Vozhd

Vozhd (Russian: Вождь, lit. 'leader, guide') is a Russian Church Slavonic loanword derived from the verb vesti (вести, meaning "to lead", "to guide").

Vozhdes of the world's proletariat: Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin (1 May 1953, Berlin, GDR).

Ogoniok 1934 cover featuring portraits of Stalin and Gorky with text: "Thus have decided the role of the Soviet writer beloved Vozhd of the world's proletariat Comr. Stalin"

In Serbia, it was the title Vožd (Serbian Cyrillic: Вожд) that was given to Karađorđe Petrović by all the voivodes who elected him to be their leader at their first Praviteljstvujusceg sovejeta (Governing State Council) during the First Serbian Uprising.

Later, in Russian, it was often used in reference to Soviet leaders such as Joseph Stalin or Lenin as Vozhd of the proletariat (Russian: Вождь пролетариата),[1] Vozhd of the Russian Communist Party (Russian: Вождь Российской Коммунистической Партии),[2][3] Vozhd of the World Revolution (Russian: Вождь мировой революции),[4] Vozhd of the Peoples (Russian: Вождь народов).[5]

In modern Russian, vozhd became exclusive for Communist leaders or leaders of aboriginal tribes. The word is becoming somewhat obsolete and is being replaced by its English version, "leader". In the German language, it is a counterpart to the word Führer.

After the East German cinema studio DEFA began mass-producing Red Western movies depicting the "Wild West" in the 18th and 19th centuries, the term vozhd became closely associated with tribal chiefs of Native Americans (such as Vozhd Beloye Pero, i. e. Chief White Feather.)

Vozhd also has connotations to "master" in the Russian language, from the days of serfdom.[6]