* He was born on June 25 according to the Julian calendar. In 1918, the Soviets adopted the Gregorian calendar; here, I give the dates according to the Gregorian calendar, except in a few special cases where I find it helpful to give both.

** Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks).

^† The expression “Volksdeutsche” referred to ethnically German people, where Volk is folk in the sense of “race.” The term was used by the Nazis for people belonging to the German “race” but living beyond the borders of Germany proper.

†† The Swedish Academy is responsible for the Nobel Prize in Literature. It has eighteen members: writers, literary scholars, historians, and a prominent jurist. It is independent of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which is responsible for the Nobel Prizes in physics and chemistry.