We are going to know about the Famous People of Russia. This list of the top 20 Most Famous Russian People is ranked according to Pantheon’s historical popularity index (HPI).
Russia has a rich history and has produced many famous and influential individuals throughout the centuries. Here is a list of the top 20 most famous Russian people of all time, spanning various fields including literature, politics, science, and the arts.
Ranking of the Top 20 Greatest Russian People of All Time
Famous Personalities of Russia with Pictures
20. Ivan Pavlov (HPI : 80.75)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Ivan Pavlov is ranked 20th among the most famous Russian people of all time. His HPI score is 80.75, and his biography is available in 96 different languages on Wikipedia. He is ranked 2nd among the Greatest Russian scientists of all time.
Ivan Pavlov (26 September 1849 – 27 February 1936) was a Russian and Soviet experimental neurologist and physiologist known for his discovery of classical conditioning through his experiments with dogs. He is one of the most famous Russian scientists. Read more on Wikipedia
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19. Alexander Pushkin (HPI : 81.46)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Alexander Pushkin is ranked 19th among the most famous Russian people of all time. His HPI score is 81.46, and his biography is available in 160 different languages on Wikipedia. He is ranked 2nd among the Greatest Russian novelists and ranked 1st among the Greatest Russian poets of all time.
Alexander Pushkin (6 June 1799 – 10 February 1837) was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era. He is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature. He is also ranked 2nd among the Greatest Russian playwrites.
He published his first poem at the age of 15, and was widely recognized by the literary establishment by the time of his graduation from the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. Upon graduation from the Lycée, Pushkin recited his controversial poem “Ode to Liberty”, one of several that led to his exile by Emperor Alexander I.
While under strict surveillance by the Emperor’s political police and unable to publish, Pushkin wrote his most famous play, Boris Godunov. His novel in verse Eugene Onegin was serialized between 1825 and 1832.
Pushkin was fatally wounded in a duel with his wife’s alleged lover and her sister’s husband, Georges-Charles de Heeckeren d’Anthès, also known as Dantes-Gekkern, a French officer serving with the Chevalier Guard Regiment. Read more on Wikipedia
18. Leonid Brezhnev (HPI : 81.78)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Leonid Brezhnev is ranked 18th among the most famous Russian people in history. His HPI score is 81.78, and his biography is available in 111 different languages on Wikipedia. He is ranked 7th among the most famous Russian politicians.
Leonid Brezhnev (19 December 1906 – 10 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1964 until his death in 1982, and Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (head of state) from 1960 to 1964 and again from 1977 to 1982.
His 18-year term as General Secretary was second only to Joseph Stalin’s in duration. To this day, the quality of Brezhnev’s tenure as General Secretary remains debated by historians. While his rule was characterized by political stability and significant foreign policy successes, it was also marked by corruption, inefficiency, economic stagnation, and rapidly growing technological gaps with the West. Read more on Wikipedia
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17. Grigori Rasputin (HPI : 82.60)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Grigori Rasputin is ranked 17th among the most famous Russian people in history. His HPI score is 82.60, and his biography is available in 91 different languages on Wikipedia.
Grigori Rasputin (21 January 1869 – 30 December 1916) was a Russian mystic and holy man. He is best-known for having befriended the imperial family of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, through whom he gained considerable influence in the final years of the Russian Empire.
Historians often suggest that Rasputin’s scandalous and sinister reputation helped discredit the Tsarist government, thus precipitating the overthrow of the House of Romanov shortly after his assassination. Accounts of his life and influence were often based on hearsay and rumor; he remains a mysterious and captivating figure in popular culture. Read more on Wikipedia
16. Ivan the Terrible (HPI : 82.61)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Ivan the Terrible is ranked 16th among the most famous Russian people of all time. His HPI score is 82.61, and his biography is available in 101 different languages on Wikipedia.
