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People of the Revolution and the USSR
Activity
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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Vladimir Mikhailovich Kamentsev Владимир Михайлович Каменцев
The technocrat who brought Soviet fisheries to global leadership
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union state institutions
1928–2003
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Igor Sergeyevich Belousov Игорь Сергеевич Белоусов
The shipbuilding minister who built the Soviet Navy's strategic parity
Industry and production · Soviet Union state institutions
1928–2005
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Alexei Dmitrievich Lizichev Алексей Дмитриевич Лизичев
The last GlavPUR chief who stood to defend the military political organs through perestroika
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1928–2006
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Chinghiz Torekulovich Aitmatov Чингиз Торекулович Айтматов
Kyrgyz writer and diplomat who carved a Central Asian voice into world literature
Literature and arts · Soviet Union state institutions
1928–2008
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Lev Alekseyevich Voronin Лев Алексеевич Воронин
Guardian of state material supply in the Gorbachev era
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union state institutions
1928–2008
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German Arsenyevich Goncharov Герман Арсеньевич Гончаров
Physicist from Sakharov's group who became the lead declassifier and historian of the Soviet H-bomb project
Science and technology · Soviet Union state institutions
1928–2009
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Eduard Ambrosiyevich Shevardnadze ედუარდ შევარდნაძე
The Soviet foreign minister who ended the Cold War, then led Georgia
Diplomacy and international organization · Soviet Union state institutions
1928–2014
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Yakov Petrovich Pogrebnyak Яков Петрович Погребняк
CPU secretary who oversaw the anti-alcohol campaign in Ukraine and testified that Ligachev ordered the Massandra wine library destroyed
Social movements and organizing · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1928–2016
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Yakov Petrovich Ryabov Яков Петрович Рябов
Yeltsin's political patron and CPSU defence secretary who forced the T-72 tank through against Ustinov's opposition
Social movements and organizing · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1928–2018
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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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Valentin Karpovich Mesyats Валентин Карпович Месяц
Agriculture minister of late stagnation
Agriculture and land policy · Soviet Union state institutions
1928–2019
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Yevgeny Mikhailovich Tyazhelnikov Евгений Михайлович Тяжельников
The model Brezhnev-era youth-cadre pipeline apparatchik
Social movements and organizing · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1928–2020
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Vladimir Nikolayevich Chernavin Владимир Николаевич Чернавин
The last C-in-C of the Soviet Navy, the nuclear submariner who first patrolled under the Arctic ice
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1928–2023
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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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Nikolai Vladimirovich Talyzin Николай Владимирович Талызин
Gosplan chairman of the perestroika era who built the world's first satellite TV broadcasting system
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union state institutions
1929–1991
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Sergei Pavlovich Pavlov Сергей Павлович Павлов
The anti-thaw Komsomol chief who delivered the Moscow Olympics
Social movements and organizing · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1929–1993
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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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Andriyan Grigoryevich Nikolayev Андриян Григорьевич Николаев
Soviet cosmonaut who flew humanity's first multi-day spaceflight aboard Vostok 3
Science and technology · Soviet Union state institutions
1929–2004
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Apollon Sergeyevich Systsov Аполлон Сергеевич Сысцов
Last Soviet Minister of Aviation Industry: from the Buran shuttle to the privatisation of a military-industrial empire
Industry and production · Soviet Union state institutions
1929–2005
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Yuli Mikhailovich Vorontsov Юлий Михайлович Воронцов
The arms-control negotiator who secured the INF Treaty and managed the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan
Diplomacy and international organization · Soviet Union state institutions
1929–2007
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Aleksandra Pavlovna Biryukova Александра Павловна Бирюкова
Gorbachev's highest-ranking woman, the 'Russian Margaret Thatcher' tasked with solving Soviet consumer shortages
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union state institutions
1929–2008
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Sergo Anastasi Mikoyan Серго Анастасович Микоян
A historian who reconstructed the Cold War’s hidden record
Scholarship and theory · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1929–2010
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Günter Schabowski Günter Schabowski
The East German Politburo spokesman whose mistake brought down the Berlin Wall
Ideology and propaganda · Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED)
