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People
Activity(set)
Affiliation
Position(set)
Citizenship
Background
Era
People of the Soviet Union
People of the Chinese revolution and the People’s Republic
People of the wider world
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Nikolai Alexandrovich Tikhonov Николай Александрович Тихонов
The conservative premier of late Brezhnevism
Government and administration · Soviet Union state institutions
1905–1997
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Johannes Gustavovich Käbin Иван Густавович Кэбин
A pragmatic national communist who navigated between Moscow and Estonia for 28 years
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1905–1999
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Leonid Georgiyevich Melnikov Леонид Георгиевич Мельников
First Secretary who ran the largest republican party in the USSR at the close of the Stalin era
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1906–1981
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Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev Леонид Ильич Брежнев
The man whose statecraft was not rocking the boat
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1906–1982
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Edward Mieczysław Ochab Edward Mieczysław Ochab
The transitional First Secretary of 1956 who turned Khrushchev's Secret Speech into a mass document and then yielded power to Gomułka
Political and party leadership · Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR)
1906–1989
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Alexander Mikhailovich Puzanov Александр Михайлович Пузанов
The RSFSR premier who opposed the Crimea transfer and silently let Kim Il Sung consolidate one-man rule
Diplomacy and international organization · Soviet Union state institutions
1906–1998
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Bo Gu 博古
The CCP's young General Secretary who represented the Comintern line and later built the Party's press apparatus
Political and party leadership · Communist Party of China
1907–1946
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Mikhail Ivanovich Rodionov Михаил Иванович Родионов
The RSFSR premier who turned wartime Gorky into an arsenal
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1907–1950
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Lin Biao 林彪
Mao's designated successor and the military genius who won the Chinese Civil War, third among the Ten Marshals
Military command · People’s Republic of China state institutions
1907–1971
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Le Duan Lê Duẩn
The longest-serving General Secretary who reunified Vietnam and invaded Cambodia in his 26-year rule
Political and party leadership · Communist Party of Vietnam / Workers' Party of Vietnam
1907–1986
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Trường Chinh Trường Chinh
Vietnam's chief theoretician, demoted for the land reform disaster and returned to launch Đổi Mới
Political and party leadership · Vietnam state institutions
1907–1988
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Erich Fritz Emil Mielke Erich Mielke
East Germany's 'Master of Fear': the Stasi chief who ruled state security for 32 years
Security, intelligence and policing · East Germany state institutions
1907–2000
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Ho Ka-i Алексей Хегай
Principal organizer of the Workers' Party of Korea and leader of its early Soviet faction
Political and party leadership · Workers' Party of Korea (WPK)
1908–1953
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Dmitry Fyodorovich Ustinov Дмитрий Фёдорович Устинов
The defence-industry man who became defence minister
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1908–1984
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Enver Hoxha Enver Hoxha
Albania's leader who made isolation and self-reliance state policy
Political and party leadership · Albania state institutions
1908–1985
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Nikolai Semyonovich Patolichev Николай Семёнович Патоличев
The man who ran Soviet foreign trade for 27 years, holder of eleven Orders of Lenin
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union state institutions
1908–1989
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Petro Yefimovich Shelest Пётр Ефимович Шелест
The republic first secretary removed for investing in Ukrainian culture
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1908–1996
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Henri Rol-Tanguy Henri Rol-Tanguy
Communist Resistance leader who directed the Paris uprising
Military command · France state institutions
1908–2002
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Bo Yibo 薄一波
First finance minister and central figure of the “61 renegades” case, who returned in the reform era as a conservative elder
Economy, finance and planning · People’s Republic of China state institutions
1908–2007
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László Rajk Rajk László
Interior minister who built the ÁVH secret police, then fell as the first major victim of Stalinist show trials in Eastern Europe
Security, intelligence and policing · Hungary state institutions
1909–1949
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Adam Rapacki Adam Rapacki
A diplomat who widened room for negotiation amid East-West tension
Diplomacy and international organization · Poland state institutions
1909–1970
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Li Xiannian 李先念
The finance chief who survived the Cultural Revolution, helped arrest the Gang of Four and became president; one of the “eight elders”
Economy, finance and planning · People’s Republic of China state institutions
1909–1992
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Piotr Jaroszewicz Piotr Jaroszewicz
The premier of technocratic growth
Government and administration · Poland state institutions
1909–1992
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Souphanouvong ສຸພານຸວົງ
Pathet Lao and the first presidency
Legislature and state representation · Laos state institutions
1909–1995
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Bruno Leuschner Bruno Leuschner
East German planner who ran planning in the German Economic Commission and then chaired the State Planning Commission
