- Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (born August 13, 1926) is the current President of Cuba. He led the revolution overthrowing dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959 and shortly after was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Cuba. Castro became First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba in 1965, and led the transformation of Cuba into a one-party socialist republic. In 1976 he became president of the Council of State as well as of the Council of Ministers.
- Karl Heinrich Marx
There are few economists who have become both so reviled, and admired as Marx. Indeed some would even question whether Marx deserves to be called an economist; others would prefer terms like 'bungling and failed revolutionary'. However, there are certainly few economists who read so widely and wrote so much as Marx. Whether you love or loathe Marx, we cannot deny his writings had profound influence on the twentieth century. What Did Marx Believe?
- Ho Chi Minh
Hồ Chí Minh was a Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman, who later became Prime Minister (1946–1955) and President (1946–1969) of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Ho is most famous for leading the Viet Minh independence movement from 1941 onward, establishing the communist-governed Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945 and defeating the French Union in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu. Ho was fluent in Vietnamese, several dialects of Chinese, English and French.
- Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong (also "Mao Tse-tung" in Wade-Giles;) was a Chinese Marxist military and political leader and philosopher, who led the Communist Party of China (CPC) to victory against the Kuomintang (KMT) in the Chinese Civil War, and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976. Mao is also recognized as a poet and calligrapher. Regarded as one of the most important figures in modern world history, …
- Kim Jong-Il
Kim Jong-il (also written as Kim Jong Il) (born February 16, 1942 in Vyatskoye, Soviet Union) is the leader of North Korea. He is the Chairman of the National Defense Commission, Supreme Commander of the Korean People's Army, and General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (the ruling party since 1948). He succeeded his father Kim Il-sung, founder of North Korea, who died in 1994.
- Che Guevara
Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, commonly known as Che Guevara, El Che or just Che was an Argentine-born Marxist revolutionary, political figure, and leader of Cuban and internationalist guerrillas. As a young man studying medicine, Guevara traveled rough throughout South America, bringing him into direct contact with the impoverished conditions in which many people lived.
- Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev, surname more accurately romanized as Gorbachyov; born 2nd March 1931) is a Russian politician. He was the last leader of the Soviet Union, serving from 1985 until its collapse in 1991. His attempts at reform helped end the Cold War, and also ended the political supremacy of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) and dissolved the Soviet Union. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990.
- Pol Pot
Saloth Sar, was the leader of the Khmer Rouge and the Prime Minister of Cambodia (officially renamed the Democratic Kampuchea during his rule) from 1976 to 1979, having been "de facto" leader since mid-1975. Having been directly and indirectly responsible for the physical elimination of about one-third of the Cambodian population during his stay in power, Pol Pot is today regarded as one of the five worst mass-murderers of modern history.
- Friedrich Engels
Friedrich Engels was a German social scientist and philosopher, who developed communist theory alongside his better-known collaborator, Karl Marx, co-authoring "The Communist Manifesto" (1848). Engels also edited the second and third volumes of "Das Kapital" after Marx's death.
- Leon Trotsky
"' (– August 21 1940), born Leon Davidovich Bronstein"', was a Ukrainian-born Jewish Bolshevik revolutionary and Marxist theorist. He was an influential politician in the early days of the Soviet Union, first as People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs and later as the founder and commander of the Red Army and People's Commissar of War. He was also among the first members of the Politburo.
- Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond McCarthy was a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin between 1947 and 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most visible public face of a period of extreme anti-communist suspicion inspired by the tensions of the Cold War. He was noted for making unsubstantiated claims that there were large numbers of Communists and Soviet spies and sympathizers inside the federal government.
- Kim Il-Sung
Kim Il-sung was a North Korean Communist leader from its founding in early 1948 until his death, when he was succeeded by his son Kim Jong-il. He held the posts of Prime Minister from 1948 to 1972 and President from 1972 to his death. He was also the General Secretary of the Workers Party of Korea where he exercised autocratic power. As leader of North Korea, he ended up switching from a Marxist-Leninist ideology to the Juche idea and established a personality cult.
- Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev ; surname more accurately romanized as Khrushchyov ; – September 11, 1971) was the chief director of the Soviet Union after the death of Joseph Stalin. He was First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. He was removed from power by his party colleagues in 1964 and replaced by Leonid Brezhnev.
- Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (better known by the alias 'Lenin', was a Russian revolutionary, a communist politician, the main leader of the October Revolution, the first head of the Soviet Union, and the primary theorist of Leninism, a variant of Marxism.
- Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (July 29, 1883 - April 28, 1945) was the prime minister and dictator of Italy from 1922 until 1943, when he was overthrown. He established a fascist regime that valued socialism, nationalism, militarism and anti-communism combined with strict censorship and state propaganda. Mussolini became a close ally of German dictator Adolf Hitler, whom he influenced. Mussolini entered World War II in June 1940 on the side of Nazi Germany.
- Augusto Pinochet
"' The junta members originally planned for the presidency to rotate among the commanders-in-chief of the four military branches. However, Pinochet soon consolidated his control, first retaining sole chairmanship of the military junta, and then proclaiming himself "Supreme Chief of the Nation" (de facto provisional president) on June 27, 1974. He officially changed his title to "President" on December 17. In 1980, by the way of another national referendum, Chile got a new Constitution, …
- Sun Yat-Sen
Sun Yat-sen (November 12, 1866 - March 12, 1925) was a Chinese revolutionary and political leader often referred to as the "father of modern China." Sun played an instrumental role in the eventual overthrow of the Qing Dynasty in 1911. He was the first provisional president when the Republic of China (ROC) was founded in 1912. He later co-founded the Kuomintang (KMT) where he served as its first leader. Sun was a uniting figure in post-Imperial China, …
- Rosa Luxemburg
Rosa Luxemburg was a Jewish Polish-born Marxist political theorist, socialist philosopher, and revolutionary. She was a theorist of the Social Democratic Party of the Kingdom of Poland, later becoming involved in the German SPD, followed by the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany. She started the journal "Die Rote Fahne" (The Red Flag).
- Prakash Karat
Prakash Karat is communist politician from India. The 56-year old Prakash Karat was elected as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on the 11th of April, 2005.
- Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev - November 10, 1982) was General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (and thus de facto ruler of the USSR) from 1964 to 1982, serving in that position longer than anyone other than Joseph Stalin. He was twice Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (head of state), from 1960 to 1964 and from 1977 to 1982.
- Diego Rivera
Diego Rivera, (full name "Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez") was a Mexican painter and muralist born in Guanajuato City, Guanajuato. Diego Rivera is perhaps best known by the public world for his 1933 mural, "Man at the Crossroads," in the lobby of the RCA Building at Rockefeller Center.
- Gennady Zyuganov
Gennady Andreyevich Zyuganov or Guennady Ziuganov (born 26 June 1944) is a Russian politician, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (since 1993), deputy of the State Duma (since 1995), and a member of Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (since 1996).
- Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 - November 24, 1963) was, according to two United States government investigations, the assassin of U.S. President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. A former Marine who defected to the Soviet Union and later returned, Oswald was arrested later that day on suspicion of killing the president and Dallas police officer J. D. Tippit. Oswald denied any responsibility for the murders.
- Frida Kahlo
Frida Kahlo (July 61907 - July 13, 1954) was a Mexican painter who depicted the indigenous culture of her country in a style combining Realism, Symbolism and Surrealism. An active communist supporter, she was married to Mexican muralist and cubist painter Diego Rivera. She is widely known for her self-portraits often expressing her physical pain and suffering through symbolism. In the last three decades she has gained admiration in Europe and the US. In 2002, …
- Somnath Chatterjee
Somnath Chatterjee (born July 25, 1929 in Tezpur, Assam) is a politician in India. He is currently the Speaker of the 14th Lok Sabha (House of the people).
- George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856-2 November 1950) was an Irish dramatist, literary critic, and socialist. During his career Shaw wrote more than sixty plays. He was uniquely honoured by being awarded both a Nobel Prize (1925) for his contribution to literature and an Oscar (1938) for "Pygmalion". He was a strong advocate for socialism and women's rights, a vegetarian and teetotaller, and a harsh critic of formal education.
- Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (June 21, 1905 - April 15, 1980), normally known simply as Jean-Paul Sartre (pronounced:), was a French existentialist philosopher and pioneer, dramatist and screenwriter, novelist and critic. He was a leading figure in 20th century French philosophy.