1929–2015
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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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Anatoly Ivanovich Mayorets Анатолий Иванович Майорец
The last Soviet energy minister sent into the Chernobyl disaster zone
Industry and production · Soviet Union state institutions
1929–2016
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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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Yuri Nikolayevich Khristoradnov Юрий Николаевич Христораднов
Party chief who led the Gorky region for 14 years and the last Soviet overseer of religious affairs
Social movements and organizing · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1929–2018
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Yevgeny Ivanovich Chazov Евгений Иванович Чазов
The father of Soviet cardiology who ran Kremlin medicine for 20 years
Science and technology · Soviet Union state institutions
1929–2021
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Nikolai Nikitovich Slyunkov Николай Никитович Слюньков
From tractor factory to Politburo: the 'director of the Central Committee'
Social movements and organizing · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1929–2022
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Stepan Alekseyevich Shalaev Степан Алексеевич Шалаев
The last leader of the Soviet trade-union system
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union state institutions
1929–2022
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Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Kozlovsky Евгений Александрович Козловский
Longest-serving geology minister who presided over the 'golden age' of Soviet mineral exploration
Industry and production · Soviet Union state institutions
1929–2022
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Milan Kundera Milan Kundera
The Czech novelist who insisted the Prague Spring was a universal attempt to reconcile socialism with freedom
Literature and arts · Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ)
1929–2023
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Nikolai Ivanovich Ryzhkov Николай Иванович Рыжков
Premier during perestroika’s economic crisis
Government and administration · Soviet Union state institutions
1929–2024
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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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Arnaldo Tomás Ochoa Sánchez Arnaldo Tomás Ochoa Sánchez
Cuban general of the African expeditionary campaigns
Military command · Cuba state institutions
1930–1989
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Merab Konstantinovich Mamardashvili Мераб Константинович Мамардашвили
The philosopher who spoke consciousness aloud
Scholarship and theory · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1930–1990
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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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Viktor Fyodorovich Grushko Виктор Фёдорович Грушко
The KGB operational deputy who bridged foreign intelligence and counterintelligence
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union state institutions
1930–2001
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Yuri Sergeyevich Plekhanov Юрий Сергеевич Плеханов
From KGB eavesdropping chief to head of leadership security, the man who pulled the coup's trigger
Security, intelligence and policing · Soviet Union state institutions
1930–2002
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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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Yegor Vladimirovich Yakovlev Егор Владимирович Яковлев
Editor of Moscow News who led the charge in breaking Soviet taboos during the glasnost era
Literature and arts · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1930–2005
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Pavel Romanovich Popovich Павел Романович Попович
Cosmonaut No. 4, Vostok 4 pilot of the first simultaneous crewed spaceflight
Science and technology · Soviet Union state institutions
1930–2009
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Stepan Aramaisovich Sitaryan Степан Арамаисович Ситарян
The highest-ranking Armenian economist in the Soviet apparatus, who pushed the Law on Cooperatives through the Politburo
Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union state institutions
1930–2009
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Yuri Vladimirovich Dubinin Юрий Владимирович Дубинин
Soviet ambassador who personified perestroika diplomacy in Washington during the Gorbachev era
Diplomacy and international organization · Soviet Union state institutions
1930–2013
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Nikolai Pavlovich Laverov Николай Павлович Лавёров
The last chairman of Soviet state science policy and a uranium geologist
Science and technology · Soviet Union state institutions
1930–2016
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Nikolai Ivanovich Dementey Николай Иванович Дементей
A chairman caught between preserving the Union and Belarusian sovereignty
Agriculture and land policy · Soviet Union state institutions
1930–2018
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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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Zhores Ivanovich Alferov Жорес Иванович Алфёров
Communist physicist whose semiconductor heterostructures opened the IT era
Science and technology · Soviet Union state institutions
1930–2019
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Richard Ivanovich Kosolapov Ричард Иванович Косолапов
Principal architect of the Brezhnev-era 'developed socialism' doctrine
Ideology and propaganda · Soviet Union state institutions
1930–2020