Most Famous People from Russia

100 Russians in view out of 4,566

All 152,953
Russia 4,578
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin Russian Politician 1870 – 1924
#30
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin Russian Politician 1879 – 1953
#30
Fyodor Dostoevsky
Fyodor Dostoevsky Russian Novelist 1821 – 1881
#85
Leo Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy Russian Writer 1828 – 1910
#92
Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov Russian Playwright 1860 – 1904
#130
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Russian Composer 1840 – 1893
#131
Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky Russian Politician 1879 – 1940
#146
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev Russian Politician Born 1931
#147
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin Russian Politician Born 1952
#154
Alexander Pushkin
Alexander Pushkin Russian Poet 1799 – 1837
#275
Catherine the Great
Catherine the Great Russian Empress 1729 – 1796
#346
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II of Russia Russian Emperor 1868 – 1918
#372
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Brezhnev Russian Politician 1906 – 1982
#405
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev Russian Politician 1894 – 1971
#420
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky Russian Composer 1882 – 1971
#425
Rosa Luxemburg
Rosa Luxemburg Russian Philosopher 1871 – 1919
#479
Yuri Gagarin
Yuri Gagarin Russian Cosmonaut 1934 – 1968
#508
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Russian Writer 1918 – 2008
#517
Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova Russian Player Born 1987
#554
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin Russian Politician 1931 – 2007
#564
Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall Russian Painter 1887 – 1985
#601
Georgy Zhukov
Georgy Zhukov Russian Militar 1896 – 1974
#754
Nikolai Gogol
Nikolai Gogol Russian Novelist 1809 – 1852
#762
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Rachmaninoff Russian Composer 1873 – 1943
#773
MB
Mikhail Bulgakov Russian Novelist 1891 – 1940
#797
Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Prokofiev Russian Composer 1891 – 1953
#819
Maxim Gorky
Maxim Gorky Russian Writer 1868 – 1936
#828
Dmitri Mendeleev
Dmitri Mendeleev Russian Chemist 1834 – 1907
#851
Grigori Rasputin
Grigori Rasputin Russian Mystic 1869 – 1916
#919
Ivan the Terrible
Ivan the Terrible Russian Prince 1530 – 1584
#949
Mikhail Bakunin
Mikhail Bakunin Russian Revolutionary 1814 – 1876
#1,034
Andrei Tarkovsky
Andrei Tarkovsky Russian Film 1932 – 1986
#1,036
Sergei Eisenstein
Sergei Eisenstein Russian Film 1898 – 1948
#1,063
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Russian Composer 1844 – 1908
#1,065
Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II of Russia Russian Emperor 1818 – 1881
#1,070
Ivan Pavlov
Ivan Pavlov Russian Chemist 1849 – 1936
#1,076
Vladimir Mayakovsky
Vladimir Mayakovsky Russian Artist 1893 – 1930
#1,108
Alexander III of Russia
Alexander III of Russia Russian Aristocrat 1845 – 1894
#1,255
Anna Akhmatova
Anna Akhmatova Russian Writer 1889 – 1966
#1,259
Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman Russian Activist 1868 – 1940
#1,267
Ivan Bunin
Ivan Bunin Russian Writer 1870 – 1953
#1,301
Ivan Turgenev
Ivan Turgenev Russian Writer 1818 – 1883
#1,302
Vyacheslav Molotov
Vyacheslav Molotov Russian Politician 1890 – 1986
#1,377
Józef Piłsudski
Józef Piłsudski Russian Politician 1867 – 1935
#1,403
Ilya Repin
Ilya Repin Russian Painter 1844 – 1930
#1,503
Anna Netrebko
Anna Netrebko Russian Opera Born 1971
#1,625
Rudolf Nureyev
Rudolf Nureyev Russian Ballet 1938 – 1993
#1,658
HB
Helena Blavatsky Russian Occultist 1831 – 1891
#1,672
Lev Vygotsky
Lev Vygotsky Russian Philosopher 1896 – 1934
#1,687
Lavrentiy Beria
Lavrentiy Beria Russian Politician 1899 – 1953
#1,697
Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia
Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia Russian Tsar 1901 – 1918
#1,702
Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Karpov Russian Chess Born 1951
#1,820
Alfred Rosenberg
Alfred Rosenberg Russian Nazi 1893 – 1946
#1,832
Alexandra Feodorovna (Alix of Hesse)
Alexandra Feodorovna (Alix of Hesse) Russian Consort 1872 – 1918
#1,833
Ivan Aivazovsky
Ivan Aivazovsky Russian Painter 1817 – 1900
#1,841
Mikhail Lomonosov
