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People of the Revolution and the USSR
Activity
Affiliation
Position
Citizenship
Background(set)
Era
People of the Soviet Union
People of the wider world
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Grigory Isaakovich Khanin Григорий Исаакович Ханин
The economist who exposed Soviet growth statistics as an 84-fold exaggeration and recalculated the real record
Scholarship and theory
1937–
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Irina Bayanovna Solovyova Ирина Баяновна Соловьёва
Tereshkova's backup cosmonaut, the physically strongest candidate Kamanin judged too reserved for the spotlight
Science and technology · Soviet Union
1937–
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Nikolai Maximovich Fomin Николай Максимович Фомин
The chief engineer who refused to believe the reactor was destroyed and kept pumping water into its ruins
Science and technology · Soviet Union
1937–
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Viktor Petrovich Polyanichko Виктор Петрович Поляничко
A field enforcer of the Soviet Union's final crisis
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1937–1993
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Anatoly Aleksandrovich Sobchak Анатолий Александрович Собчак
Constitutional Assembly chairman and first elected mayor of Saint Petersburg
Government and administration · Russian Federation state institutions
1937–2000
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Valentin Sergeyevich Pavlov Валентин Сергеевич Павлов
The last Soviet premier and an August coup participant
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union
1937–2003
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Oleg Semyonovich Shenin Олег Семёнович Шенин
The last Politburo member who tried to save the USSR and went to prison for it
Social movements and organizing · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1937–2009
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Gennady Ivanovich Yanayev Геннадий Иванович Янаев
First and only Vice President of the USSR and the face of the August 1991 coup
Legislature and state representation · Soviet Union
1937–2010
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Nikolai Yakovlevich Petrakov Николай Яковлевич Петраков
An economist who carried price theory into the transition to a market economy
Scholarship and theory · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1937–2014
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Galina Vladimirovna Semyonova Галина Владимировна Семёнова
Architect of women's and family policy in the perestroika era, the fourth woman ever on the Politburo
Social movements and organizing · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1937–2017
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Vadim Viktorovich Bakatin Вадим Викторович Бакатин
The last KGB chairman, appointed to dismantle it
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union
1937–2022
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Valentin Alexandrovich Kuptsov Валентин Александрович Купцов
The last-generation secretary who rebuilt the Russian Communist Party
Social movements and organizing · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1937–
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Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova Валентина Владимировна Терешкова
The textile-worker 'Chaika,' first woman in space
Science and technology · Soviet Union
1937–
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Viktor Vladimirovich Gerashchenko Виктор Владимирович Геращенко
Central banker of the Soviet collapse and Russian transition
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union
1937–2022
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Vladimir Makarovich Velichko Владимир Макарович Величко
Technocrat who ran Soviet heavy machine-building in its late decades
Industry and production · Soviet Union
1937–
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Yegor Semyonovich Stroev Егор Семёнович Строев
Gorbachev's last agriculture Politburo member: operational chief of perestroika farm policy
Agriculture and land policy · Soviet Union
1937–
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Andrei Alekseevich Amalrik Андрей Алексеевич Амальрик
Historian and playwright who foresaw the Soviet collapse by 1984
Literature and arts
1938–1980
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Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky Владимир Семёнович Высоцкий
The voice the state silenced, but a million tapes couldn't
Literature and arts
1938–1980
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Viktor Stepanovich Chernomyrdin Виктор Степанович Черномырдин
Last Soviet gas minister who turned his ministry into Gazprom
Industry and production · Soviet Union
1938–2010
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Nina Alexandrovna Andreyeva Нина Александровна Андреева
The Leningrad chemistry lecturer whose 'I Cannot Forsake My Principles' became the manifesto of anti-perestroika forces
Scholarship and theory · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1938–2020
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Yuri Nikolayevich Zhukov Юрий Николаевич Жуков
A historian who reopened the question of responsibility in the Stalin era
Scholarship and theory
1938–2023
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Oleg Antonovich Gordievsky Олег Антонович Гордиевский
The highest-ranking KGB officer to defect, and the key source on the 1983 war scare
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union
1938–2025
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Valery Mikhailovich Sablin Валерий Михайлович Саблин
The naval officer who mutinied for Leninist principles against the Brezhnev regime
Military command · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1939–1976
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Alexander Filippovich Katusev Александр Филиппович Катусев
The Deputy Prosecutor General whose TV broadcast lit the fuse of the Sumgait pogrom
Law and justice · Soviet Union
1939–2000
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Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov Станислав Евграфович Петров
Soviet Air Defence Forces lieutenant colonel who correctly dismissed the Oko false alarm and prevented nuclear war
Military command · Soviet Union
1939–2017
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Mikhail Alekseyevich Moiseyev Михаил Алексеевич Моисеев
The last Soviet Chief of General Staff, undone by the August coup
Military command · Soviet Union
1939–2022
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Yuri Anatolyevich Prokofyev Юрий Анатольевич Прокофьев
A Moscow party organizer at the Soviet Union's end
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1939–
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Andrei Serafimovich Grachev Андрей Серафимович Грачёв
An insider witness to the collapse of reform
Government and administration · Soviet Union
1941–
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Valery Aleksandrovich Tishkov Валерий Александрович Тишков
An ethnologist who challenged the nation as a fixed essence
Scholarship and theory
1941–
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Anatoly Mikhailovich Kornukov Анатолий Михайлович Корнуков
The air-defense general who ordered KAL 007 shot down, later commander-in-chief of the Russian Air Force
Military command · Soviet Union
1942–2014
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Yevgeny Ivanovich Shaposhnikov Евгений Иванович Шапошников
The last Soviet defence minister and final Marshal of Aviation
Military command · Soviet Union
1942–2020
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Nikolai Timofeyevich Antoshkin Николай Тимофеевич Антошкин
The Soviet air force general who personally led 1,927 helicopter drops over the burning Chernobyl reactor
Military command · Soviet Union
1942–2021
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Ruslan Imranovich Khasbulatov Руслан Имранович Хасбулатов
The Supreme Soviet chairman who stood with Yeltsin against the coup, then fell to Yeltsin's tanks
Legislature and state representation · Russian Federation state institutions
1942–2023
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Alexander Mitrofanovich Obolensky Александр Митрофанович Оболенский
The engineer who became the first person in Soviet history to run against a sitting General Secretary
Political and party leadership
1943–
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Boris Vsevolodovich Gromov Борис Всеволодович Громов
The last Soviet soldier to leave Afghanistan, the face of the Soviet withdrawal
Military command · Soviet Union
1943–
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Viktor Petrovich Dubynin Виктор Петрович Дубынин
The 40th Army commander who halved Afghan losses, then Russia's first Chief of General Staff
Military command · Soviet Union
1943–1992
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Yuri Markovich Goland Юрий Маркович Голанд
Economist who began with NEP studies and framed the Kosygin-reform debate
Scholarship and theory
1943–
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Evgeny Mikhailovich Andreev Евгений Михайлович Андреев
A mathematical demographer who made mortality and life expectancy legible
Scholarship and theory
1944–
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Gennady Nikolayevich Osipovich Геннадий Николаевич Осипович
The Soviet air-defence interceptor pilot who shot down KAL 007
Military command · Soviet Union
1944–2015
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Vladimir Dmitrievich Kuznechevsky Владимир Дмитриевич Кузнечевский
A historian who traces the Russian question through Soviet history
Scholarship and theory
1944–
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Gennady Eduardovich Burbulis Геннадий Эдуардович Бурбулис
The philosopher who proposed the one sentence that declared the Soviet Union dead at Belovezh
Government and administration · Russian Federation state institutions
1945–2022
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Mikhail Semyonovich Surkov Михаил Семёнович Сурков
A party cadre who moved from army organization to the late Soviet Politburo
Military command · Soviet Union
1945–
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Nina Tumarkin Nina Tumarkin
The preeminent chronicler of Soviet memory politics who traced the Lenin cult and the Great Patriotic War myth
Scholarship and theory
1945–
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Vladislav Alekseyevich Achalov Владислав Алексеевич Ачалов
Soviet airborne forces commander and deputy defence minister in the August 1991 coup
Military command · Soviet Union
1945–2011
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Aleksandr Antonovich Lyakhovsky Александр Антонович Ляховский
Russian general-major and insider historian of the Afghan war
Scholarship and theory
1946–2009
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Aleksei Polyansky Алексей Полянский
The KGB-veteran writer who published Yezhov's case file wrapped in novelistic reconstruction
Literature and arts
1947–1998
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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
1947–
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Pavel Sergeyevich Grachev Павел Сергеевич Грачёв
The airborne commander who held the coup's key and handed it to Yeltsin
Military command · Soviet Union
1948–2012
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Pavel Ruslanovich Palazhchenko Павел Русланович Палажченко
The interpreter who mediated summit diplomacy
Diplomacy and international organization · Soviet Union
1949–
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Viktor Vasilyevich Baklanov Виктор Васильевич Бакланов
Full cavalier of the Order of Labour Glory, collective-farm mechanizer
Agriculture and land policy · Soviet Union
1949–2019