A dictator is
a ruler who wields absolute authority. A state ruled by a dictator is called a dictatorship.
The word originated as the title of amagistrate in ancient
Rome appointed by the Senate to
rule the republic in times of emergency
Here
is the List of the Most Powerful Dictators of the World Past and Present
Adolf Hitler
› Adolf Hitler was an
Austrian-born German politician who was the leader of the Nazi Party.
› He was chancellor of
Germany from 1933 to 1945 and Führer of Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1945.
› As effective dictator
of Nazi Germany, Hitler was at the centre of World War II in Europe, and the
Holocaust.
› Age: Died at 56 (1889-1945)
› Birthplace: Braunau am Inn, Austria
› Profession: Politician, Soldier, Writer, Artist
› Credits: World War II in HD Colour, Apocalypse: The
Second World War
› Autobiography: Mein Kampf
Joseph Stalin
› Joseph Stalin or
Iosif Vissarionovich Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s
until his death in 1953.
› Among the Bolshevik
revolutionaries who took part in the Russian Revolution of 1917, Stalin was
appointed general secretary of the party's Central Committee in 1922.
› Age: Died at 75 (1878-1953)
› Birthplace: Gori, Georgia
› Profession: Politician, Soldier
› Credits: World War II in HD Colour, Apocalypse: The
Second World War
Mao Zedong
› Mao Zedong, also
transliterated as Mao Tse-tung and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao, was a
Chinese Communist revolutionary and the founding father of the People's
Republic of China, which he governed as Chairman of the Communist Party of
China from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976.
› Age: Died at 83 (1893-1976)
› Birthplace: Shaoshan, China
› Profession: Librarian, Politician
Benito Mussolini
› Benito Amilcare
Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician, journalist, and leader of the
National Fascist Party, ruling the country as Prime Minister from 1922 until
his ousting in 1943.
› He ruled
constitutionally until 1925, when he dropped all pretense of democracy and set
up a legal dictatorship.
› Age: Died at 62 (1883-1945)
› Birthplace: Predappio, Italy
› Profession: Politician, Journalist, Writer
› Credits: Hundred Days
Kim Jong-il
› Kim Jong-il was the
Supreme Leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly referred
to as North Korea, from 1994 to 2011.
› By the early 1980s
Kim had become the heir apparent for the leadership of the country and assumed
important posts in the party and army organs.
›
He succeeded his
father and founder of the DPRK, Kim
Il-sung, following the elder Kim's death in
1994.
›
Age: Died at 70 (1941-2011)
›
Birthplace: Vyatskoye, Khabarovsk
Krai, Russia
›
Profession: Politician
›
Credits: A State of Mind, The
Schoolgirl's Diary, Sea of Blood
Pol Pot
› Pol Pot, born Saloth
Sar, was a Cambodian socialist revolutionary who led the Khmer Rouge from 1963
until 1997.
› From 1963 to 1981, he
served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Kampuchea. As such,
he became the leader of Cambodia on 17 April 1975, when his forces captured
Phnom Penh.
› Age: Died at 73 (1925-1998)
› Birthplace: Kampong Thom Province, Cambodia
› Profession: Politician, Teacher
Saddam Hussein
› Saddam Hussein Abd
al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity
from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003.
› A leading member of
the revolutionary Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, and later, the Baghdad-based
Ba'ath Party and its regional organization Ba'ath Party – Iraq
› Age: Died at 69 (1937-2006)
› Birthplace: Al-Awja, Iraq
› Profession: Politician, Party leader, Writer
Robert Mugabe
› Robert Gabriel Mugabe
is the current President of Zimbabwe, serving since 31 December 1987.
› As one of the leaders
of the rebel groups against white minority rule, he was elected as Prime
Minister, head of government, in 1980, and served in that office until 1987,
when he became the country's first executive head
of state.
› He has led the Zimbabwe African
National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF) since 1975.
› Age: age 91
› Birthplace: Zvimba District
› Profession: Politician
Chiang Kai-shek
› Chiang Kai-shek was a
Chinese political and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of
China between 1928 and 1975.
› He is known as Chiang
Chung-cheng or Chiang Chieh-shih in Standard Chinese.
› Chiang was an influential
member of the Kuomintang, the Chinese Nationalist Party, and was a close ally of Sun
Yat-sen.
› He became the Commandant of
the Kuomintang's Whampoa Military Academy and took Sun's
place as leader of the KMT when Sun died in 1925.
› Age: Died at 88 (1887-1975)
› Birthplace: Xikou, China
› Profession: Politician, Soldier, Warlord, Generalissimo
Idi Amin
› Idi Amin Dada was the
third President of Uganda, ruling from 1971 to 1979.
› Amin joined the
British colonial regiment, the King's African Rifles in 1946, serving in Kenya
and Uganda.
› Eventually, Amin held
the rank of major general in the post-colonial Ugandan Army and became its
commander before seizing power in
the military coup of January 1971, deposing Milton
Obote.
› He later promoted himself to field marshal while he was the head of
state.
› Age: Died at 78 (1925-2003)
› Birthplace: Koboko, Uganda
› Profession: Politician, Soldier
› Credits: General Idi Amin Dada: A Self Portrait
Bashar al-Assad
› Bashar Hafez al-Assad
is the President of Syria, commander-in-chief of Syrian Armed Forces, General
Secretary of the ruling Ba'ath Party and Regional Secretary of the party's
branch in Syria.
