List of personality cults

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In this list , sorted by country, personal cults are listed that meet three criteria as established by the historian Reinhard Löhmann :

• Exaggeration of an individual , the circumstances are personalized by the glorification of a personality , ie the construction of a system is not represented as the merit of an epoch but of a person
• Monumentalization of the political leader , who as a genius supposedly achieves achievements that no one else is capable of
• Mythization of the Führer as omniscient, immortal and omnipresent, which is shown in public space in statues, monuments, portraits, street names, etc.

Personality cults during his lifetime

	person	country	ideology	description	Period
	Ahmet Zogu (King Zogu I.)	Republic of Albania Kingdom of Albania	albanian nationalism	After Zogu was proclaimed king in 1928, he introduced the personality cult in Albania, in which he was staged as the successor to Alexander the Great or Skanderbeg . Among other things, it said: "Long live Ahmet Zogu, the savior of our fatherland, and one may think of Skanderbeg's grandson forever."	1925-1939
	Enver Hoxha	People's Socialist Republic of Albania	Marxism-Leninism Maoism "Albanian Socialism"	Hoxha cult	1943-1990
	Gamal Abdel Nasser	Arab Republic of Egypt	Nasserism	As the national icon of Egypt and other Arab countries, Nasser was hyped up by his followers as the “ Saladin ” of pan-Arabism .	1952-1970
	Husni Mubarak	Arab Republic of Egypt	arab nationalism	The personality cult surrounding Mubarak was mainly carried by the country's elites, who promised themselves privileges and access to state resources by showing their closeness to the president. In the 2000s, however, the Mubaraks family increasingly moved into the center of public awareness; schools, hospitals, foundations and social institutions were named after his wife Suzanne Mubarak , for example .	1981-2011
	Francisco Macías Nguema	Republic of Equatorial Guinea	no	Macías gave himself the title of "Grand Master of Popular Education, Science and Traditional Culture" and renamed the island of Bioko Masie Ngueme Biyogo Island (after himself). The personality cult around the “only miracle of Equatorial Guinea” (so the official address) was considered unsurpassed even in the leader-focused Africa. The only library in the country only lent out literature by and about Macías. In the schools and churches, slightly offset upwards, Macias pictures hung next to the crucifixes. A national creed was also created, saying "God created Equatorial Guinea at the will of Papa Macias."	1968-1979
	Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo	Republic of Equatorial Guinea	no	There is also an extreme cult of personality around Macía's successor, Obiang. The state radio station describes him as the “God of the country with all power over things and people” and “he is in permanent contact with the Almighty” and “can make decisions if he wants to kill without being accountable or going to hell ”. He also awarded himself the title of "Lord of the large island of Bioko , Annobón and Río Muni ".	since 1979
	Juan Perón Evita Perón	Argentine Republic	Peronism	In the course of Perionism, a cult was created around the presidential couple Perón, for example schools were named after the two and the couple were even shown in school books. The " Myth of Evita " still lives on in Argentina today .	1946–1955 1973–1974
	Heydər Əliyev	Republic of Azerbaijan	Turkish-Azerbaijani nationalism	Əliyev cult	1993-2003
	Chiang Kai-shek	Republic of China Republic of China to Taiwan	chinese nationalism	In the Republic of China, a personality cult was practiced around the successor Sun Yat-sens Chiang Kai-shek, which then continued after the victory of the communists in Taiwan, so the portrait of Chiang was placed on Tian'anmen Square and later on Taiwan he glorifies in books, printed works and songs, and erected statues of him.	1925-1975
	Mao Zedong	People's Republic of China	Maoism	Mao cult	1949-1976
	Walter Ulbricht	German Democratic Republic	Stalinism Marxism-Leninism	Ulbricht cult	1949-1971
	Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina	Dominican Republic	no	He awarded himself the title “Benefactor of the Fatherland” and “Father of the New Fatherland”. He had the capital Santo Domingo renamed Ciudad Trujillo (City of Trujillo) after himself .	1930-1961
