Contains biographical data on political elites who were members of either the Central Committee or Council of Ministers in 1971 in five Eastern European nations: Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. Demographic variables provide information on sex, date of birth, ethnicity, nationality, education, family background, and date of death. Additional variables describe career events or particular experiences of the elites such as dates of military service, party membership, government service, or dates of entry into and exit from the Central Committee and other political institutions.