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Jiang Qing

(Encyclopedia)Jiang Qing or Chiang Ch'ing both: jyäng jĭng [key], 1914–91, Chinese Communist political leader, wife of Mao Zedong. Born Li Jinhai or Li Shumeng, she was later known as Li Yunhe and Li He and cha...

Kamenev, Lev Borisovich

(Encyclopedia)Kamenev, Lev Borisovich lyĕf bərēˈsəvĭch käˈmĭnyĭf [key], 1883–1936, Soviet Communist leader. His original name was Rosenfeld. He joined (1901) the Social Democratic party and sided with t...

Hu Jintao

(Encyclopedia)Hu Jintao ho͞oˈ jĭnˈtouˈ [key], 1942–, Chinese political leader, b. Jixi, Anhui prov. A hydroelectric engineering graduate (1965) of Tsinghua Univ., he joined the Chinese Communist party in 196...

Andropov, Yuri Vladimirovich

(Encyclopedia)Andropov, Yuri Vladimirovich yo͞oˈrē vlədyēˈmĭravĭch əndrôˈpôf [key], 1914–84, Soviet Communist leader (1982–84). As ambassador to Hungary from 1954 to 1957, he played a major role in ...

Jiang Zemin

(Encyclopedia)Jiang Zemin jyängˈ zŭˈmĭnˈ [key], 1926–2022, Chinese government official, general secretary of ...

August Coup

(Encyclopedia)August Coup, attempted coup (Aug. 18–22, 1991) against Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. On the eve of the signing ceremony for a new union treaty for the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, memb...

Bo Xilai

(Encyclopedia)Bo Xilai, 1949–, Chinese political leader. The son of Bo Yibo, a Communist revolutionary leader, he joined the Communist party in 1980. Bo studied history at Peking Univ. and earned (1982) a master'...

Zhao Ziyang

(Encyclopedia)Zhao Ziyang or Chao Tzu-yang both: zhou zēyäng [key], 1919–2005, Chinese Communist leader. He joined the party in 1938, was active as a local party leader during World War II, and by the 1960s was...

Gierek, Edward

(Encyclopedia)Gierek, Edward gyĕˈrĕk [key], 1913–2001, Polish politician, b. Porąbka. His family emigrated to France, where he was raised. He joined the French Communist party in 1931 and was later deported t...

Nazarbayev, Nursultan

(Encyclopedia)Nazarbayev, Nursultan no͝orso͝oltänˈ näzˌərbīˈəf [key], 1940–, Kazakh politician, president of Kazakhstan (1991–2019). Trained as a metallurgical engineer, he was employed at the Karagan...

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