	Philippe Pétain	Vichy France	Clerical fascism	The personality cult around Pétain shows that even the state symbols of Vichy France were adapted to it, so the Francisque was created, consisting of the Marshal's baton Pétains and two lictors- axes, the song “ Maréchal, nous voilà ” became the unofficial national anthem after the Marseillaise played. Furthermore, for example, the Our Father was rewritten in a church magazine in his person and the French clergy actively supported him, the Bishop of Tarbes even compared him with the Star of Bethlehem , which would show France the way. In addition, his portrait was displayed in every town hall instead of the French national figure Marianne , as well as coins, postage stamps and other utensils with his portrait. Vichy developed into a political place of pilgrimage around him. He was referred to as "Our Father", "Our Marshal" or "Father of all the children of France".	1940-1944
	Adolf Hitler	German Empire	National Socialism	Hitler cult	1933-1945
	François Duvalier ("Papa Doc")	Republic of Haiti	no	Duvalier had a pronounced personality cult around himself, which he combined with the voodoo belief, so he called himself Baron Samedi .	1957-1971
	Sukarno	Republic of Indonesia	Nasakom	In 1963 Sukarno was appointed president for life, his ideological writings on Nasakom had to be taught in schools and universities everywhere, and the media were also encouraged to constantly spread his political messages. The city of Sukarnopura and the mountain Puntjak Sukarno were renamed after him.	1945-1967
	Suharto	Republic of Indonesia	Orde Baru	Sukarno's successor, Suharto, also had a personality cult; his military past was glorified and he was given the title of “father of development”.	1967-1998
	Ruhollah Khomeini	Islamic Republic of Iran	Islamism	Khomeini enjoys sacred veneration and is even mentioned in the first article of the Iranian constitution. Among other things, he was referred to as "Our Holy Imam" or as the "soul" who "made the Iranian people free".	since 1979
	Saddam Hussein	Republic of Iraq	Baathism	Hussein had portraits, statues and posters of himself circulated throughout Iraq, which were posted in schools, public buildings and places. Numerous streets, squares, districts, museums, bridges and the international airport also bore his name.	1979-2003
	Benito Mussolini	Kingdom of Italy	Italian fascism	Mussolini cult	1922-1943
	Josip Broz Tito	Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia	Titoism	Tito cult	1945–1980
	Nursultan Nazarbayev	Republic of Kazakhstan	no	All over the country portraits "adorn" Nazarbayev's cities and highways, he can be seen on television every evening and the capital's university bears his name.	since 1990
	Mobutu Sese Seko	Democratic Republic of the Congo / Zaire	no	Mobutu cult	1965-1997
	Fidel Castro	Republic of Cuba	Castroism / Marxism-Leninism	Castro cult	since 1959
	Antanas Smetona	Republic of Lithuania	Lithuanian nationalism	Smetona drew a picture of himself as a philosopher king who would rule through wisdom, from 1934 he was also celebrated as a fighter for an independent Lithuania and the national founding myth of Lithuania was closely linked to his person.	1919-1940
	Muammar al-Gaddafi	Great Socialist Libyan Arab People's Jamahiriya	Arab socialism	Although Gaddafi was actually hostile to the personality cult that was practiced around him, he nevertheless tolerated that his likeness was spread throughout his country. His image was even found on everyday objects such as school bags and watches.	1969-2011
	Hastings Kamuzu Banda	Republic of Malawi	no	He was referred to as "Ngwazi" ( Chichewa : "Savior") and transfigured into a god-like idol.	1963-1994
	Chorloogiin Tschoibalsan	Mongolian People's Republic	Stalinism	Tschoibalsan practiced a personality cult based on Stalin, after his death he was embalmed and buried in a mausoleum in the capital Ulaanbaatar . The eastern Mongolian city of Choibalsan still bears his name and his monument stands in front of the University of Ulan Bator.	1932-1952
	Kim Il-sung Kim Jong-il Kim Jong-un	North Korea	Stalinism / Juche ideology	Cult for the Kim family	since 1948
	Ferdinand Marcos	Republic of the Philippines	no		1965-1986
	Józef Piłsudski	Second Polish Republic	Sanacja	In the Polish interwar period, General Piłsudski was cultivated by the state media of the time, so his military past was glorified and he was called a political visionary.	1918–1944, since 1989
	Bolesław Bierut	People's Republic of Poland	Stalinism	Bierut practiced a personality cult based on Stalin around himself.	1947-1956
	Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej	People's Republic of Romania	Stalinism / Marxism-Leninism	Today's industrial city Oneşti was named after him in March 1965 , which was then on the drawing board for the chemical industry, among other things. After his death he was buried in a mausoleum in Parcul Carol .	1945-1965
	Nicolae Ceaușescu Elena Ceaușescu	Socialist Republic of Romania	Marxism-Leninism / Neo-Stalinism	Ceaușescu cult	1965-1990
	Wladimir Putin	Russia	Russian nationalism	A personality cult reminiscent of Soviet times is practiced around President Putin, both on the part of the state and on private initiative.	2000–2008, since 2012
	Robert Mugabe	Republic of Zimbabwe	State capitalism	Mugabe cult	since 1987
	Siad Barre	Democratic Republic of Somalia	" Somali-style socialism "	"Orientation centers" were set up across the country, where much of public life would take place and enthusiasm for the revolution would be cultivated. Barre was stylized as the “father” of the Somali nation and, in part, a “new trinity ” of Marx , Lenin and Barre.	1969-1991
	Joseph Stalin	Soviet Union	Stalinism	Stalin cult	1927-1953
	Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev	Soviet Union	Neostalinism	Under Brezhnev there was again a certain personality cult in the USSR, although he never assumed the proportions of Stalin; Brezhnev's obsessions with titles and medals that he regularly awarded himself should be emphasized here. From 1982 to 1988 the Russian city of Naberezhnye Chelny was called Brezhnev .	1964-1982
	Francisco Franco	Kingdom of Spain	Franquism	Franco styled himself as a kind of king of Spain, so he wore military uniforms that had previously worn the Spanish monarchs, lived in the Palacio Real (El Pardo) and gave himself the title “By God's grace, leader of Spain”.	1936-1975
	Nelson Mandela	Republic of South Africa	no	Since the election victory in 1994, a personality cult has arisen around Mandela, also outside of South Africa, which he has always been very critical of. He was called a “political magician”, “South African wonder”, “black fairy tale hero from Cape”, “icon of the 20th century”, “political figure of light” and, after his resignation, a “retired myth”. In addition, numerous statues and busts were erected worldwide, and streets and squares were named after him.	since 1994
	Hafiz al-Assad Bashar al-Assad	Syrian Arab Republic	Baathism	Bronze statues of Hafez al-Assad are placed in central public squares in the larger cities; Posters with his portrait on the house facade and in every public and private environment were ubiquitous. The posters have meanwhile been replaced by those showing pictures of his son.	since 1970
	Plaek Phibunsongkhram	Siam / Kingdom of Thailand	Volkish nationalism	Phibun cult	1938-1944 1948-1957
	Bhumibol Adulyadej	Kingdom of Thailand	no	Larger-than-life portraits of Bhumibol were displayed across the country. Since the military coup in May 2014, the cult of personality has increased and the draconian laws on lese majesty have been increasingly applied. Anyone who insults or criticizes members of the royal family risks long prison sentences.	1946-2016
	Klement Gottwald	Czechoslovak Republic	Stalinism	Gottwald cult	1948-1953
	Gnassingbé Eyadéma	Republic of Togo	no	Eyadéma had a pronounced personality cult around itself, so the state radio stations played the jingle three times a day: “Be assured Eyadéma, you have been crowned by God! Be assured Eyadéma, the people are behind you! ”There is a bronze statue of him in the capital Lomé .	1967-2005
	Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali ( Leïla Ben Ali )	Republic of Tunisia	no	First of all, Ben Ali had a cult around the number seven , as he had taken power in Tunisia on November 7th. After a while, however, Ben Ali himself increasingly became the focus of veneration, especially his wife Leïla promoted the personality cult around herself and her husband. School books were provided with the pictures of the presidential couple, children had to learn the Ben Alis' speeches by heart, there was constant homage in the media, large-scale images were distributed everywhere and even houses were painted purple, the color of the state party.	1987-2011
	Mustafa Kemal Ataturk	Republic of Turkey	Kemalism	Ataturk cult	since 1923
	Saparmyrat Niyazov	Turkmenistan	Turkmen nationalism	Nyýazow cult	1992-2006
	Idi Amin	Republic of Uganda	no	Amin called himself "President for life, Field Marshal Al Hajj Doctor Idi Amin Dada, Lord of the Animals of the Earth and the Fish in the Sea, King of Scots and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa" ​​and had his uniform jacket extended to make room for him "Victorious Cross" medal, which he had made at a London jeweler and which he pinned to his lapel. He also renamed the Eduardsee after himself in Idi-Amin-Dada-See .	1971-1979
	Mátyás Rákosi	People's Republic of Hungary	Stalinism	Rákosi's personality cult was strongly based on Stalin, so numerous cities, companies, schools and universities bore his name.	1949-1956
	Hugo Chavez	Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela	Bolivarianism	Chavez cult	since 1999
	Jean-Bédel Bokassa (Emperor Bokassa I)	Central African Republic Central African Empire	no	He initially declared himself president for life, before he crowned himself Emperor Bokassa I in 1977, following his example, Napoleon Bonaparte . He was always omnipresent in the capital Bangui , many streets, a university and a sports palace bore his name.	1966-1979

Postmortem personality cults

	person	country	ideology	description	Period
	Georgi Dimitrov	People's Republic of Bulgaria	Marxism-Leninism	Dimitrov cult	1949-1990
	Otto von Bismarck	The German Imperium	German nationalism	Bismarck cult	1890-1918
	Wilhelm Pieck	German Democratic Republic	Stalinism Marxism-Leninism	The personality cult around the "workers' president" Pieck already existed during his lifetime, so he was referred to as "Papa Pieck" and homage to him as the father of the country. See: Pieck cult	1949-1990
	Ernst Thalmann	German Democratic Republic	Stalinism Marxism-Leninism	Thälmann cult	1949-1990
	Jawaharlal Nehru	Republic of India	moderate socialism	Due to the dominance of the Nehru Gandhi family in the Congress Party , a certain cult was built up around Nehru.	1947-1964
	Che Guevara	Republic of Cuba	Castroism / Marxism-Leninism	Guevara cult	since 1967
	Kaysone Phomvihane	Laos People's Democratic Republic	Marxism-Leninism	After Phomvihane's death in 1991, the CP LRVP established a personality cult around him as the founding father of the party and state, and since then there has been a memorial to him in every district capital.	since 1991
	Ion Antonescu	Romania	no	Post-socialist Antonescu cult	since 1991
	Andrej Hlinka	Slovak state	Clerical fascism	When Hlinka's party, together with his former deputy Jozef Tiso, took power in Slovakia in 1938 after his death and the latter declared itself independent under pressure from the Third Reich on March 14, 1939 , Hlinka became the cult figure of the new regime: an order was named after it him and created two mass organizations that bore his name, the Hlinka Guard ( Hlinkova garda ), an imitation of the SS , and the Hlinka Youth ( Hlinkova mládež ), an imitation of the Hitler Youth .	1938-1945
	Vladimir Ilyich Lenin	Soviet Union	Stalinism Marxism-Leninism	Lenin cult	1924-1991
	George Washington	United States of America	no	Washington cult	since 1799
	Abraham Lincoln	United States of America	no	Lincoln cult	since 1865
	John F. Kennedy	United States of America	no	Kennedy myth	since 1963
	Hồ Chi Minh	Socialist Republic of Vietnam	Marxism-Leninism	Hồ Chí Minh cult	since 1945

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Reinhard Löhmann : The Stalin myth. Studies on the social history of the personality cult in the Soviet Union (1929-1935) , LIT, Münster 1990, ISBN 3-88660-596-5 , p. 10 ff.
2. ↑ Oliver Jens Schmitt: The Albanians. CHBeck, 2012, ISBN 978-3-406-63031-6 , p. 158 ( limited preview in Google book search).
3. ^ Marie-Janine Calic: Southeast Europe. CHBeck, 2016, ISBN 978-3-406-69831-6 ( limited preview in Google book search).
4. ↑ Immanuel Ness, Zak Cope: The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism . Springer, 2016, ISBN 978-0-230-39278-6 , pp. 176 ( preview in Google Book search).
5. ↑ Thomas Kunze , Thomas Vogel (ed.): Oh you, beloved guide. Personality cult in the 20th and 21st centuries. Ch. Links , Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-86153-734-2 , pp. 233-234.
6. ↑ Rashid Suleiman: Macias Nguema: Ruthless and bloody dictator ( Memento of March 13, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) of August 6, 2008.
7. ^ Equatorial Guinea: Modern Caligula . In: Der Spiegel . No. 53 , 1976, p. 67-69 ( Online - Dec. 27, 1976 ).
8. ↑ Equatorial Guinea's “God”. In: BBC News . July 26, 2003, accessed March 24, 2019 . 
9. ↑ MSN News South Africa: Africa's Worst Dictators: Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. In: MSN News South Africa. September 28, 2010, archived from the original on October 21, 2010 ; accessed on March 24, 2019 (English). 
10. ^ Mónica Esti Rein: Politics and Education in Argentina, 1946-1962. ME Sharpe, 1997, ISBN 978-0-7656-0209-1 , p. 80 ( limited preview in Google book search).
