List of Russians
This article is part of theHistory of Russia series. |
Early Russian East Slavs |
Kievan Rus' |
Khazaria |
Muscovy |
Mongol invasion of Russia |
Imperial Russia and Russian Tsars |
Russian Revolution |
Russian Civil War |
Soviet Union |
Warsaw Pact |
Collapse of the Soviet Union |
Commonwealth of Independent States |
History of post-communist Russia |
List of famous Russians |
Artists
- Nikolay Andreyevich Andreyev (1873 - 1932), sculptor, graphic artist and stage designer
- Mikhail Konstantinovich Anikushin (born 1917), sculptor
- Mark Zakharovich Shagal (1887 - 1985), painter
- Carl Fabergé (1846 - 1920), jewelery designer
- Isaak Levitan (1860 - 1900), landscape painter
- Vera Ignat'evna Mukhina (1889 - 1953), sculptress
- Alexander O. Nikulin (1878 - 1945), painter
- Andrei Rublev (circa 1360 - 1430), painter
- Valentin Aleksandrovich Serov (1865 - 1911), painter
- Vasily Andreevich Tropinin (1776 - 1857), painter
- Ivan Yakovlevich Vishnyakov (1699 - 1761), painter
Authors
- Andrey Bely (1880 - 1934), poet and author
- Isaak Babel, (1894-1940), author
- Mikhail Bulgakov, (1891-1940), playwright and author
- Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin (1870 - 1953), First Russian Nobel Prize Winner
- Anton Chekhov (1860 - 1904), playwright
- Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1821 - 1881), Brothers Karamazov - Crime and Punishment
- Ilya Gregoryevich Ehrenburg (1891 - 1947), novelist and WWII war correspondent
- Nikolai Gogol (1809 - 1852), author, Dead Souls
- Ivan Alexandrovich Goncharov (1812 - 1891), Oblomov
- Maxim Gorky (1868 - 1936)
- Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov (1814 - 1841), poet, author and painter
- Nikolai Leskov (1831 - 1895), storyteller, novelist, and journalist
- Nikolai Ogaryov (1813 - 1877), author
- Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov (1711 - 1765), linguistic reformer
- Vladimir Nabokov (1899 - 1977), wrote first in Russian, then in English, author of Lolita
- Boris Pasternak (1890 - 1960), refused Nobel Prize, Doctor Zhivago
- Aleksandr Pushkin, (1799 - 1837), Russian poet
- Alexander Radishchev (1749-1802), social critic
- Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, (1826 - 1889), Russian novelist
- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (born 1918), Nobel Prize for Literature
- Leo Tolstoy (1828 - 1910) War and Peace, Anna Karenina
- Yevgeny Zamyatin (1884 - 1937), author of We
Performing Arts
- Mikhail Baryshnikov (born 1948), ballet dancer
- Sergei Bondarchuk (1920 - 1994), film director
- Boris Bruinov (1922 - 1997), actor
- Serge Diaghilev (1872 - 1929), ballet impresario
- Sergei Eisenstein (1898 - 1948), film director
- Nikita Mikhalkov (born 1945), actor, director, producer, writer, and politician
- Ivan Novikoff (1899 - 2002), ballet master
- Rudolf Nureyev (1938 - 1993), ballet dancer
- Anna Pavlova (1882 - 1931), ballerina
- Alexander Lukich Ptushko (1882 - 1931), film director
- Konstantin Sergeyevich Stanislavsky (1868 - 1938), actor
- Galina Sergeyevna Ulanova (1910 - 1988), ballerina
Poets:
(who wrote much of their poetry in the Russian language)
- Anna Akhmatova (1889 - 1966), poet
- Valeri Bryusov (1873 - 1924), poet, novelist, critic
- Denis Davydov (1784 - 1839), poet
- Osip Mandelstam, (1891 - 1938), (also spelt Mandelshtam), Russian poet
- Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893 - 1930), poet
- Aleksandr Pushkin, (1799 - 1837), Russian poet
- Marina Tsvetaeva, (1892 - 1941), Russian poet
- Yevgeny Yevtushenko, (born 1933), Russian novelist
Inventors:
- Zhores Ivanovich Alferov (born 1930), physicist
- Pyotr Kozmitch Frolov (1775 - 1839), mining engineer and inventor
- Sergey Vladimirovich Ilyushiin (1894 - 1977), aircraft constructor
- Nikolai Kibalchich (1853 - 1881)
- Sergei Pavlovich Korolev (1907 - 1966), rocket engineer and designer, "Father of the space program"
- Alexander Stepanovitch Popov (1859 - 1906), Russia's Marconi
- Alexandr Mikhailovich Prokhorov (1916 - 2002), physicist, Nobel Prize for Physics 1964
- Boris Lwowitsch Rosing (1869 - 1933)
- Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky (1889 - 1972), helicopter and aircraft designer
- Pavel Osipovich Sukhoi (1895 - 1975), aircraft constructor and designer
- Leon Theremin (Lev Sergeivitch Termen) (1896 - 1993), inventor of one of the first electronic musical instruments, the Theremin
- Konstantin Eduardovitch Tsiolkovsky, (1857 - 1935), rocket scientist and pioneer of astronautics
- Andrei Nicholayevich Tupolev, (1888 - 1972), aircraft designer and builder
- Vladimir Kosma Zworykin (1899 - 1982), physicist and electrical engineer
Explorers:
- Vitus Bering (1681 - 1741), explorer of north-western and south-western Alaska
- Semion Ivanovich Dezhnev (circa 1605 - 1673), explorer of north-eastern Asia
- Ivan Fedorov, explorer of north-western Alaska
Military:
- Pavel Ivanovich Belyayev (1925 - 1970), cosmonaut
- Georgi Timofeyevich Beregovoi (1921 - 1995), cosmonaut
- Semion Ivanovich Cheliuskin (circa 1700 - after 1760), Polar explorer, lieutenant-captain of the Russian Imperial Navy
- Lev Mikhailovich Dovator (1903 - 1941), WWII general and Hero of the Soviet Union
- Yuri Gagarin (1934 - 1968), pilot and the first human cosmonaut
- Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub (1920 - 1991), WWII fighter pilot , trice Hero of the Soviet Union
- Sigizmund Aleksandrovich Levanevsky (1902 - 1937), aircraft pilot, among the first to receive the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union
- Anatoly Vasilyevich Liapidevsky 1908 - 1983), aircraft pilot, among the first to receive the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union
- Pavel Stepanovich Nakhimov (1802 - 1855), admiral
- Isai Ivanovich Panfilov (1893 - 1941), WWII general and Hero of the Soviet Union
- Aleksandr Ivanovich Pokryshkin (b.1913), WWII fighter pilot, trice Hero of the Soviet Union
- Victor Vasilyevich Talalikhin (1918 - 1941), WWII lieutentant and Hero of the Soviet Union
- Andrey Vlasov (1900 - 1946), Red Army general turned Nazi collaborator and the commander of volunteer Russian forces (ROA,"Russian Liberation Army") of the German army during WWII
- Mikhail Vasilyevich Vodopianov (1899 - 1975), aircraft pilot, among the first to receive the title of the Hero of the Soviet Union
- Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov (1881 - 1969), marshal and politician
- Pyotr Klimentyevich Voroshilov (1914 - 1984), Red Army leader and commander
- Georgi Konstantinovich Zhukov (1896 - 1974), marshal, chief of general staff of the Red Army and representative of STAVKA, four times Hero of the Soviet Union
Musicians/Composers:
