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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Khieu Samphan ខៀវ សំផន
Head of state of Democratic Kampuchea
Political and party leadership
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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Mohammad Ali Samatar Maxamed Cali Samantar
Barre's vice-president who commanded the Ogaden War
Military command · Somalia state institutions
1931–2016
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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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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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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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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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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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Mathieu Kérékou Mathieu Kérékou
Benin’s people’s republic and transition
Government and administration · Benin state institutions
1933–2015
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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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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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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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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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Didier Ratsiraka Didier Ratsiraka
Madagascar’s socialist charter
Government and administration · Madagascar state institutions
1936–2021
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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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Mengistu Haile Mariam መንግሥቱ ኃይለ ማርያም
Consolidation of Derg rule
Political and party leadership · Ethiopia state institutions
1937–