People's Commissariat for Education of the RSFSR

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Anatoly Lunacharsky (1925), People's Commissar for Education from 1917 to 1929

The People's Commissariat for Education of the RSFSR ( Russian: Народный комиссариат просвещения РСФСР Narodny Commissariat Prosweschchenija RSFSR ), or NARKOMPROS ( Russian: Наркомпрос ) was a state organ of the RSFSR .

It was established in November 1917 (according to the Julian calendar October 1917) shortly after the October Revolution and replaced the Ministry of Popular Education of the Russian Empire , the State Education Committee of the Provisional Government , as well as the former Palace Ministry , which comprised the imperial theaters, the Academy of Arts and administered the imperial palaces.

The NARKOMPROS was responsible for the entire organization of education, science, library and publishing, museums, theaters, cinemas, workers' clubs and monument protection, as well as for all other cultural matters. The Narkompros therefore consisted of several departments, the most important of which were those for visual arts ( ISO ), cinema ( FOTO-KINO ), literature and publishing ( LITO ), music ( MUSO ) and theater ( TEO ).

Narkompros played an important role in the development of art and culture in the young Soviet Union. Until his dismissal in 1929, it was headed by Anatoly Lunacharsky , who massively promoted the development of modern art and architecture. His successor Andrei Bubnow did not continue this course, but gave strict centralistic instructions (until his dismissal in 1937).

In 1946 it was replaced by the RSFSR's Ministry of Education by order of Josef Stalin .

history

Foundation (1917)

On October 26th, Jul. / November 8, 1917 greg. the decree on the establishment of the Council of People's Commissars was acclaimed at the II All-Russian Congress of Soviets , which opened the day before . Anatoly Lunacharsky became the People's Commissar for Education .

One day after the Second All-Russian Congress of Workers, Soldiers and Peasants' Councils, on October 27th, July. / November 9, 1917 greg. the State Commission on Education was established by a joint decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars . This commission was the main governing body of the commissioner's office.

In the decree of October 27th jul. / November 9, 1917 greg. it was decided that all matters relating to popular education should be dealt with temporarily by the staff of the former Ministry of Culture of the Russian Empire . It became an executive body of the State Education Commission. Thus, the role of the Ministry of Culture as a governing body with state functions was terminated and it was transformed into an executive body, a technical apparatus. After the orders of the State Commission had been boycotted by almost all employees and specialists of the ministry, it was agreed that all employees could vacate the premises and Lunacharsky and his employees could move in there.

The employees of the former palace ministry worked well with Yuri Flaxerman , who was appointed by Lunacharsky . However, this section of the narcotic was dated July 1917 . established People's Commissariat for the possession of the RSFSR . In fact, however, it remained under the control of the narcotic, and Flaxman was also able to continue working under the same commissioner, Karelin. This People's Commissariat was dissolved again in August 1918.

On January 29th, Jul. / February 11, 1918 greg. the Department of Fine Arts (ISO) was founded and on May 22nd, July / June 4, 1918 greg. approved by the State Commission on Education. It was headed by Dawid Schterenberg and had a Moscow and a Petrograd subdivision.

Evacuation to Moscow (1918)

Rosta-Fenster by Alexej Radakow : “The uneducated is like a blind man. Misfortune and failure await him everywhere. "

In March 1918, NARKOMPROS, like the entire government, was evacuated to Moscow due to the advancing German troops. However, Lunacharsky stayed in Petrograd, as did some departments of NARKOMPROS (e.g. the ISO). During this time, the NARKOMPROS began to be made more effective. One person in the background was Lenin's wife Krupskaya . However, the organization still remained extremely chaotic. The NARKOMPROS had innumerable departments, sub-departments and commissions. For several years the NARKOMPROS was not able to give precise information about the number of its departments and employees.

On June 26, 1918 (June 13), with Lenin's signature, the Council of People's Commissars issued “The Decree on the Organization of Popular Education in the Russian Republic”, in which the tasks of the State Commission for Education were specified in more detail. The task of the commission was to direct the affairs of popular education and to lay down the general principles of popular education, to issue state educational plans and to clarify other questions of principle. This decree also fundamentally changed the composition of the commission. In addition to the governing body, the commission now also comprised representatives from the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the trade unions, the Supreme Soviet for National Economy (ВСНХ), the People's Commissariat for Nationality Issues and other central institutions and organizations.

The Department of Museums was created from the re-incorporated People's Commissariat for Property of the RSFSR and in August 1918 jul. approved. It was directed by Natalia Trotskaya .

At the beginning of 1920, the commissariat was reorganized to work more effectively. It then consisted of the secretariat, the highest archive administration, the department for the education of national minorities, the state publisher Gosisdat , as well as five sections: organization, a non-university (including adult education , proletcult and ROSTA ), a scientific (including higher education) and a sector for "social training" ( Russian sotzialnogo wospitanija), which was responsible for primary and secondary schools. There was also an artistic department in which important artists such as Vladimir Tatlin , Kazimir Malevich , Ilya Mashkov , Nadezhda Udaltsova , Olga Rozanova , Alexander Rodschenko , and Wassily Kandinsky were involved. This structure existed until the reorganization of NARKOMPROS in 1921.

theatre

In January 1918 the theater department was formed in the People's Commissariat for Education of the RSFSR and officially confirmed in August 1919 with Lenin's signature under the “Decree on the Association of Theater Work”. Thus the work of the theaters was completely placed under central management. New revolutionary theaters were created and new pieces added to the repertoire in order to appropriate the cultural heritage within the framework of the new ruling ideology. In the theater department there was one section each for repertoire, direction, pedagogy and history / theory. The theater department was headed by Olga Kamenewa . The theater department organized lectures and discussions, sent out recommendation lists for schedules, and administered the theater libraries, museums and collections.