(many of them of different ethnic background, but who were/are citizens of Russia and/or the Soviet Union)- Alexander Borodin, (1833 - 1887), Russian composer
- Feodor Chaliapin (1873 - 1938), (French spelling of Russian first name Shaliapin) - opera singer, bass
- Cesar Cui (1835 - 1918),
- Valeri Gergiev (born 1953), pianist, conductor
- Alexander Glazounov (1865?1936), composer
- Reinhold Moritzovich Gliere (1875 - 1956), composer
- Mikhail Glinka (1804 - 1857), composer of Russlan and Ludmilla
- Nikolai Semyonovich Golovanov (1891 - 1953), conductor
- Emil Grygoryevich Gilels (1916 - 1985), pianist
- Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky (1904 - 1987)
- Aram Ilyich Katchaturian (1903 - 1978)
- Lena Katina (born 1984) and Yulia Volkova (born 1985), members of t.A.T.u
- Kyril Kondrashin (1914 - 1981), conductor
- Leonid Kogan (1924 - 1982), violinist
- Viktoria Mullova (born 1959), violinist
- Modest Mussorgsky (1839 - 1881), composer of Boris Godunov
- David Oistrakh (1908 - 1974), violinist
- Igor Davidovich Oistrakh (born 1931), violinist
- Sergei Prokofiev (1891 - 1953), composer
- Sergei Rachmaninov (1873 - 1943),
- Sviatoslav Richter (1915 - 1997), pianist
- Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844 - 1908), composer
- Mstislav Rostropovich (born 1927), cellist and conductor
- Nikolai Grigoryevich Rubinstein (1835 - 1881), pianist, conductor and composer
- Vasily Ilyich Safonov (1852 - 1918), composer and music educator
- Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin (1871 - 1915), composer and pianist
- Dmitri Shostakovich (1906 - 1975), composer
- Igor Stravinsky, (1882 - 1971), Russian composer
- Sergey Taneyev (1856 - 1915), composer
- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893), composer
- Grigory Vasilyevich (1915 - 1998), composer
Politicians:
- Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov, (1914 - 1984), general secretary of the communist party of the USSR (November 12, 1982 - February 9, 1984)
- Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin, (1888 - 1938), Bolshevik party leader, Soviet statesman
- Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko, (1911 - 1985), general secretary of the communist party of the USSR
- Boris Godunov (1551 - 1605), tzar
- Mikhail Gorbachev (born 1931), general secretary of the communist party and president of the USSR, Nobel Prize winner
- Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko (1908 - 1989), "Cold War" Foreign Minister of the USSR
- Nikita Khrushchev, (1894 - 1971), general secretary of the communist party of the USSR and head of state
- Vladimir Lenin, (1870 - 1924), Bolshevik party leader and the first Soviet head of state
- Vladimir Putin (born 1952), president of Russia
- Joseph Stalin, (1879 - 1953), (a pseudonym) - Soviet leader
- Leon Trotsky, (1879 - 1940), (a pseudonym) - Russian Revolution leader
- Boris Yeltsin, (born 1931), President of Russia 1991-1999
Philosopherss
- Mikhail Bakunin (1814 - 1876), anarchist
- Nicolas Berdyaev (1874- 1948), philosopher of religion and politics
- Peter Kropotkin (1842 - 1921), anarchist
- Peter D. Ouspensky (1878 - 1947), author of In Search of the Miraculous and Tertium Organum
Royal Family
- Ivan III of Russia, "Ivan the Great", (1440-1505)
- Ivan IV of Russia, "Ivan the Terrible", (1530 - 1584)
- Peter I of Russia, "Peter the Great", (1672 - 1725)
- Alexander I of Russia, "Alexandet I the Blessed" (1777 - 1825), Russian, Polish ruler