›
He has served as President since 2000, when he succeeded his father,
Hafez al-Assad, who led Syria for 30 years and died in office a month prior.
›
Age: age 50
›
Birthplace: Damascus, Syria
›
Profession: Politician, Physician
Ferdinand Marcos
› Ferdinand Emmanuel
Edralin Marcos was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as President of
the Philippines from 1965 to 1986.
› In the earlier part
of his presidency, he was known for his leadership that saw high economic
growth in the country.
› However in 1972, he
placed the entire country under martial law
› He ruled under martial law from 1972 until 1981
› Age: Died at 72 (1917-1989)
› Birthplace: Sarrat, Philippines
› Profession: Politician, Soldier, Lawyer
Kim Il-sung
› Kim Il-sung was the
leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly referred to as North
Korea, for 46 years, from its establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994.
› He held the posts of
Prime Minister from 1948 to 1972 and President from 1972 to his death.
› He was also the leader of the Workers' Party of Korea from 1949 to
1994 (titled as chairman from 1949 to 1966 and as general secretary after
1966).
› Age: Died at 82 (1912-1994)
› Birthplace: Pyongyang, Pyongan, North Korea
› Profession: Politician
› Credits: Crossing the Line, The Flower Girl
Francisco Franco
› Francisco Franco
Bahamonde was a Spanish general and the dictator of Spain from 1939 until his
death in 1975.
› Coming from a
military background, he became the youngest general in Europe in the 1920s.
› A strong
conservative, he was shocked when the monarchy was removed and replaced with a
republic in 1931.
› Age: Died at 83 (1892-1975)
› Birthplace: Ferrol, Spain
› Profession: Politician
› Credits: Raza
Ho Chi Minh
› Hồ
Chí Minh, born Nguyễn Sinh Côn, or Nguyễn
Sinh Cung, also known as Nguyễn
Tất Thành and Nguyễn
Ái Quốc, was a Vietnamese
Communist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic
Republic of Vietnam.
› He was a key figure
in the foundation of the Democratic
Republic of Vietnam in 1945, as well as the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and
the Việt Cộng (NLF or VC)
during theVietnam War.
› Age: Died at 79 (1890-1969)
› Birthplace: Kim Lien, Vietnam
› Profession: Politician
› Credits: 79 primaveras
Muammar al-Gaddafi
› Muammar Muhammad Abu
Minyar al-Gaddafi, commonly known as Colonel Gaddafi, was a Libyan
revolutionary and politician who governed Libya as its primary leader from 1969
to 2011.
› power in a coup d'etat, he ruled as
Revolutionary Chairman of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977
and then as the "Brotherly Leader"
of the Great Socialist
People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011, when he was ousted
in the Libyan Civil War
› Age: Died at 69 (1942-2011)
› Birthplace: Qasr Abu Hadi
› Profession: Politician, Soldier, Military Officer
Nikita Khrushchev
› Nikita Sergeyevich
Khrushchev was a Russian politician who led the Soviet Union during part of the
Cold War.
› He served as First
Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as
Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964. Khrushchev
was responsible for the de-Stalinization of
the Soviet Union, for backing the progress of the early Soviet space program, and for several
relatively liberal reforms in areas of domestic policy
› Age: Died at 77 (1894-1971)
› Birthplace: Kalinovka, Russia
› Profession: Politician
› Credits: Sputnik Mania
Hideki Tōjō
› Hideki Tojo was a
general of the Imperial Japanese Army, the leader of the Imperial Rule
Assistance Association, and the 40th Prime Minister of Japan during much of
World War II, from October 17, 1941 to July 22, 1944.
›
As Prime Minister, he was responsible for the attack on Pearl Harbor, which initiated war between Japan and
the United States, although planning for it had begun before he entered office.
›
After the end of
the war, Tojo was arrested, sentenced to death for Imperial Japanese war crimes by the International Military
Tribunal for the Far East, and hanged on December 23, 1948.
›
Age: Died at 64 (1884-1948)
›
Birthplace: Kōjimachi, Tokyo
›
Profession: Politician, Military
Officer
Mobutu Sese Seko
›
Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga the military
dictator and President of
the Democratic Republic of the Congo (which
Mobutu renamed Zaire in
1971) from 1965 to 1997.
›
He
also served as Chairperson of the
Organisation of African Unity in 1967–1968.
›
Age: Died at 67 (1930-1997)
›
Birthplace: Lisala, Democratic
Republic of the Congo
›
Profession: Politician
Jean-Claude Duvalier
› Jean-Claude Duvalier,
nicknamed "Bébé Doc" or "Baby Doc", was the President of
Haiti from 1971 until his overthrow by a popular uprising in 1986.
› He succeeded his
father François "Papa Doc" Duvalier as the ruler of Haiti after the
latter's death in 1971.
›
After assuming power, he introduced cosmetic changes to his father's regime and
delegated much authority to his advisors.
›
Age: Died at 63 (1951-2014)
›
Birthplace: Port-au-Prince, Haiti
›
Profession: Politician
