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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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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
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Konstantin Mikhailovich Simonov Константин Михайлович Симонов
The poet of 'Wait for Me': six-time Stalin Prize-winning war correspondent and literary bureaucrat
Literature and arts · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1915–1979
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Hu Yaobang 胡耀邦
The reformist general secretary who rehabilitated the Cultural Revolution’s victims and freed thought; his death sparked the 1989 protests
Political and party leadership · People’s Republic of China state institutions
1915–1989
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Santiago Carrillo Santiago Carrillo
The Eurocommunist architect who lit a cigarette at gunpoint
Political and party leadership · Communist Party of Spain (PCE)
1915–2012
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Tsedenbal Цэдэнбал
Mongolian planning and Soviet ties
Political and party leadership · Mongolian People's Party / Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party
1916–1991
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Augusts Eduardovich Voss Augusts Voss
Latvian party boss turned Soviet of Nationalities chairman
Political and party leadership · Soviet Union state institutions
1916–1994
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Wang Dongxing 汪东兴
Mao’s bodyguard chief whose Zhongnanhai Unit 8341 arrested the Gang of Four, then pushed aside for the “two whatevers”
Security, intelligence and policing · People’s Republic of China state institutions
1916–2015
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Nur Muhammad Taraki نور محمد ترهکی
Afghan communist founder whose overthrow and murder by his protégé Amin triggered the Soviet invasion
Political and party leadership · Afghanistan state institutions
1917–1979
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Sharaf Rashidovich Rashidov Шараф Рашидович Рашидов
Writer turned leader who drove Uzbekistan's industrialization and cultural revival for 24 years, later tied to the Cotton Affair
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1917–1983
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Tikhon Yakovlevich Kiselyov Тихон Яковлевич Киселёв
Belarus's premier for nearly 20 years who rose to First Secretary and candidate Politburo member, then died of cancer two years later
Government and administration · Soviet Union state institutions
1917–1983
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Dmitry Stepanovich Polyansky Дмитрий Степанович Полянский
Brezhnev-era official across agriculture and government
Agriculture and land policy · Soviet Union state institutions
1917–2001
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Vasil Biľak Vasiľ Biľak
The party ideology secretary who signed the letter inviting Soviet tanks into his own country
Political and party leadership · Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ)
1917–2014
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Pyotr Mironovich Masherov Пётр Миронович Машеров
Belarus's partisan-hero leader for 15 years who transformed an agrarian republic into an industrial powerhouse - his death a legend
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1918–1980
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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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Vladimir Vasilyevich Shcherbitsky Владимир Васильевич Щербицкий
The Brezhnev-era republic-builder who led Ukraine for 17 years, linchpin of the Dnepr clan
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1918–1990
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Alexander Nikolayevich Shelepin Александр Николаевич Шелепин
The Komsomol boss who took over the KGB
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union state institutions
1918–1994
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Ivan Ivanovich Bodiul Иван Иванович Бодюл
The republic first secretary who ruled Moldavia for nearly 20 years as Brezhnev's close ally
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1918–2013
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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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Zhao Ziyang 赵紫阳
From Sichuan’s farm reforms to general secretary, the reformer who opposed martial law in 1989 and died under house arrest
Political and party leadership · People’s Republic of China state institutions
1919–2005
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Anatoly Fyodorovich Dobrynin Анатолий Фёдорович Добрынин
The ambassador whose 24 years in Washington made him the hidden circuit of Soviet–American diplomacy
Diplomacy and international organization · Soviet Union state institutions
1919–2010
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Turdakun Usubalievich Usubaliev Турдакун Усубалиевич Усубалиев
The builder who transformed Kirghizia from an agrarian to an industrial republic across the Khrushchev-Brezhnev era
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1919–2015
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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 · Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party
1920–1993
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Alexander Mikhailovich Rekunkov Александр Михайлович Рекунков
Soviet Procurator General who served from Brezhnev to Gorbachev and personally delivered Sakharov's exile decree
Law and justice · Soviet Union state institutions
1920–1996
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Nikolai Nikolayevich Inozemtsev Николай Николаевич Иноземцев
Intellectual architect of Brezhnev-era détente
Scholarship and theory · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1921–1982
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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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Hua Guofeng 华国锋
Mao’s designated successor — “With you in charge, I am at ease” — who arrested the Gang of Four and was eased out by Deng Xiaoping
Political and party leadership · People’s Republic of China state institutions
1921–2008
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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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Muhammetnazar Gapurovich Gapurov Мухамедназар Гапурович Гапуров
16-year leader of Brezhnev-era Turkmenistan who integrated its cotton and gas economy into the Soviet center
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1922–1999
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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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Lev Nikolayevich Zaikov Лев Николаевич Зайков
The technocrat who rose from defense-plant apprentice to Politburo overseer of the military-industrial complex
Industry and production · Soviet Union state institutions
1923–2002
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Heydar Alirza oghlu Aliyev Heydər Əlirza oğlu Əliyev
The KGB general who rose from Baku to the Kremlin and founded independent Azerbaijan
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1923–2003
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Alexander Nikolayevich Yakovlev Александр Николаевич Яковлев
The architect of glasnost: the ideology chief who dismantled the ideology
Ideology and propaganda · Soviet Union state institutions
1923–2005
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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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Karl Genrikhovich Vaino Карл Генрихович Вайно
First Secretary of the Estonian Communist Party (1978–1988) who resisted perestroika and pushed Russification until Moscow replaced him.
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1923–2022
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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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Vladimir Alexandrovich Kryuchkov Владимир Александрович Крючков
The KGB chairman who designed the August coup
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union state institutions
1924–2007
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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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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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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