He opposed Stalin and lived to write about it (4)
I believe the answer is:
tito
'he' is the definition.
I can't explain the remainder of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tito that I've seen before include "Former leader of country" , "Statesman once" , "Josip Broz, d. 1980" , "President of Yugoslavia, 1953-80" , "Head of state" .)