Sound UbuWeb

Anatoli Lunacharsky (1875-1933) On People's Education Political speech, ca. 1919, 3'01" Voice – Anatoli Lunacharsky Recording – ca. 1919 Anatoli Vasielievich Lunarcharsky (b Poltave, Ukraine, 1875 - d. Menton, France, 1933) was a Russian dramatist, literary critic and communist politician. After the October Revolution he was named Commissar of Education for the Narkompros (People's Commissar of Education), from 1917 to 1929, which gave him a lot of responsibility in educational matters. He was responsible for important educational and cultural advances such as the massive increase in literacy in the Soviet Union and the protection of avant-garde artists and art, and he was one of the founders of the proletarian artistic movement Proletkult. Lunarcharsky also saved many historic buildings, which certain Bolsheviks wanted to destroy, by insisting on their architectural value. In 1933, with Stalin's arriva l, he was removed from his post and named ambassador to Spain. He died in Menton, France, before he could take possession of his new post. This original recording of Lunacharsky is a speech on the "infinitely important role of education" after the Revolution which, he says, is not only to eradicate illiteracy, but also to improve the people's work qualifications and their political education. Therefore, he sets out two objectives, one, elementary - the fight against illiteracy, the other to introduce higher education centres for scientific education. He ends his speech" bone of bone and flesh of flesh of our working people, our new red intelligence". RELATED RESOURCES: Russian Futurists from the GLM Collection (1920-1959) Sound Experiments in The Russian Avant-Garde (1908-1942)