- Alexander II of Russia, "Alexander II the Liberator" (1818 - 1881)
- Alexander III of Russia, "Alexander III the Peacemaker" (1845 - 1894)
- Alexandra of Russia, (1872 - 1918)
- Princess Brassova, (1880 - 1952)
- Nicholas I of Russia, "Nicolas I the Unforgettable" (1825 - 1831)
- Nicholas II of Russia, "Nicholas II the Bloody" (1868 - 1918)
- Anastasia Nicolaievna Romanova, (1901 - 1918)
- Maria Nicolaievna Romanova, (1899 - 1918)
- Marie Fyodorovna Romanova, (1848 - 1928)
- Olga Nicolaievna Romanova, (1895 - 1918)
- Olga Alexandrovna Romanova, (1882 - 1960)
- Tatiana Nicolaievna Romanova, (1897 - 1918)
- Mikhail Alexandrovich Romanov (1878 - 1918), Grand Duke
- Aleksey I of Russia, "Alexey Michailovich the Quietest" (1629 - 1676)
- Catherine I of Russia, (1683 - 1727)
- Peter III of Russia, (1728 - 1762)
- Catherine II of Russia, "Catherine the Great" (1729 - 1796)
- Paul I of Russia (1754 - 1801)
- Alexius Petrovich, (1690 - 1718)
- Elizabeth of Russia, (1709-1761)
Scientists and Mathematicans
- Pafnuti Lvovich Chebyshev (1821 - 1894), mathematician
- Pavel Alekseyevich Cherenkov (1904 - 1990), physicist
- Il'ja Mikhailovich Frank (1908 - 1990), physicist
- Alexander Naumovich Frumkin (1895 - 1976), electrochemist
- Vladimir Mikhailovich Komarov (1927 - 1967), cosmonaut
- Andrey Nikolaevich Kolmogorov (1903 - 1987), mathematician
- Sofia Vasilyevna Kovalevskaya, (1850-1891), mathematician
- Lev Davidovich Landau (1908 - 1968), physicist and mathematician
- Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky - (1792 - 1856), mathematician
- Aleksandr Mikhailovich Lyapunov (1857 - 1918), mathematician
- Leonid Isaakovich Mandelshtam (1879 - 1944), physicist
- Andrei Andreevich Markov (1856 - 1922), mathematician
- Dmitri Mendeleev (1834 - 1907), chemist, creator of the Periodic Table of Elements
- Gennadyi I. Nevelskoi (1813 - 1876), captain and navigator
- Igor Dmitrievich Novikov (born 1935), theoretical astrophysicist and cosmologist
- Ivan Pavlov (1849 - 1936), physician and physiologist
- Nikolay Nikolayevich Semyonov (1896 - 1986), physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize for Chemistry
- Iosif Samuilovich Shklovsky (1916 - 1985), astronomer and astrophysicist
- Yulian Vasilievich Sokhotski (1842 - 1927), mathematician
- Vladimir Andreevich Steklov (1863 - 1926) , physicist and mathematician
- Igor Yevgenyevich Tamm (1895 - 1971), physicist
- Yakov Borisovich Zel'dovich (1914 - 1987), physicist, astrophysicist and cosmologist
Sports Personalities:
- Yelena Davydova (born 1961), Olympic gymnast
- Sergei Fedorov (born 1969), NHL star
- Valery Kharlamov (1948 - 1981), Russia's most popular international ice hockey player
- Andrei Kirilenko (born 1981), NBA star
- Anna Kournikova (born 1981), Professional tennis player
- Vladimir Petrov, ice hockey player
- Yelena Shushunova (born 1969), gymnast
- Vladislav Tretiak (born 1952), ice hockey goalie
- Alexander Yakushev (born 1947), ice hockey player
- Lev Yashin (1929 - 1990), world renowned football goalkeeper
Other
- Mikhail Khodorkovsky (born 1963), businessman
- Grigori Rasputin (1872 - 1919), friar, adventurer, mystic wonder-worker
- Roman Abramovich (born 1966), businessman, 49th richest person in the Forbes list
- Garry Kasparov (born 1963), chess grandmaster
- Anatoly Karpov (born 1951), chess grandmaster


