This is a list of the major figures of the ideology and politics of Communism who are so self-identified. It does not include figures of Evolutionary Socialism or Anarcho-socialism, who also accepted some of Marx's tenets. For a broader list of all socialists, see List of socialists.

• Man Mohan Adhikari (1920-1999, Nepal)
• Julio Anguita (1941-, Spain)
• Bob Avakian (1947-, USA)
• Hardial Bains (1939-1997, Canada)
• Vladimir Bakarić (1912-1983, Yugoslavia)
• Jyoti Basu (1914-, India)
• Lavrenty Beria (1899-1953, USSR)
• Enrico Berlinguer (1922-1984, Italy)
• Norman Bethune (1890-1939, Canada)
• Bolesław Bierut (1892-1956, Poland)
• Maurice Bishop (1944-1983, Grenada)
• Amadeo Bordiga (1889-1970, Italy)
• Earl Browder (1891-1973, USA)
• Tim Buck (1891-1973, Canada)
• Nikolai Bukharin (1888-1938, USSR)
• James P. Cannon (1890-1974, USA)
• Santiago Carrillo (1918-, Spain)
• Carlos Carvalhas (1941, Portugal)
• Michel Chartrand (1916-, Canada)
• James Connolly (1868-1916, Ireland)
• Pushpa Kamal Dahal (b. ?, Nepal)
• Angela Davis (1944-, USA)
• Eugene Dennis (1905-1961, USA)
• Milovan Đilas (1911-1997, Yugoslavia)
• Aleksandr Dugin (1962-, Russia)
• Rajani Palme Dutt (1896-1974, United Kingdom)
• Friedrich Engels (1820-1895, Germany)
• Leslie Feinberg
• William Z. Foster (1891-1961, USA)
• William Gallacher (1881-1965, United Kingdom)
• John Gates (1913-, USA)
• Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937, Italy)
• Ted Grant (1913-, United Kingdom)
• Che Guevara (1928-1967, Argentina)
• Abimael Guzmán (1934-, Peru)
• Gus Hall (1910-2000, USA)
• Chris Hani (1942-1993, South Africa)
• Hu Jintao (1942-, PRC)
• Robert Hue (1946-, France)
• Dolores Ibárruri (1895-1989, Spain)
• Jiang Zemin (1926-, PRC)
• Lazar Kaganovich (1893-1991, USSR)
• Edvard Kardelj (1910-1979, Yugoslavia)
• Daniel De Leon (1852-1914, USA)
• Karl Liebknecht (1871-1919, Germany)
• Luigi Longo (1900-1980, Italy)
• Jay Lovestone (1897-1990, USA)
• Rosa Luxemburg (1870-1919, Germany)
• Mao Zedong (1893-1976, PRC)
• A.A. MacLeod (Canada)
• Georgy Malenkov (1902-1988, USSR)
• Georges Marchais (1920-1997, France)
• Sam Marcy (1911-1998, USA)
• Karl Marx (1818-1883, Germany)
• Govan Mbeki (1910-2001, South Africa)
• Anastas Mikoyan (1895-1978, USSR)
• Vyacheslav Molotov (1890-1986, USSR)
• E. M. S. Namboodiripad (1909-1998, India)
• Dorise Nielson (1902-1980, Canada)
• Abdullah Öcalan (1949-, Turkey)
• Sylvia Pankhurst (1882-1960, United Kingdom)
• Anton Pannekoek (1873-1960, Netherlands)
• Ana Pauker (1893-1960, Romania)
• Jacob Penner (1880-1965, Canada)
• Phil Piratin (1907-, United Kingdom)
• Harry Pollitt (1890-1960, United Kingdom)
• Luís Carlos Prestes (1898-1990, Brazil)
• Fernando Rosas (1946-, Portugal)
• Fred Rose, (1907-1983), Canada)
• J.B. Salsberg (1903-1998, Canada)
• Max Shachtman (1904-1972, USA)
• Joe Slovo (1926-1995, South Africa)
• Maurice Spector (1898-1968, Canada)
• Ta Mok (1926-, Cambodia)
• Leon Trotsky (1879-1936, USSR)
• Yusuf Salman Yusuf (1901-1949, Iraq)

Leaders of Communist parties and states claiming a communist ideology

• Yuri Andropov (1914-1984, USSR)
• Leonid Brezhnev (1906-1982, USSR)
• Fidel Castro (1926-, Cuba)
• Nicolae Ceausescu (1918-1989, Romania)
• Konstantin Chernenko (1911-1985, USSR)
• Horloogiyn Choybalsan (1895-1952, Mongolia)
• Álvaro Cunhal (1913-, Portugal)
• Deng Xiaoping (1904-1997, PRC)
• Georgi Dimitrov (1882-1949, Bulgaria)
• Edward Gierek (1913-2001, Poland)
• Władysław Gomułka (1905-1982, Poland)
• Mikhail Gorbachev (1930-, USSR)
• Klement Gottwald (1896-1953, Czechoslovakia)
• Erich Honecker (1912-1994, GDR)
• Enver Hoxha (1908-1985, Albania)
• Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969, Vietnam)
• Gustáv Husák (1913-1991, Czechoslovakia)
• Wojciech Jaruzelski (1923-, Poland)
• János Kádár (1912-1989, Hungary)
• Babrak Karmal (1929-1996, Afghanistan)
• Kaysone Phomvihan (1920-1992, Laos)
• Nikita Khrushchev (1894-1971, USSR)
• Kim Il-sung (1912-1994, DPRK)
• Kim Jong-il (1942-, DPRK)
• Béla Kun (1886-1939, Hungary)
• Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924, USSR)
• Agostinho Neto (1922-1979, Angola)
• Pol Pot (1925-1998, Cambodia)
• Mátyás Rákosi (1892-1971, Hungary)
• Joseph Stalin (1879-1953, USSR)
• Josip Broz Tito (1892-1980, SFRY)
• Ernst Thälmann (1886-1944, Germany)
• Maurice Thorez (1900-1964, France)
• Palmiro Togliatti (1893-1964, Italy)
• Yumjaagiyn Tsedenbal (1916-1991, Mongolia)
• Walter Ulbricht (1893-1973, Germany)
• Todor Zhivkov (1911-1998, Bulgaria)
• Gennady Zyuganov (1944-, Russian Federation)

See also

• List of Anarchists
• List of Trotskyists
• List of socialists