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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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Ali Nasir Muhammad علي ناصر محمد
South Yemeni policy conflict and the 1986 crisis
Political and party leadership · South Yemen state institutions
1939–
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Carlos Alberto Dilolwa Carlos Alberto da Rocha Oliveira Dilolwa
Designer of Angolan economic planning and MPLA theorist
Economy, finance and planning · Angola state institutions
1939–1996
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Haidar Abu Bakr al-Attas حيدر أبو بكر العطاس
South Yemen's last head of state and the united republic's first prime minister
Government and administration · Yemen state institutions
1939–
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José Van-Dúnem José Jacinto da Silva Vieira Dias Van-Dúnem
Angolan political-military leader and co-leader of the Nitista current with Nito Alves
Military command · Angola state institutions
1939–1977
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Haile Fida ኃይሌ ፊዳ
Ethiopian Marxist leader of MEISON and drafter of the Derg's national-democratic program
Political and party leadership
1939–1979
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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 state institutions
1939–2000
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Ali Salem al-Beidh علي سالم البيض
The last leader of South Yemen
Political and party leadership · Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP)
1939–2026
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Joaquim Chissano Joaquim Chissano
Mozambican rehabilitation and peace
Government and administration · Mozambique state institutions
1939–
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Jumber Ilyich Patiashvili ჯუმბერ ილიას ძე პატიაშვილი
The Georgian First Secretary who asked Moscow for troops, then resigned after 21 died
Political and party leadership · Soviet Union state institutions
1939–
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Konstantin Ivanovich Kobets Константин Иванович Кобец
The highest-ranking general who sided with Yeltsin during the August coup, commanding the White House defense
Military command · Soviet Union state institutions
1939–2012
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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 state institutions
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 state institutions
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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Saparmurat Atayevich Niyazov Saparmyrat Ataýewiç Nyýazow
A Turkmen leader who turned late-Soviet rule into personal rule over an independent state
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1940–2006
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Juozas Juozovich Jermalavičius Juozas Jermalavičius
Ideology secretary of the pro-Moscow Lithuanian Communist Party who proclaimed the 'National Salvation Committee' in the Vilnius crackdown
Ideology and propaganda · Soviet Union state institutions
1940–2022
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Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev Нұрсұлтан Әбішұлы Назарбаев
Kazakhstan's thirty-year ruler, defender of the union to its last day
Political and party leadership · Kazakhstan state institutions
1940–
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Pyotr Luchinsky Petru Lucinschi
A politician who moved from Soviet party leadership to Moldova's presidency
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1940–
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Andrei Serafimovich Grachev Андрей Серафимович Грачёв
An insider witness to the collapse of reform
Government and administration · Soviet Union state institutions
1941–
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Kim Jong Il 김정일
The successor between a Soviet birth record and the Paektu myth
Political and party leadership · Democratic People’s Republic of Korea state institutions
1941–2011
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Lembit Annus Lembit Annus
An Estonian communist leader who chose to preserve the Soviet Union
Political and party leadership · Soviet Union state institutions
1941–2018
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Nikolai Nikolayevich Gubenko Николай Николаевич Губенко
The last Soviet culture minister
Literature and arts · Soviet Union state institutions
1941–2020
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Anatolijs Gorbunovs Anatolijs Gorbunovs
The Communist Party secretary who led Latvia's Supreme Council through the restoration of independence
Legislature and state representation · Latvia state institutions
1942–
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Walter Rodney Walter Rodney
Guyanese Marxist historian who demonstrated how Europe underdeveloped Africa, scholar-activist of the Pan-African revolution
Scholarship and theory
1942–1980
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Saleh Muslih Qasim صالح مصلح قاسم
South Yemen's defence minister, shot in the January 1986 Aden violence
Military command · South Yemen state institutions
1942–1986
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Chris Hani Chris Hani
The SACP leader who kept the revolutionary flame alive after laying down arms
Political and party leadership · South African Communist Party (SACP)
1942–1993
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Jarallah Omar جار الله عمر
Yemeni socialist politician and advocate of unity and pluralism
Political and party leadership · Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP)
1942–2002
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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 state institutions
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 state institutions
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 state institutions
1942–2021
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José Eduardo dos Santos José Eduardo dos Santos
Angola after Neto
Political and party leadership · Angola state institutions
1942–2022
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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 state institutions
1943–
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Denis Sassou Nguesso Denis Sassou Nguesso
Congolese Labour Party and the oil state
Political and party leadership · Republic of the Congo state institutions
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 state institutions
1943–1992
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Enn-Arno Augustovich Sillari Enn-Arno Augustovich Sillari
The last Soviet-aligned communist leader of Estonia amid a party split
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1944–
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Maurice Bishop Maurice Bishop
The Caribbean revolutionary who cut illiteracy from 35% to 5% and declared 'we are not in anybody's backyard'
Government and administration · Grenada state institutions
1944–1983
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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 state institutions
1944–2015
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Givi Grigorievich Gumbaridze Гиви Григорьевич Гумбаридзе
A Georgian party official at the edge of Soviet collapse
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1945–
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Jahangir Movsum oglu Muslimzade Cahangir Mövsüm oğlu Müslümzadə
The Sumgait party boss handed a flag and photographed at the head of the mob
Political and party leadership · Soviet Union state institutions
1945–
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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 state institutions
1945–
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Nito Alves Nito Alves
The radical MPLA interior minister who sought Soviet backing only to die in a failed coup
Military command · Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA)
1945–1977
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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 state institutions
1945–2011
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David Kotz David M. Kotz
A political economist of Soviet system change
Scholarship and theory
1946–
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Dzhumgalbek Beksultan uulu Amanbayev Жумгалбек Бексултан уулу Аманбаев
A Kyrgyz party leader at the Soviet Union's end
Political and party leadership · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
1946–2005
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Mohammad Najibullah محمد نجیبالله
The last communist president of Afghanistan, who outlasted the Soviet withdrawal by three years before the Taliban tortured and hanged him
Political and party leadership · People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA)
1947–1996
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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 state institutions
1948–2012
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Pavel Ruslanovich Palazhchenko Павел Русланович Палажченко
The interpreter who mediated summit diplomacy
Diplomacy and international organization · Soviet Union state institutions
1949–
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Thomas Sankara Thomas Sankara
The 'African Che' who traded the state Mercedes fleet for Renault 5s
Government and administration · Burkina Faso state institutions
1949–1987
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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 state institutions
1949–2019