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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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Vladimir Migranovich Movsisyan Վլադիմիր Միգրանովիչ Մովսիսյան
The last Communist Party first secretary of Soviet Armenia
Agriculture and land policy · Soviet Union state institutions
1933–2014
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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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Anatoly Aleksandrovich Malofeyev Анатолий Александрович Малофеев
A Belarusian party organizer who sought continuity as the Union dissolved
Political and party leadership · Soviet Union state institutions
1933–2022
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Alexander Sergeyevich Dzasokhov Александр Сергеевич Дзасохов
A politician who linked internationalism with regional rule
Ideology and propaganda · Soviet Union state institutions
1934–
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Heng Samrin ហេង សំរិន
Cambodian reconstruction after 1979
Political and party leadership
1934–
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Alfrēds son of Pēteris Rubiks Alfrēds Pētera dēls Rubiks
A steadfast defender of Latvia's Communist Party at the Soviet Union's end
Political and party leadership · Soviet Union state institutions
1935–
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Grigore Isidorovich Eremei Grigore Isidorovici Eremei
The final head of Soviet Moldavia's Communist Party
Political and party leadership · Soviet Union state institutions
1935–2024
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Tadeusz Rudolf Fiszbach Tadeusz Fiszbach
A reform-minded party official caught between control and negotiation
Political and party leadership · Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR)
1935–
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Wang Hongwen 王洪文
The Shanghai worker-rebel who rose “like a helicopter” to party vice-chairman, youngest of the Gang of Four
Political and party leadership · People’s Republic of China state institutions
1935–1992
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Petar Mladenov Петър Младенов
The diplomat who opened Bulgaria's post-Zhivkov transition
Political and party leadership · Bulgaria state institutions
1936–2000
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Stanislav Ivanovich Gurenko Станислав Иванович Гуренко
Last First Secretary of the Ukrainian Communist Party on the eve of the Soviet dissolution
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1936–2013
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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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Ali Ahmed Nasser Antar علي أحمد ناصر عنتر
Vice president who twice remade the leadership, killed by a comrade's guards
Political and party leadership · South Yemen state institutions
1937–1986
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Boris Karlovich Pugo Борис Карлович Пуго
From Latvian KGB chief to USSR interior minister, a guardian of order shattered in the coup he backed
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union state institutions
1937–1991
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Egon Rudi Ernst Krenz Egon Krenz
The last communist leader of East Germany, who succeeded Honecker, opened the Wall, and fell in 50 days
Political and party leadership · East Germany state institutions
1937–
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Gennady Ivanovich Yanayev Геннадий Иванович Янаев
First and only Vice President of the USSR and the face of the August 1991 coup
Legislature and state representation · Soviet Union state institutions
1937–2010
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Mengistu Haile Mariam መንግሥቱ ኃይለ ማርያም
Consolidation of Derg rule
Political and party leadership · Ethiopia state institutions
1937–
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Valentin Alexandrovich Kuptsov Валентин Александрович Купцов
The last-generation secretary who rebuilt the Russian Communist Party
Social movements and organizing · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1937–
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Viktor Petrovich Polyanichko Виктор Петрович Поляничко
A field enforcer of the Soviet Union's final crisis
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1937–1993
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Yegor Semyonovich Stroev Егор Семёнович Строев
Gorbachev's last agriculture Politburo member: operational chief of perestroika farm policy
Agriculture and land policy · Soviet Union state institutions
1937–
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Yuri Dmitrievich Maslyukov Юрий Дмитриевич Маслюков
The last Gosplan generation
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union state institutions
1937–2010
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Zdzisław Kurowski Zdzisław Kurowski
A party cadre shaped by the youth movement
Political and party leadership · Poland state institutions
1937–
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Marien Ngouabi Marien Ngouabi
Founding of the Congolese people’s republic
Political and party leadership · Republic of the Congo state institutions
1938–1977
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Abulfaz Gadirgulu oghlu Elchibey Əbülfəz Qədirqulu oğlu Elçibəy
The pan-Turkist dissident who became Azerbaijan's first democratically elected president
Political and party leadership · Azerbaijan state institutions
1938–2000
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Viktor Stepanovich Chernomyrdin Виктор Степанович Черномырдин
Last Soviet gas minister who turned his ministry into Gazprom
Industry and production · Soviet Union state institutions
