Communist Party of the Soviet Union

Ruling political party of the Soviet Union; the sole legal and governing party of the Soviet Union until 1990.

Renamed from All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) at the 19th Congress in October 1952, last under Joseph Stalin's leadership.

The party was outlawed under Russian president Boris Yeltsin's decree on 6 November 1991, citing the August 1991 Soviet coup attempt as a reason. The de facto successor of the CPSU in the post-Soviet space is the party federation Union of Communist Parties – Communist Party of the Soviet Union, led by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.

De facto presiding Secretary of the Central Committee: Joseph Stalin (16 October 1952–5 March 1953). First Secretary of the Central Committee: Nikita Khrushchev (7 September 1953–14 October 1964), Leonid Brezhnev (14 October 1964–8 April 1966). General Secretary of the Central Committee: Leonid Brezhnev (8 April 1966–10 November 1982), Yuri Andropov (12 November 1982–9 February 1984), Konstantin Chernenko (13 February 1984–10 March 1985), Mikhail Gorbachev (11 March 1985–24 August 1991), Vladimir Ivashko (acting, 24 August 1991–6 November 1991)