Lenin's Decrees

[Jack Kollmann]

This may be of general interest re:  Lenin, Narkompros, and the plan for
"Monumental Propaganda" in 1918.

         There is related material in the works of Lenin and Lunacharsky,
among other places, but the key document of which I am aware is the following:

         Decree of 12 April 1918 of the Soviet of People's Commissars,
entitled "The Removal of Monuments Erected in Honor of the Tsars and their
Servitors and the Production of Projects for Monuments to the Russian
Socialist Revolution," sometimes referred to as "On the Monuments of the
Republic."  Signatories were Lenin, Lunacharsky, Stalin, and Gorbunov.  It
was published in "Izvestiia VTsIK," 14 April 1918 and is reproduced, among
other places, in I. E. Grabar', red., "Istoriia russkogo iskusstva," t. XI,
1957, str. 25; "Dekrety sovetskoi vlasti," t. II, 1959, str. 95-96; English
translation in Vladimir Tolstoy, Irina Bibikova, & Catherine Cooke, eds.,
"Street Art of the Revolution:  Festivals and Celebrations in Russia,
1918-33," Thames & Hudson, 1990, p. 39.

         The decree covers both topics, the removal of tsarist monuments
and the erection of new revolutionary monuments.  Apparently little was
done immediately to fulfill the latter goal, and Lenin already on 13 May
1918 sent a telegram to Lunacharsky complaining of lack of
progress.  Discussion continued over the summer, and on 2 August 1918 a
final version of a proposed list of personages to honor with public
statuary was published in "Izvestiia VTsIK" under Lenin's
signature.  Discussion of these matters may be found, among other places,
in the works cited above and in Brandon Taylor, "Art and Literature Under
the Bolsheviks, Volume I:  The Crisis of Renewal, 1917-1924," London and
Concord, Mass., Pluto Press, pp. 56-63 and passim.

         Hope this helps.  I'm sure there are other publications to turn
to, but maybe the above will suffice for your needs.

Jack Kollmann
Stanford University





>I am looking for information on Lenin's 1918 decrees on monumental
>sculpture, both the "Decree on the Cultivation of Projects for Monuments to
>Revolutionaries and Representatives of World Culture" and the "Decree on the
>Removal of Statues Erected in Honour of the Tsars and Their Servants".  If
>anyone can direct me to where these statements are published and/or
>paraphrase their content, I would appreciate it.  Please respond off-list to
>swiftm at ms.umanitoba.ca.
>
>Thank you,
>
>Dr. Megan Swift
>Instructor, Department of German and Slavic Studies
>University of Manitoba

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