Economy, finance and planning · East Germany state institutions
1910–1965
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Dmitry Ivanovich Chesnokov Дмитрий Иванович Чесноков
The philosopher Stalin elevated to the Politburo in his final act
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1910–1973
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Edvard Kardelj Edvard Kardelj
Chief theoretician of workers' self-management and Tito's closest ideological collaborator
Political and party leadership · Yugoslavia state institutions
1910–1979
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Gennady Ivanovich Voronov Геннадий Иванович Воронов
The RSFSR premier who never stopped speaking bluntly to Brezhnev
Agriculture and land policy · Soviet Union state institutions
1910–1994
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Gus Hall Gus Hall
Finnish-American labor militant and CPUSA General Secretary for 41 years, Moscow loyalist, four-time presidential candidate
Political and party leadership · Communist Party USA (CPUSA)
1910–2000
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Koçi son of Dhimitër Xoxe Koçi Xoxe
Albania's postwar interior minister and deputy premier
Security, intelligence and policing · Albania state institutions
1911–1949
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Józef Cyrankiewicz Józef Cyrankiewicz
A resistance survivor who became a guardian of the system
Government and administration · Poland state institutions
1911–1989
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Lê Đức Thọ Lê Đức Thọ
Vietnamese Politburo member who negotiated the Paris Peace Accords with Kissinger and declined the Nobel Peace Prize
Diplomacy and international organization · Vietnam state institutions
1911–1990
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Yang Dezhi 杨得志
General who fought in Korea, commanded the Kunming region on the western front in 1979 and became chief of the General Staff
Military command · People’s Republic of China state institutions
1911–1994
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Todor Hristov Zhivkov Тодор Христов Живков
The Eastern Bloc's longest-serving leader, 35 years as Moscow's most loyal Balkan ally
Political and party leadership · Bulgaria state institutions
1911–1998
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Vladimir Bakarić Vladimir Bakarić
A communist leader who negotiated republican interests within federal socialism
Political and party leadership · Yugoslavia state institutions
1912–1983
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Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko Константин Устинович Черненко
The last General Secretary of the Brezhnev order
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1912–1985
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János Kádár Kádár János
Architect of 'goulash communism', enforcer of the 1956 reprisals
Political and party leadership · Hungary state institutions
1912–1989
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Aleksei Pavlovich Shitikov Алексей Павлович Шитиков
From Khabarovsk party boss to Chairman of the Soviet of the Union: the institutional face of federal legislation in the Brezhnev era
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1912–1993
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Dinmukhamed Akhmetuly Kunaev Дінмұхамед Ахметұлы Қонаев
The republic-builder who led Kazakhstan for 24 years as Brezhnev's partner, whose dismissal sparked the Zheltoksan uprising
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1912–1993
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Erich Honecker Erich Honecker
The long-serving East German leader of the walled republic
Political and party leadership · East Germany state institutions
1912–1994
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Kim Il Sung 김일성
The founder of North Korea returned from the Soviet Far East
Political and party leadership · Democratic People’s Republic of Korea state institutions
1912–1994
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Nam Il 남일
The Soviet-Korean general who signed the Korean Armistice at Panmunjom
Military command · Democratic People’s Republic of Korea state institutions
1913–1976
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Jabbor Rasulovich Rasulov Джабар Расулович Расулов
Agronomist who led Tajikistan for 21 years, a communist of ascetic modesty and incorruptibility
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1913–1982
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Gustáv Husák Gustáv Husák
Czechoslovakia's longest-serving leader, who crushed the Prague Spring and built 'normalization'
Political and party leadership · Czechoslovakia state institutions
1913–1991
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Edward Gierek Edward Gierek
First Secretary who led a decade of Western-credit modernisation: only for debt and Solidarity to bring the curtain down
Political and party leadership · Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR)
1913–2001
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Mikhail Sergeyevich Solomentsev Михаил Сергеевич Соломенцев
Brezhnev-era industrial technocrat who ran the Russian republic for 12 years
Government and administration · Soviet Union state institutions
1913–2008
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Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov Юрий Владимирович Андропов
The paradox: a reformer’s patron inside the KGB
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union state institutions
1914–1984
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Kirill Trofimovich Mazurov Кирилл Трофимович Мазуров
Belarusian partisan leader who rose to Brezhnev's Politburo and served as USSR First Deputy Premier for thirteen years
Government and administration · Soviet Union state institutions
1914–1989
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Jiang Qing 江青
From the Shanghai stage to the pinnacle of the Cultural Revolution: Mao's wife who led the Gang of Four and remade Chinese revolutionary art
Ideology and propaganda · People’s Republic of China state institutions
1914–1991
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Nouhak Phoumsavan ໜູຮັກ ພູມສະຫວັນ
Lao revolutionary leader and president
Political and party leadership · Lao People's Revolutionary Party
1914–2008