Before the revolution there were 82 theaters in Russia; after the revolution there were 150 Red Army theaters in Moscow alone .

On Lenin's instructions, the “ Bachruschin ” theater museum in Moscow was placed under the theater department in February 1919, as was the Art History School (Russian Институт истории искусств) in Petrograd in 1920 .

Head of the theater department were among others Lunacharsky and Vsevolod Meyerhold . Meyerhold dressed in tailcoats and white gloves during the Tsarist era. As an employee of the People's Commissariat, he wore a Kosovorotka , the typical Russian folk long shirt, and instead of white gloves, he wore black under his fingernails.

The theater department was restructured in 1920. Part of its tasks was taken over by the Department of Academic Theater , headed by Jelena Malinovskaya, while the Main Department of Political Education (Russian Главполитпросвет) took on another part of the tasks .

Chaotic development until 1929

The work of the People's Commissariat for Education was very chaotic. It issued many instructions that were often unclear. That was due to the circumstances shortly after the October Revolution and the lack of experience. The huge administrative apparatus with over 400 administrative structures contributed to the chaos. Because of its important tasks, the Russian Communist Party [RKP (B)] and Lenin personally paid a lot of attention to the work of this People's Commissariat.

The educational principles in the program of the RKP (B) were adopted at the 8th Party Congress in March 1919 and were valid until the revision of the party program in 1961. The most important demands were:

  1. General and polytechnical education as well as the combination of teaching and production work for all children and young people up to the age of 17;
  2. Creation of a wide network of pre-school institutions for the purpose of improving social education and the emancipation of women;
  3. Expansion of vocational training and the establishment of numerous extracurricular educational institutions for adults,
  4. Opening wide access to universities, especially for workers.

The educational institutions were to be transformed "from a tool of class rule of the bourgeoisie into a tool of the complete abolition of the class division in society, into a tool of the communist transformation of society". The educational institutions in particular were assigned a central socio-political function: “In the period of the dictatorship of the proletariat (...) the school must not only reflect the principles of communism in general, but also the intellectual, organizational and educational influence of the proletariat on the semi-proletarian and non-proletarian classes of the working masses to bring up a generation capable of finally establishing communism. "

A series of party meetings (October 1920 to January 1921) on questions of popular education passed important resolutions on the establishment of universities, reforms at universities, workers' faculties , lecturers at universities of social sciences and also the restructuring of the People's Commissariat for Education. The restructuring of the People's Commissariat for Education was confirmed by a decree of the Council of People's Commissars of February 11, 1921 and by a resolution of the plenum of the RKP Central Committee (B); Lenin headed the plenary commission.

Lunacharsky was deposed as People's Commissar for Education in 1929. Andrei Bubnow , who led a strict administrative course, got this post .

Publications

  • Isobrazitelnoje iskusstwo (Fine arts) . Magazine, one issue, Petrograd 1919.
  • Iskusstwo (art) . Journal, eight issues, Moscow January – September 1919.
  • Iskusstwo kommuny (art of the commune) . Magazine, nineteen issues, Petrograd December 1918 – April 1919.

literature

  • Sheila Fitzpatrick : The Commissariat of Enlightenment: Soviet Organization of Education and the Arts under Luncharsky, October 1917–1921 . University Press, Cambridge 2002.

Web links

  • Narkompros on Monoskop; accessed on August 6, 2018

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Russian term prosveschtschenije can be translated both with education and with enlightenment.
  2. ^ Sheila Fitzpatrick: The Commissariat of Enlightenment. Soviet Organization of Education and the Arts under Lunacharsky . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2002, ISBN 0-521-52438-5 , pp. 11 .
  3. ^ Sheila Fitzpatrick: The Commissariat of Enlightenment. Soviet Organization of Education and the Arts under Lunacharsky . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2002, ISBN 0-521-52438-5 , pp. 1 .
  4. ^ A b Sheila Fitzpatrick: The Commissariat of Enlightenment. Soviet Organization of Education and the Arts under Lunacharsky . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2002, ISBN 0-521-52438-5 , pp. 18 .
  5. ^ Sheila Fitzpatrick: The Commissariat of Enlightenment. Soviet Organization of Education and the Arts under Lunacharsky . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2002, ISBN 0-521-52438-5 , pp. 12-13, 15 .
  6. ^ A b c Sheila Fitzpatrick: The Commissariat of Enlightenment. Soviet Organization of Education and the Arts under Lunacharsky . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2002, ISBN 0-521-52438-5 , pp. 17 .
  7. ↑ А. В. Луначарский: Об отделе изобразительных искусств . ( newgod.su [accessed August 18, 2018]).
  8. ^ Sheila Fitzpatrick: The Commissariat of Enlightenment. Soviet Organization of Education and the Arts under Lunacharsky . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2002, ISBN 0-521-52438-5 , pp. 19 .
  9. ^ Sheila Fitzpatrick: The Commissariat of Enlightenment. Soviet Organization of Education and the Arts under Lunacharsky . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2002, ISBN 0-521-52438-5 , pp. 25 .
  10. ↑ Michael Lausberg: Educational Policy in the Soviet Union until 1966. Retrieved on August 1, 2020 .