · Soviet Union state institutions
1929–1993
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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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Ivan Timofeyevich Frolov Иван Тимофеевич Фролов
The philosopher who gave perestroika its humanist foundations: from defending genetics to founding the science of Man
Scholarship and theory · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1929–1999
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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 state institutions
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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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 state institutions
1929–2025
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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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Zdeněk Mlynář Zdeněk Mlynář
A reform communist who sought to democratize socialism
Political and party leadership · Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ)
1930–1997
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Alexander Yevgenyevich Bovin Александр Евгеньевич Бовин
Brezhnev's foreign-affairs speechwriter who put détente into prose, then became its sharpest television commentator
Scholarship and theory · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1930–2004
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Helmut Josef Michael Kohl Helmut Kohl
The chancellor who seized the initiative on the German question with a ten-point unification plan days before Malta
Political and party leadership · Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
1930–2017
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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 state institutions
1930–2019
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Abdurrahman Khalil oglu Vezirov Əbdürrəhman Xəlil oğlu Vəzirov
Gorbachev's man for the Karabakh crisis who fled Baku as Black January consumed Soviet Azerbaijan
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1930–2022
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Ion Iliescu Ion Iliescu
Ceaușescu's protégé who ordered his execution and led Romania's post-communist transition
Political and party leadership · Romania state institutions
1930–2025
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Genrikh Andreyevich Poghosyan Հենրիկ Անդրեյի Պողոսյան
The last party first secretary who tilted Nagorno-Karabakh toward Armenia
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1931–2000
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Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin Борис Николаевич Ельцин
The man who climbed onto the tank
Government and administration · Russian Federation state institutions
1931–2007
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Khieu Samphan ខៀវ សំផន
Head of state of Democratic Kampuchea
Political and party leadership
1931–
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Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev Михаил Сергеевич Горбачёв
He set out to repair the system, and ended it
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1931–2022
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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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Yao Wenyuan 姚文元
The Gang of Four’s theorist whose attack on Hai Rui Dismissed from Office opened the Cultural Revolution; the critic nicknamed “the cudgel”
Ideology and propaganda · People’s Republic of China state institutions
1931–2005
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Vaino Iosipovich Väljas Vaino Väljas
Recalled from Nicaragua in June 1988, he led Estonia's Communists through the sovereignty declaration, the first breach in the Soviet wall.
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1931–2024
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Boris Sarkisovich Kevorkov Բորիս Սարգսի Կևորկով
The Armenian party functionary who enforced Baku's control over Nagorno-Karabakh
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1932–1998
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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 state institutions
1932–1999
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Algirdas Brazauskas Algirdas Brazauskas
The communist who split his party from Moscow and became independent Lithuania's first president
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1932–2010
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Stepan Karapetovich Pogosyan Ստեփան Կարապետի Պողոսյան
The last leader of Armenia's Communist Party before the Soviet collapse
Ideology and propaganda · Soviet Union state institutions
1932–2012
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Qahhor Makhkamovich Mahkamov Қаҳҳор Маҳкамович Маҳкамов
The last Communist leader of Tajikistan in the Soviet era
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1932–2016
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Oleg Dmitriyevich Baklanov Олег Дмитриевич Бакланов
Last surviving GKChP member who led the Soviet space industry
Industry and production · Soviet Union state institutions
1932–2021
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Vitold Pavlovych Fokin Вітольд Павлович Фокін
From Soviet economic planner to independent Ukraine’s first prime minister
Government and administration · Ukraine state institutions
1932–2025
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Vytautas Landsbergis Vytautas Landsbergis
The musicologist who led the first nation out of the Soviet Union
Political and party leadership · Sąjūdis (Reform Movement of Lithuania)
1932–
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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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Kamran Mammad oglu Baghirov Kamran Məmməd oğlu Bağırov
Heydar Aliyev's successor who crumbled before the Karabakh crisis
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1933–2000
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Absamat Masaliyevich Masaliyev Абсамат Масалы уулу Масалиев
Party leader of late Soviet Kyrgyzstan
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1933–2004
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Bernard Kolélas Bernard Kolélas
The opposition leader from Pool who ended one-party rule
Political and party leadership
1933–2009