Ivan IV Vasilyevich (25 August 1530 – 28 March 1584) commonly known as Ivan the Terrible, was Grand Prince of Moscow and Sovereign of all Russia from 1533, and the first crowned Tsar of all Russia from 1547 until his death in 1584. Read more on Wikipedia
- See also : Top 20 Most Famous French People Ever
15. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (HPI : 83.33)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is ranked 15th among the most Famous People of Russia. His HPI score is 83.33, and his biography is available in 152 different languages on Wikipedia.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He is ranked 1st among the Greatest Russian composers.
Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular concert and theatrical music in the current classical repertoire, including the ballets Swan Lake and The Nutcracker, the 1812 Overture, his First Piano Concerto, Violin Concerto, the Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy, several symphonies, and the opera Eugene Onegin. Read more on Wikipedia
14. Nicholas II (HPI : 83.34)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Nicholas II is ranked 14th among the most Famous People of Russia. His HPI score is 83.34, and his biography is available in 104 different languages on Wikipedia.
Nicholas II (18 May 1868 – 17 July 1918) was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland, ruling from 1 November 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. During his reign, Nicholas gave support to the economic and political reforms promoted by his prime ministers, Sergei Witte and Pyotr Stolypin.
He advocated modernization based on foreign loans and close ties with France, but resisted giving the new parliament (the Duma) major roles. Ultimately, progress was undermined by Nicholas’s commitment to autocratic rule, strong aristocratic opposition and defeats sustained by the Russian military in the Russo-Japanese War and World War I. By March 1917, public support for Nicholas had collapsed and he was forced to abdicate the throne, thereby ending the Romanov dynasty’s 304-year rule of Russia (1613–1917). Read more on Wikipedia
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13. Catherine the Great (HPI : 83.49)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Catherine the Great is ranked 13th among the most famous people of Russia of all time. Her HPI score is 83.49, and her biography is available in 119 different languages on Wikipedia. She is also ranked 1st among the most Famous Russian women of all time.
Catherine II (2 May 1729 – 17 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter III. Under her long reign, inspired by the ideas of the Enlightenment, Russia experienced a renaissance of culture and sciences, which led to the founding of many new cities, universities, and theatres, along with large-scale immigration from the rest of Europe and the recognition of Russia as one of the great powers of Europe. Read more on Wikipedia
12. Nikita Khrushchev (HPI : 83.74)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Nikita Khrushchev is ranked 12th among the most famous Soviet people of all time. His HPI score is 83.74, and his biography is available in 122 different languages on Wikipedia.
Nikita Khrushchev (15 April 1894 – 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and Chairman of the Council of Ministers (premier) from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev stunned the communist world with his denunciation of his predecessor Joseph Stalin’s crimes, and embarked on a policy of de-Stalinization with his key ally Anastas Mikoyan.
Nikita Khrushchev is ranked 6th among the best Russian leaders of all time. He sponsored the early Soviet space program and the enactment of moderate reforms in domestic policy. After some false starts, and a narrowly avoided nuclear war over Cuba, he conducted successful negotiations with the United States to reduce Cold War tensions. In 1964, the Kremlin leadership stripped him of power, replacing him with Leonid Brezhnev as First Secretary and Alexei Kosygin as Premier. Read more on Wikipedia
11. Anton Chekhov (HPI : 83.77)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Anton Chekhov is ranked 11th among the most famous Russian people of all time. His HPI score is 83.77, and his biography is available in 159 different languages on Wikipedia. He is also ranked 1st among the Greatest Russian playwrites, and ranked 3rd among the Greatest Russian writers.
Anton Chekhov (29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics.
Along with Henrik Ibsen and August Strindberg, Chekhov is often referred to as one of the three seminal figures in the birth of early modernism in the theatre.Chekhov was a physician by profession. “Medicine is my lawful wife”, he once said, “and literature is my mistress.” Read more on Wikipedia
Top 10 Famous Personalities of Russia
10. Boris Yeltsin (HPI : 83.89)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Boris Yeltsin is ranked 10th among the most famous Russian people of all time. His HPI score is 83.89, and his biography is available in 132 different languages on Wikipedia. Boris Yeltsin is ranked 5th among the Famous Russian politicians.
