HISTORICAL FIGURES: Rulers of Russia; Leaders of the USSR 
and Russian Federation

First ruler to consolidate Slavic tribes was Rurik, leader 
of the Russians who established himself at Novgorod, A.D. 
862. He and his immediate successors had Scandinavian 
affiliations. They moved to Kiev after 972 and ruled as 
Dukes of Kiev. In 988 Vladimir was converted and adopted the 
Byzantine Greek Orthodox service, later modified by Slav 
influences. Important as organizer and lawgiver was 
Yaroslav, 1019-1054, whose daughters married kings of 
Norway, Hungary, and France. His grandson, Vladimir II 
(Monomakh), 1113-1125, was progenitor of several rulers, but 
in 1169 Andrew Bogolubski overthrew Kiev and began the line 
known as Grand Dukes of Vladimir.

Of the Grand Dukes of Vladimir, Alexander Nevsky, 1246-1263, 
had a son, Daniel, first to be called Duke of Muscovy 
(Moscow), who ruled 1294-1303. His successors became Grand 
Dukes of Muscovy. After Dmitri III Donskoi defeated the 
Tatars in 1380, they also became Grand Dukes of all Russia. 
Independence of the Tatars and considerable territorial 
expansion were achieved under Ivan III, 1462-1505.

Tsars of Muscovy-Ivan III was referred to in church ritual 
as Tsar. He married Sofia, niece of the last Byzantine 
emperor. His successor, Basil III, died in 1533 when Basil's 
son Ivan was only 3. He became Ivan IV, "the Terrible"; 
crowned 1547 as Tsar of all the Russias, ruled until 1584. 
Under the weak rule of his son, Feodor I, 1584-1598, Boris 
Godunov had control. The dynasty died, and after years of 
tribal strife and intervention by Polish and Swedish armies, 
the Russians united under 17-year-old Michael Romanov, 
distantly related to the first wife of Ivan IV. He ruled 
1613-1645 and established the Romanov line. Fourth ruler 
after Michael was Peter I.

Tsars, or Emperors, of Russia (R)omanovs)-Peter I, 1682-
1725, known as Peter the Great, took title of Emperor in 
1721. His successors and dates of accession were: Catherine, 
his widow, 1725; Peter II, his grandson, 1727; Anne, Duchess 
of Courland, 1730, daughter of Peter the Great's brother, 
Tsar Ivan V; Ivan VI, 1740, great-grandson of Ivan V, child, 
kept in prison and murdered 1764; Elizabeth, daughter of 
Peter I, 1741; Peter III, grandson of Peter I, 1761, deposed 
1762 for his consort, Catherine II, former princess of 
Anhalt Zerbst (Germany) who is known as Catherine the Great; 
Paul I, her son, 1796, killed 1801; Alexander I, son of 
Paul, 1801, defeated Napoleon; Nicholas I, his brother, 
1825; Alexander II, son of Nicholas, 1855, assassinated 1881 
by terrorists; Alexander III, son, 1881. Nicholas II, son, 
1894-1917, last Tsar of Russia, was forced to abdicate by 
the Revolution that followed losses to Germany in WWI. The 
Tsar, the Empress, the Tsarevich (Crown Prince), and the 
Tsar's 4 daughters were murdered by the Bolsheviks in 
Yekaterinburg, July 16, 1918.

Provisional Government-Prince Georgi Lvov and Alexander 
Kerensky, premiers, 1917.

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Bolshevik Revolution, Nov. 7, 1917, removed Kerensky from 
power; council of People's Commissars formed, Lenin 
(Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov) became premier. Lenin died Jan. 
21, 1924. Aleksei Rykov (executed 1938) and V. M. Molotov 
held the office, but actual ruler was Joseph Stalin (Joseph 
Vissarionovich Djugashvili), general secretary of the 
Central Committee of the Communist Party. Stalin became 
president of the Council of Ministers (premier) May 7, 1941, 
died Mar. 5, 1953. Succeeded by Georgi M. Malenkov, as head 
of the Council and premier, and Nikita S. Khrushchev, first 
secretary of the Central Committee. Malenkov resigned Feb. 
8, 1955, became deputy premier, was dropped July 3, 1957. 
Marshal Nikolai A. Bulganin became premier Feb. 8, 1955; was 
demoted and Khrushchev became premier Mar. 27, 1958.

Khrushchev was ousted Oct. 14-15, 1964, replaced by Leonid 
I. Brezhnev as first secretary of the party and by Aleksei 
N. Kosygin as premier. On June 16, 1977, Brezhnev also took 
office as president. He died Nov. 10, 1982; 2 days later the 
Central Committee elected former KGB head Yuri V. Andropov 
president. Andropov died Feb. 9, 1984; on Feb. 13, 
Konstantin U. Chernenko chosen by Central Committee as its 
general secretary. Chernenko died Mar. 10, 1985; on Mar. 11, 
he was succeeded as general secretary by Mikhail Gorbachev, 
who replaced Andrei Gromyko as president on Oct. 1, 1988. 
Gorbachev resigned Dec. 25, 1991, and the Soviet Union 
officially disbanded the next day. A loose Commonwealth of 
Independent States, made up of most of the 15 former Soviet 
constituent republics, was created.

Post-Soviet Russia

After adopting a degree of sovereignty, the Russian Republic 
had held elections in June 1991. Boris Yeltsin was sworn in, 
July 10, 1991, as Russia's first elected president. With the 
Dec. 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia 
(officially Russian Federation) became a founding member of 
the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Author not available, HISTORICAL FIGURES: Rulers of Russia; Leaders of the USSR. , The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2000, 01-01-1999.

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin