Dinmukhamed Kunaev

Kunaev played a key role in implementing Khrushchev's Virgin Lands Campaign, which plowed millions of hectares of steppe in northern Kazakhstan for grain production. The campaign initially increased grain output but led to soil erosion and ecological damage.

Kunaev was appointed First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Kazakh SSR, becoming the de facto leader of Soviet Kazakhstan. He held this position for over two decades, overseeing the republic's economic development and industrialization.

Under Kunaev's leadership, the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan was expanded as the primary Soviet space launch facility. This supported the Soviet space program, including the launch of the first human into space, Yuri Gagarin, in 1961.

Kunaev was removed from his post as First Secretary by Mikhail Gorbachev as part of anti-corruption campaigns. His removal sparked the Jeltoqsan protests in Almaty, the first major public demonstrations against Soviet rule in Kazakhstan.