Mikhail Lomonosov Russian Astronomer 1711 – 1765
#1,866
Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I of Russia Russian Emperor 1796 – 1855
#1,958
Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Mussorgsky Russian Composer 1839 – 1881
#2,062
Aram Khachaturian
Aram Khachaturian Russian Composer 1903 – 1978
#2,290
Sergei Yesenin
Sergei Yesenin Russian Poet 1895 – 1925
#2,338
Yuri Andropov
Yuri Andropov Russian Politician 1914 – 1984
#2,339
Mikhail Sholokhov
Mikhail Sholokhov Russian Writer 1905 – 1984
#2,391
Yevgeny Yevtushenko
Yevgeny Yevtushenko Russian Poet 1932 – 2017
#2,918
Nestor Makhno
Nestor Makhno Russian Revolutionary 1888 – 1934
#3,105
Élie Metchnikoff
Élie Metchnikoff Russian Biologist 1845 – 1916
#3,123
Chinghiz Aitmatov
Chinghiz Aitmatov Russian Author 1928 – 2008
#3,211
Mikhail Glinka
Mikhail Glinka Russian Composer 1804 – 1857
#3,266
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky Russian Aerospace 1857 – 1935
#3,442
Andrei Gromyko
Andrei Gromyko Russian Politician 1909 – 1989
#3,453
Vladimir Zhirinovsky
Vladimir Zhirinovsky Russian Nationalist Born 1946
#3,675
Dima Bilan
Dima Bilan Russian Singer Born 1981
#3,859
Mikheil Saakashvili
Mikheil Saakashvili Russian Politician Born 1967
#3,866
Georgy Malenkov
Georgy Malenkov Russian Politician 1901 – 1988
#3,916
Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy
Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy Russian Playwright 1883 – 1945
#3,958
Valentina Tereshkova
Valentina Tereshkova Russian Astronaut Born 1937
#4,013
NC
Nikolay Chernyshevsky Russian Novelist 1828 – 1889
#4,044
Georgi Plekhanov
Georgi Plekhanov Russian Philosopher 1856 – 1918
#4,054
Kliment Voroshilov
Kliment Voroshilov Russian Politician 1881 – 1969
#4,102
Felix Dzerzhinsky
Felix Dzerzhinsky Russian Politician 1877 – 1926
#4,131
Vitus Bering
Vitus Bering Russian Explorer 1681 – 1741
#4,270
SR
Sviatoslav Richter Russian Composer 1915 – 1997
#4,367
Fyodor Tyutchev
Fyodor Tyutchev Russian Writer 1803 – 1873
#4,456
Nikolay Nekrasov
Nikolay Nekrasov Russian Poet 1821 – 1878
#4,464
Sergei Diaghilev
Sergei Diaghilev Russian Art Critic 1872 – 1929
#4,510
El Lissitzky
El Lissitzky Russian Painter 1890 – 1941
#4,515
Anton Denikin
Anton Denikin Russian Officer 1872 – 1947
#4,627
Boris Nemtsov
Boris Nemtsov Russian Politician 1959 – 2015
#4,642
Sholem Aleichem
Sholem Aleichem Russian Playwright 1859 – 1916
#4,773
AK
Andrey Kolmogorov Russian Mathematician 1903 – 1987
#4,969
Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin
Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin Russian Writer 1826 – 1889
#4,976
Pyotr Kapitsa
Pyotr Kapitsa Russian Physicist 1894 – 1984
#5,008
Mikhail Vrubel
Mikhail Vrubel Russian Painter 1856 – 1910
#5,083
Catherine I of Russia
Catherine I of Russia Russian Sovereign 1684 – 1727
#5,186
Aleksandr Kuprin
Aleksandr Kuprin Russian Writer 1870 – 1938
#5,390
Chaim Soutine
Chaim Soutine Russian Painter 1893 – 1943
#5,392
Anton Rubinstein
Anton Rubinstein Russian Composer 1829 – 1894
#5,395
Mikhail Tukhachevsky
Mikhail Tukhachevsky Russian Militar 1893 – 1937
#5,468
Alexander Nevsky
Alexander Nevsky Russian Saint 1220 – 1263
#5,497
Feodor Chaliapin
Feodor Chaliapin Russian Singer 1873 – 1938
#5,601
Alfred Schnittke
Alfred Schnittke Russian Composer 1934 – 1998
#5,610

By the numbers

Inside Russia

4,578 notable people in this slice of the dataset.

Through the Centuries

One face per century — the most globally famous figure born in Russia during each.

Notable Births by Decade

Notable births in Russia peaked in the 1950s with 363 people.

What Russia Is Known For

Click any row to drill into that filter.

Sports is Russia's biggest group — 27% of all notables (1,252).

Russia over-indexes on exploration — 3.8× the global rate.

Russia under-produces religion — only 0.3× the global rate.

  1. Sports1,252
  2. Writing630
  3. Politics & Law568
  4. Military489
  5. Science443
  6. Other299
  7. Film & TV246
  8. Art & Design218
  1. Exploration883.8×
  2. Military4892.5×
  1. Religion830.3×
  2. Politics & Law5680.6×

Profession Mix Over Time

Each band shows a profession family's share of Russia's notable births by decade. Hover the chart for the breakdown at any decade.

15001550160016501700175018001850190019502000
  • Sports
  • Writing
  • Politics & Law
  • Military
  • Science
  • Film & TV
  • Other

Top Cities

Biggest birthplaces in this slice — click any to explore.