People
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Alexander Vladimirovich Rutskoy Александр Владимирович Руцкой
Russia's only vice president: stood with Yeltsin against the coup, then fell to Yeltsin's tanks
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1947–
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Leszek Balcerowicz Leszek Balcerowicz
Architect of Poland's shock therapy and symbol of the post-communist transition
Economy, finance and planning · Poland state institutions
1947–
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Mohammad Najibullah محمد نجیبالله
The last communist president of Afghanistan, who outlasted the Soviet withdrawal by three years before the Taliban tortured and hanged him
Political and party leadership · People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA)
1947–1996
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Miklós Németh Németh Miklós
Hungary's reform premier who opened a gate in 1989
Government and administration · Hungary state institutions
1948–
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Edgar Savisaar Edgar Savisaar
Architect of mass mobilization and independence politics
Political and party leadership · Popular Front of Estonia (Rahvarinne)
1950–2022
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Viktor Imantovich Alksnis Виктор Имантович Алкснис
Leader of the Soyuz faction who nearly turned a parliamentary session into a constitutional coup
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1950–2025
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Ivars Godmanis Ivars Godmanis
The physicist who walked Latvia out of the USSR and commanded the nights of the barricades
Government and administration · Latvia state institutions
1951–
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Sita Maria Dias Valles Sita Maria Dias Valles
Angolan doctor and revolutionary killed in the 1977 Nitista purge
Political and party leadership · Portuguese Communist Party (PCP)
1951–1977
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Grigory Alekseyevich Yavlinsky Григорий Алексеевич Явлинский
Architect of the 500 Days Program: perestroika economist who drafted a rapid transition from planned economy to market
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1952–
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Hun Sen ហ៊ុន សែន
Cambodia's long-serving prime minister
Political and party leadership · Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party (KPRP)
1952–
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László Tőkés Tőkés László
The Reformed pastor whose attempted eviction in Timișoara sparked the Romanian Revolution
Political and party leadership
1952–
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Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin Владимир Владимирович Путин
A ruler who recast the loss of the Soviet Union as a narrative of state restoration
Government and administration · Russian Federation state institutions
1952–
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Dainis Īvāns Dainis Īvāns
The journalist who saved the Daugava River and led the Latvian Popular Front
Political and party leadership · Popular Front of Latvia
1955–
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Etibar Salidar oglu Mammadov Etibar Səlidar oğlu Məmmədov
Deputy chairman of the Azerbaijani Popular Front who warned Primakov there would be resistance
Political and party leadership
1955–
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Viktor Mihály Orbán Orbán Viktor
From anti-communist youth leader in 1989 to architect of 'illiberal democracy'
Government and administration · Hungary state institutions
1963–
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Alexander Sapozhkov Александр Сапожков
Red Army division commander who raised the "Red Army of Truth" against grain requisitioning in 1920
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
?–1920
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Ch'oe Ch'ang-ik 최창익
Yan'an faction leader who drove the 1946 New People's Party merger and was purged in the August Faction Incident
Political and party leadership · New People's Party of Korea
1896/1898–1957/1960
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Pyotr Tokmakov Пётр Токмаков
Peasant-born officer who commanded the United Partisan Army of Tambov and chaired the Union of Working Peasantry
Military command · Socialist Revolutionary Party (PSR/SR)
?–1921
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Dambadorj Дамбадорж
MPRP leader who joined the Danzan purge and was later expelled as a rightist
Political and party leadership · Mongolian People's Party / Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party
?–1934
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Leonid Petrovich Serebryakov Леонид Петрович Серебряков
The Left Opposition secretary whom Lenin called a 'brilliant worker'
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1888/1890–1937
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Mohamed Siad Barre Maxamed Siyaad Barre
Somali military rule and socialism
Government and administration · Somalia state institutions
?–1995
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Pol Pot ប៉ុល ពត
Leader of Democratic Kampuchea
Political and party leadership · Democratic Kampuchea state institutions
?–1998
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Paulo Jorge Paulo Teixeira Jorge
MPLA diplomat and Angola's second foreign minister, a leading figure of the party's left wing
Diplomacy and international organization · Angola state institutions
1934/1929–2010
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Ali Abdullah Saleh علي عبد الله صالح
North Yemen's last president and unified Yemen's first head of state
Government and administration · Yemen state institutions
1942/1947–2017