11. ↑ Charles Sowerwine: France since 1870. Culture, Society and the Making of the Republic. Pelgrave Macmillan, London 2001/2009, pp. 190/191.
12. ↑ Erich Follath and Christian Neef: The Nazarbayev brand . In: Der Spiegel . No. 40 , 2010, p. 130-136 ( Online - Oct. 4, 2010 ).
13. ↑ Ennker, Benno; Heidi Hein-Kircher (Ed.): Der Führer im Europa des 20. Jahrhundert , Verlag Herder-Institut, Marburg 2010, pp. 111-136.
14. ↑ Heiko Meinhardt: Malawi: History and State. In: LIPortal , the country information portal .
15. ↑ MBB Biskupski: Independence Day: Myth, Symbol, and the Creation of Modern Poland . Oxford University Press, 2012, ISBN 978-0-19-965881-7 .
16. ^ Paul N. Hahn: A Low, Dishonest Decade: The Great Powers, Eastern Europe, and the Economic Origins of World War II, 1930-1941 . Continuum, 2002, ISBN 978-0-8264-1449-6 .
17. ^ Paweł Kusiak: Legenda i kult J. Piłsudskiego. Jak w Polsce doby integracji europejskiej interpretować postać Marszałka? . In: Colloquium Wydziału Nauk Humanistycznych i Społecznych AMW . 2, 2010, pp. 241-258.
18. ↑ Stephen J. Lee: European Dictatorships, 1918-1945 . Routledge, 2012, ISBN 978-1-135-69011-3 .
19. ^ Rafal Pankowski: The Populist Radical Right in Poland: The Patriots . Routledge, Abingdon and New York, NY 2010, ISBN 978-0-415-47353-8 .
20. ^ Eva Plach: The Clash of Moral Nations: Cultural Politics in Piłsudski's Poland, 1926-1935 . Ohio University Press, 2006, ISBN 978-0-8214-1695-2 .
21. ^ Piotr J. Wróbel: The Rise and Fall of Partliamentary Democracy in Interwar Poland . In: In MBB Biskupski, James S. Pula and Piotr J. Wróbel, eds., The Origins of Modern Polish Democracy , pp. 110-164 . Ohio University Press, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8214-4309-5 .
22. ↑ Julie A. Cassiday and Emily D. Johnson: Putin, Putiniana and the Question of a Post-Soviet Cult of Personality . In: The Slavonic and East European Review 88, No. 4 (2010), pp. 681-707; Ilya Koval: Gaius Julius Putin . In: zeit.de , May 15, 2015, accessed April 17, 2017.
23. ↑ Besteman 1999 (pp. 13-14)
24. ↑ http://oldgazette.ru/kopravda/21021978/01-1.html
25. ↑ Irmgard Fuchs: Depth Psychology and Revolte. Königshausen & Neumann, 2005, ISBN 978-3-8260-2908-0 , p. 288 ( limited preview in the Google book search).
26. ↑ Thailand's king treated for "serious blood infection". In: news.orf.at. September 3, 2016, accessed October 22, 2017 . 
27. ↑ Toughs at the top. Self-obsessed despots are out of fashion in most places, but not in North Korea, Turkmenistan and Togo. In: The Economist . December 16, 2004, accessed March 24, 2019 . 
28. ↑ Thomas Kunze , Thomas Vogel (ed.): Oh you, beloved guide. Personality cult in the 20th and 21st centuries. Ch. Links , Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-86153-734-2 , pp. 234-235.
29. ↑ Hans Christoph book: Africa: The bloody antics of Idi Amin. In: welt.de . March 13, 2007, accessed October 7, 2018 . 
30. ↑ Thomas Kunze , Thomas Vogel (ed.): Oh you, beloved guide. Personality cult in the 20th and 21st centuries. Ch. Links , Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-86153-734-2 , pp. 274-283.
31. ↑ Thomas Kunze , Thomas Vogel (ed.): Oh you, beloved guide. Personality cult in the 20th and 21st centuries. Ch.links , Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-86153-734-2 , p. 139.
32. ↑ Zareer Masani: Chacha's Musty Coat-Tails. Nehru cost India 50 years of growth. His legacy is a petty dynasty. In: Outlook India Magazine. November 17, 2014, accessed March 24, 2019 . 
33. ↑ Jan Düker: Laos: The North. Dumont Reiseverlag, 2016, ISBN 978-3-616-40744-9 ( limited preview in Google book search).