Boris Yeltsin (1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the first president of Russia from 1991 to 1999. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1961 to 1990. He later stood as a political independent, during which time he was viewed as being ideologically aligned with liberalism and Russian nationalism.
Domestically, he was highly popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s, although his reputation was damaged by the economic and political crises of his presidency, and he left office widely unpopular with the Russian population.
He received praise and criticism for his role in dismantling the Soviet Union, transforming Russia into a representative democracy, and introducing new political, economic, and cultural freedoms to the country. Conversely, he was accused of economic mismanagement, corruption, and sometimes of undermining Russia’s standing as a major world power. Read more on Wikipedia
9. Peter the Great (HPI : 83.99)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Peter the Great is ranked 9th among the most famous people of Russia of all time. His HPI score is 83.99, and His biography is available in 141 different languages on Wikipedia.
Peter I (9 June 1672 –8 February 1725), commonly known as Peter the Great, was Tsar of all Russia from 1682, and the first Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned jointly with his half-brother Ivan V until 1696. From this year, Peter was an absolute monarch who remained the ultimate authority. His methods were often harsh and autocratic.
Peter is primarily credited with the modernization of the country, transforming it into a major European power. His administrative reforms, creating a Governing Senate in 1711, the Collegium in 1717 and the Table of Ranks in 1722 had a lasting impact on Russia, and many institutions of the Russian government trace their origins to his reign. Read more on Wikipedia
8. Dmitri Mendeleev (HPI : 85.55)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Dmitri Mendeleev is ranked 8th among the most Famous People of Russia. His HPI score is 85.55, and his biography is available in 145 different languages on Wikipedia. He is ranked 1st among the most famous Russian scientists.
Dmitri Mendeleev (8 February 1834 – 2 February 1907) was a Russian chemist and inventor. He is best known for formulating the Periodic Law and creating a version of the periodic table of elements.
He used the Periodic Law not only to correct the then-accepted properties of some known elements, such as the valence and atomic weight of uranium, but also to predict the properties of three elements that were yet to be discovered (germanium, gallium and scandium). Dmitri Mendeleev is the Greatest Russian scientist of all time. Read more on Wikipedia
7. Yuri Gagarin (HPI : 85.94)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Yuri Gagarin is ranked 7th among the most Famous Soviet People. His HPI score is 85.94, and his biography is available in 160 different languages on Wikipedia.
Yuri Gagarin (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who, aboard the first successful crewed spaceflight, became the first human to journey into outer space. Travelling on Vostok 1, Gagarin completed one orbit of Earth on 12 April 1961.
By achieving this major milestone for the Soviet Union amidst the Space Race, he became an international celebrity and was awarded many medals and titles, including the nation’s highest distinction: Hero of the Soviet Union.
Vostok 1 was Gagarin’s only spaceflight, but he served as the backup crew to Soyuz 1, which ended in a fatal crash, killing his friend and fellow cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov. Fearful that a high-level national hero might be killed, Soviet officials banned Gagarin from participating in further spaceflights.
After completing training at the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy in February 1968, he was again allowed to fly regular aircraft. However, Gagarin died five weeks later, when the MiG-15 that he was piloting with flight instructor Vladimir Seryogin crashed near the town of Kirzhach. Read more on Wikipedia
6. Mikhail Gorbachev (HPI : 86.13)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Mikhail Gorbachev is ranked 6th among the most famous Russian people. His HPI score is 86.13, and His biography is available in 151 different languages on Wikipedia.
Mikhail Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the eighth and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to the country’s dissolution in 1991. Mikhail Gorbachev is ranked 4th among the Famous Russian politicians.
He served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 and additionally as head of state beginning in 1988, as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet from 1988 to 1989, Chairman of the Supreme Soviet from 1989 to 1990 and the only President of the Soviet Union from 1990 to 1991. Ideologically, Gorbachev initially adhered to Marxism–Leninism but moved towards social democracy by the early 1990s.
