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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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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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František Kriegel František Kriegel
The only Prague Spring leader who refused to sign the Moscow Protocol
Political and party leadership · Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ)
1908–1979
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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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Stepan Bandera Степан Андрійович Бандера
Ukrainian nationalist politician and leader of the OUN-B.
Political and party leadership
1909–1959
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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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Kwame Nkrumah Kwame Nkrumah
Architect of Pan-African Marxism who led sub-Saharan Africa's first independence
Political and party leadership
1909–1972
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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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Monja Jaona Monja Jaona
Southern nationalist who joined the revolutionary front, then walked out over fraudulent elections
Political and party leadership
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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Josef Smrkovský Josef Smrkovský
The purge victim who returned to become the Prague Spring's most eloquent reformer
Political and party leadership · Czechoslovakia state institutions
1911–1974
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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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Milovan Djilas Милован Ђилас
Yugoslav dissident who attacked Western communist parties at the Cominform and later dissected the communist system in The New Class
Political and party leadership · Yugoslavia state institutions
1911–1995
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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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Son Sann សឺន សាន
Cambodian anti-communist resistance leader
Political and party leadership
1911–2000
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Ronald Wilson Reagan Ronald Reagan
The Cold War's last American president, who genuinely believed in nuclear abolition but would not yield on SDI
Political and party leadership · United States state institutions
1911–2004
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Henry M. Jackson Henry M. Jackson
A hawkish Democratic senator who tied Soviet trade status to Jewish emigration
Political and party leadership · United States state institutions
1912–1983
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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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Willy None Brandt Willy Brandt
A social democrat who made reconciliation a politics of divided cities
Government and administration · Germany state institutions
1913–1992
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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