Mikhail Yemtsev - Soviet and Russian science fiction writer who worked mostly in collaboration with Yeremey Parnov.

Mikhail Yevsevyevich Yupp is a Russian poet and academic. He lives in Philadelphia, US.

Mikhail Zinovyevich Yuryev was a Russian politician who served as a member of the State Duma between 1996 and 1999.

Mikhail Nikolayevich Zadornov was a Soviet and Russian stand-up comedian and writer. Zadornov was born into an artistic family, his father Nikolay Zadornov (1909-1992) being a notable writer from Riga. Zadornov's mother, Elena Matusevich (1909-2003), came from an old noble family, which can trace its roots to the Polish king Stephen Bathory.

Mikhail Nikolayevich Zagoskin was a Russian writer of social comedies and historical novels.

Mikhail Aleksandrovich Zenkevich was a Russian and Soviet poet, writer, translator and journalist. A prominent figure in the Acmeist movement of the Russian poetry, he is also regarded as one of the founders of the Soviet school of poetry translation.

Mikhail Ivanovich Zharov was a Soviet and Russian stage and film actor and director. People's Artist of the USSR (1949) and Hero of Socialist Labour (1974).

Mikhail Mikhaylovich Zhvanetsky was a Soviet writer, satirist and performer of Jewish origin, best known for his shows targeting different aspects of the Soviet and post-Soviet everyday life.

Mikhail Stepanovich Znamensky was a Russian writer, memoirist, painter, caricaturist, archeologist and ethnographer.

Mikhail Mikhailovich Zoshchenko was a Soviet and Russian writer and satirist.