Gorbachev is considered one of the most significant figures of the second half of the 20th century. The recipient of a wide range of awards, including the Nobel Peace Prize, he is praised for his role in ending the Cold War, introducing new political and economic freedoms in the Soviet Union, and tolerating both the fall of Marxist–Leninist administrations in eastern and central Europe and the German reunification. Read more on Wikipedia
Top 5 Most Famous Russian People
5. Leo Tolstoy (HPI : 86.31)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Leo Tolstoy is ranked 5th among the most famous Russian people of all time. His HPI score is 86.31, and his biography is available in 177 different languages on Wikipedia. He is ranked 2nd among the Greatest Russian authors.
Leo Tolstoy (9 September 1828 – 20 November 1910) was a Russian writer regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time. He received nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature every year from 1902 to 1906 and for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901, 1902, and 1909.
In the 1870s, Tolstoy experienced a profound moral crisis, followed by what he regarded as an equally profound spiritual awakening, as outlined in his non-fiction work Confession (1882). His literal interpretation of the ethical teachings of Jesus, centering on the Sermon on the Mount, caused him to become a fervent Christian anarchist and pacifist.
His ideas on nonviolent resistance, expressed in such works as The Kingdom of God Is Within You (1894), had a profound impact on such pivotal 20th-century figures as Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Ludwig Wittgenstein. He also became a dedicated advocate of Georgism, the economic philosophy of Henry George, which he incorporated into his writing, particularly in his novel Resurrection (1899). Read more on Wikipedia
4. Fyodor Dostoevsky (HPI : 88.66)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Fyodor Dostoevsky is ranked 4th among the most popular Russian people of all time. His HPI score is 88.66, and His biography is available in 171 different languages on Wikipedia. He is ranked 1st among the Greatest Russian novelists and authors.
Fyodor Dostoevsky (11 November 1821 – 9 February 1881) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. Numerous literary critics regard him as one of the greatest novelists in all of world literature, as many of his works are considered highly influential masterpieces.
Dostoevsky’s body of work consists of thirteen novels, three novellas, seventeen short stories, and numerous other works. His writings were widely read both within and beyond his native Russia and influenced an equally great number of later writers including Russians such as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Anton Chekhov, philosophers Friedrich Nietzsche and Jean-Paul Sartre, and the emergence of Existentialism and Freudianism. His books have been translated into more than 170 languages, and served as the inspiration for many films. Read more on Wikipedia
3. Vladimir Putin (HPI – 88.82)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Vladimir Putin is ranked 3rd among the most famous Russian people in history. His HPI score is 88.82 and his biography is available in 222 different languages on Wikipedia.
Vladimir Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012. Putin has held continuous positions as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime minister from 1999 to 2000 and from 2008 to 2012, and as president from 2000 to 2008 and since 2012. Vladimir Putin is ranked 3rd among the Greatest Russian leaders of all time.
Putin is the longest-serving Russian president and the second-longest-serving European president, following Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus. Vladimir Putin is considered the most powerful leader in Russian history after Joseph Stalin. Read more on Wikipedia
2. Vladimir Lenin (HPI : 89.94)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Vladimir Lenin is ranked 2nd among the most famous Russian people of all time. His HPI score is 89.94 and his biography is available in 197 different languages on Wikipedia.
Vladimir Lenin (22 April 1870 – 21 January 1924) was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist who served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1924 and of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1924. He was the founder and leader of the Bolsheviks, which led the October Revolution that established the world’s first socialist state.
Over the course of the Russian Civil War, Lenin’s government centralised power in a one-party state governed by the Communist Party. Ideologically a Marxist, his developments of the ideology, particularly its theories of party, imperialism, the state, and revolution, are known as Leninism. Vladimir Lenin is ranked 2nd among the Greatest Russian leaders of all time.
Widely considered one of the 20th century’s most significant figures, Lenin was the subject of a posthumous personality cult within the Soviet Union until its dissolution in 1991, and under Stalin’s leadership became a figurehead of the state ideology of Marxism–Leninism, which exerted a major influence on the international communist movement.
