Though there have been examples throughout history of powerful political leaders naming new cities after themselves - Alexandria after Alexander the Great and St Petersburg after Peter the Great spring to mind - it was the communist era that brought renaming of existing cities after leaders into vogue, presumably to wipe out pre-communist connotations as well as, certainly in the case of Soviet leader Stalin, to bolster personality cults.
Saigon in Vietnam was in 1975 renamed Ho Chi Minh City by the new communist government after their leader. Stalin renamed the Russian city of Tsaritsyn as Stalingrad ('Stalin's City') in 1925. In 1961 it was changed to Volgograd as part of then Soviet leader Kruschev's programme of destalinisation. Stalin had many other cities across Eastern Europe renamed in his honour, including Varna to Stalin in Bulgaria, Donetsk to Stalino in Ukraine and Katowice to Stalinogrod in Poland. Most had been changed back by the early 1960s. And of course there was the Russian city of Petrograd, renamed Leningrad in 1925 after Lenin, founder of the communist Russian Revolution. The difference here was that Lenin had died in 1924 so this was a posthumous honour. Leningrad lasted as a name until the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, indicative of the greater respect in which he was held than Stalin. In 1991, this former Russian capital reverted to its original name - St Petersburg!
Saigon in Vietnam was in 1975 renamed Ho Chi Minh City by the new communist government after their leader. Stalin renamed the Russian city of Tsaritsyn as Stalingrad ('Stalin's City') in 1925. In 1961 it was changed to Volgograd as part of then Soviet leader Kruschev's programme of destalinisation. Stalin had many other cities across Eastern Europe renamed in his honour, including Varna to Stalin in Bulgaria, Donetsk to Stalino in Ukraine and Katowice to Stalinogrod in Poland. Most had been changed back by the early 1960s. And of course there was the Russian city of Petrograd, renamed Leningrad in 1925 after Lenin, founder of the communist Russian Revolution. The difference here was that Lenin had died in 1924 so this was a posthumous honour. Leningrad lasted as a name until the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, indicative of the greater respect in which he was held than Stalin. In 1991, this former Russian capital reverted to its original name - St Petersburg!