- Angela Davis
Angela Yvonne Davis (born January 26, 1944 in Birmingham, Alabama) is an American socialist organizer, professor who was associated with the Black Panther Party (BPP) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Davis's main association however, was her membership in the Communist Party USA. She first achieved nationwide notoriety when she was linked to the murder of judge Harold Haley during an attempted Black Panther prison break; she fled underground, …
- Vo Nguyen Giap
Võ Nguyên Giáp (born circa 1911) is a Vietnamese general and statesman. Principal wars: First Indochina War (1946-1954) and Second Indochina War (1960-1975). Principal battles: Lang Son (1950); Hoa Binh (1951-1952); Dien Bien Phu (1954); Tet Offensive (1968); the Nguyen Hue Offensive (known in the West as the Easter Offensive) (1972); and the final Ho Chi Minh Campaign (1975).
- Pablo Picasso
Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish painter and sculptor. His full name was Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Clito Ruiz y Picasso. One of the most recognized figures in 20th century art, he is best known as the co-founder, along with Georges Braque, of cubism.
- Whittaker Chambers
Jay Vivian (David Whittaker) Chambers was an American writer, editor, Communist party member and spy for the Soviet Union who defected and became an outspoken opponent of communism. He is best known for his testimony about the perjury and espionage of Alger Hiss.
- Pete Seeger
Peter Seeger (born May 3, 1919), almost universally known as Pete Seeger, is a folk singer, political activist, and author. As a member of the Weavers, he had a string of hits, including a 1949 recording of Leadbelly's "Goodnight Irene" that topped the charts for 13 weeks in 1950. He was formerly a member of the Communist Party of the United States of America and a major contributor to folk and pioneer of protest music in the 1950s and the 1960s.
- Paul Robeson
Paul LeRoy Bustill Robeson (April 9, 1898 - January 23, 1976) was a multi-lingual American actor, athlete, bass-baritone concert singer, writer, civil rights activist, Communist sympathizer, Spingarn Medal winner, and Stalin Peace Prize laureate.
- Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg (June 3, 1926 - April 5 1997) was an American poet. Ginsberg is best known for "Howl" (1956), a long poem about the self-destruction of his friends of the Beat Generation and what he saw as the destructive forces of materialism and conformity in United States at the time.
- Hun Sen
Hun Sen (born April 4 1951 or August 5 1952) is the Prime Minister of Cambodia and is married to Bun Rany. He is a key leader of the Cambodian People's Party, which, has governed Cambodia in a coalition with the Funcinpec party since the restoration of multi-party democracy in 1993. The coalition was shaken by tensions between Funcinpec leader Prince Norodom Ranariddh and Hun Sen, who in 1997 launched a bloody military coup, …
- Chalmers Johnson
Chalmers Ashby Johnson is an author and professor emeritus of the University of California, San Diego. He is also president and co-founder of the Japan Policy Research Institute, an organization promoting public education about Japan and Asia. He has written numerous books including, most recently, three examinations of the consequences of American Empire, " Blowback", "The Sorrows of Empire", and "Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic".
- Yuri Andropov
Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov (February 9, 1984) was a Soviet politician and General Secretary of the CPSU from November 12, 1982 until his death just fifteen months later.
- David Alfaro Siqueiros
David Alfaro Siqueiros (December 29, 1896 in Camargo, Chihuahua, Mexico - January 6, 1974 in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico) was a painter and muralist known for his social realism work. His notable projects include his collaborative mural at the Mexican Electricians' Union (1939-40), "From Porfiriato to the Revolution" at the Museum of National History (1957-55), "March of Humanity" and the Polyforum Cultural Siqueiros on Avenida Insurgentes (1965-71), …
- Bertolt Brecht
"' (born "' February 10, 1898 - August 14, 1956) was an influential German socialist, dramatist, stage director, and poet of the 20th century.
- Josip Broz Tito
original name JOSIP BROZ, Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. He was secretary-general (later president) of the Communist Party (League of Communists) of Yugoslavia (1939-80), supreme commander of the Yugoslav Partisans (1941-45) and the Yugoslav People's Army (1945-80), and marshal (1943-80), premier (1945-53), and president (1953-80) of Yugoslavia. Tito was the chief architect of the "second Yugoslavia," a socialist federation that lasted from World War II until 1991.