A controversial figure with a highly divisive legacy, Lenin is viewed by his supporters as a champion of the working class whose government established soviet democracy, defended socialist ideals and introduced progressive policies which institutionalized universal education, universal healthcare, and equal rights for women. Read more on Wikipedia
1. Joseph Stalin (HPI : 90.88)
According to the Historical Popularity Index (HPI), Joseph Stalin is ranked 1st among the most famous Russian people of all time. His HPI score is 90.88, and his biography is available in 191 different languages on Wikipedia. Joseph Stalin is the Greatest Russian of all time.
Joseph Stalin (18 December 1878 – 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician, political theorist and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953, ruling as a dictator after consolidating power in the late 1920s. He served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1952, and Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 1941 to 1953.
Ideologically adhering to the Leninist interpretation of Marxism, Stalin formalised the state ideology of Marxism–Leninism, while his policies and ideological practices are commonly known as Stalinism. Joseph Stalin is considered the most powerful leader in Russian history.
Widely considered one of the 20th century’s most significant figures, Stalin was the subject of a pervasive personality cult within the international Marxist–Leninist movement, which revered him as a champion of the working class and socialism.
Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Stalin has retained some popularity (particularly in Russia and his native Georgia) as an economic moderniser and wartime leader who cemented the Soviet Union’s status as a superpower. Read more on Wikipedia
Among those included in the list, the current Russian President Vladimir Putin is the only living person while the Queen of Russia, Catherine II, is the only woman.
These twenty most famous Russian figures of all time include seven political leaders, three writers, two scientists, two kings, one queen, one prince, one poet, one composer, one cosmonaut, and one mystic.
See also
- Top 20 Most Famous American People
- Top 20 Most Famous British People
- Top 25 Most Famous Chinese People
- Top 20 Most Famous French People
- Top 20 Most Famous German People
- Top 30 Most Famous Indian People
- Top 20 Most Famous Pakistani People
- Top 20 Most Famous Russian People
About the Historical Popularity Index (HPI)
Pantheon aggregates information about individuals’ online popularity. Pantheon’s Historical Popularity Index (HPI) is currently made of five components: the “age” of a biography’s character (e.g. Ivan the Terrible is more than 490 years old), number of Wikipedia language editions in which the biography has a presence (L), the concentration of the pageviews received by a biography across languages (L*), the stability of pageviews over time (CV), and the number of non-English pageviews received by that biography.
Table of Top 20 Famous Russian People of All Time
Rank | HPI | Name | Lifespan | Profession |
1 | 90.88 | Joseph Stalin | 1878 – 1953 | Politician |
2 | 89.94 | Vladimir Lenin | 1870 – 1924 | Politician |
3 | 88.82 | Vladimir Putin | 1952 – present | Politician |
4 | 88.66 | Fyodor Dostoevsky | 1821 – 1881 | Novelist, writer and journalist |
5 | 86.31 | Leo Tolstoy | 1828 – 1910 | Writer |
6 | 86.13 | Mikhail Gorbachev | 1931 – 2022 | Politician |
7 | 85.94 | Yuri Gagarin | 1934 – 1968 | Pilot and cosmonaut |
8 | 85.55 | Dmitri Mendeleev | 1834 – 1907 | Scientist |
9 | 83.99 | Peter the Great | 1672 – 1725 | Emperor |
10 | 83.89 | Boris Yeltsin | 1931 – 2007 | Politician |
11 | 83.77 | Anton Chekhov | 1860 – 1904 | Playwright and writer |
12 | 83.74 | Nikita Khrushchev | 1894 – 1971 | Politician |
13 | 83.49 | Catherine the Great | 1729 – 1796 | Queen |
14 | 83.34 | Nicholas II | 1868 – 1918 | Emperor |
15 | 83.33 | Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky | 1840 – 1893 | Composer |
16 | 82.61 | Ivan the Terrible | 1530 – 1584 | Prince |
17 | 82.60 | Grigori Rasputin | 1869 – 1916 | Mystic and holy man |
18 | 81.78 | Leonid Brezhnev | 1906 – 1982 | Politician |
19 | 81.46 | Alexander Pushkin | 1799 – 1837 | Poet, playwright and novelist |
20 | 80.75 | Ivan Pavlov | 1849 – 1936 | Scientist |
Summary
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