1938–2010
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Islam Abduganiyevich Karimov Islom Abdugʻaniyevich Karimov
An authoritarian state-builder who made sovereignty his political principle
Government and administration · Uzbekistan state institutions
1938–2016
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Manandafy Rakotonirina Manandafy Rakotonirina
Founder of the MFM, the left party of the 1972 student-revolution generation
Political and party leadership
1938–2019
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Abdul Fattah Ismail عبد الفتاح إسماعيل
Leader of South Yemen’s Socialist Party
Political and party leadership · South Yemen state institutions
1939–1986
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Ali Nasir Muhammad علي ناصر محمد
South Yemeni policy conflict and the 1986 crisis
Political and party leadership · South Yemen state institutions
1939–
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Haile Fida ኃይሌ ፊዳ
Ethiopian Marxist leader of MEISON and drafter of the Derg's national-democratic program
Political and party leadership
1939–1979
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Ali Salem al-Beidh علي سالم البيض
The last leader of South Yemen
Political and party leadership · Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP)
1939–2026
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Joaquim Chissano Joaquim Chissano
Mozambican rehabilitation and peace
Government and administration · Mozambique state institutions
1939–
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Jumber Ilyich Patiashvili ჯუმბერ ილიას ძე პატიაშვილი
The Georgian First Secretary who asked Moscow for troops, then resigned after 21 died
Political and party leadership · Soviet Union state institutions
1939–
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Zviad Konstantinovich Gamsakhurdia ზვიად კონსტანტინეს ძე გამსახურდია
The nationalist dissident who became Georgia's first democratically elected president
Political and party leadership
1939–1993
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Romualdas Ozolas Romualdas Ozolas
The Sąjūdis philosopher who launched the 2-million-signature campaign demanding Red Army withdrawal
Political and party leadership · Sąjūdis (Reform Movement of Lithuania)
1939–2015
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Yuri Anatolyevich Prokofyev Юрий Анатольевич Прокофьев
A Moscow party organizer at the Soviet Union's end
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1939–
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Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev Нұрсұлтан Әбішұлы Назарбаев
Kazakhstan's thirty-year ruler, defender of the union to its last day
Political and party leadership · Kazakhstan state institutions
1940–
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Pyotr Luchinsky Petru Lucinschi
A politician who moved from Soviet party leadership to Moldova's presidency
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1940–
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Saparmurat Atayevich Niyazov Saparmyrat Ataýewiç Nyýazow
A Turkmen leader who turned late-Soviet rule into personal rule over an independent state
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1940–2006
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Kim Jong Il 김정일
The successor between a Soviet birth record and the Paektu myth
Political and party leadership · Democratic People’s Republic of Korea state institutions
1941–2011
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Lagle Parek Lagle Parek
The dissident architect who walked out of a Soviet prison camp and opened Estonia's political road to independence
Political and party leadership
1941–
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Lembit Annus Lembit Annus
An Estonian communist leader who chose to preserve the Soviet Union
Political and party leadership · Soviet Union state institutions
1941–2018
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Nikolai Nikolayevich Gubenko Николай Николаевич Губенко
The last Soviet culture minister
Literature and arts · Soviet Union state institutions
1941–2020
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Anatolijs Gorbunovs Anatolijs Gorbunovs
The Communist Party secretary who led Latvia's Supreme Council through the restoration of independence
Legislature and state representation · Latvia state institutions
1942–
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Chris Hani Chris Hani
The SACP leader who kept the revolutionary flame alive after laying down arms
Political and party leadership · South African Communist Party (SACP)
1942–1993
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Jarallah Omar جار الله عمر
Yemeni socialist politician and advocate of unity and pluralism
Political and party leadership · Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP)
1942–2002
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José Eduardo dos Santos José Eduardo dos Santos
Angola after Neto
Political and party leadership · Angola state institutions
1942–2022
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Alexander Mitrofanovich Obolensky Александр Митрофанович Оболенский
The engineer who became the first person in Soviet history to run against a sitting General Secretary
Political and party leadership
1943–
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Denis Sassou Nguesso Denis Sassou Nguesso
Congolese Labour Party and the oil state
Political and party leadership · Republic of the Congo state institutions
1943–
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Askar Akayevich Akayev Аскар Акаевич Акаев
Scientist-president who moved from reformist promise to prolonged rule
Government and administration · Kyrgyzstan state institutions
1944–