The Presidential Library illustrates centenary anniversaries of famous publications

January 13 marks the Russian Press Day. On this day in 1703, by decree of Peter the Great, the first Vedomosti Russian printed newspaper was published in Moscow.

For many newspapers and magazines, Press Day this year will be the first holiday, followed by publication anniversaries. First of all, this concerns children’s journalism, the “rebirth” of which occurred in the post-revolutionary period of the last century.

So many magazines and newspapers for children and about children were published in the 20s! Many of them have lost relevance over time, while others are preparing to celebrate their centenary anniversaries this year. Some of them are available in the electronic collection Domestic periodicals in the collections of the Presidential Library.

In 1924, three magazines for three ages began to be published. For the little ones - Murzilka. For those who are older – Pioneer. And for “working youth” - teenagers, high school students and students - the magazine Smena.

The first issue of the Soviet, and later Russian children's magazine, on which several generations of residents of our country grew up, Murzilka was published on May 16, 1924.

Humor and satire were also welcomed in Murzilka.

Murzilka is still published nowadays. In 2012, the magazine was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as “the magazine for children with the longest period of publication”. Today, the Presidential Library’s portal contains digitized copies of publications for the years 1930–1932, 1934–1937, 1939, 1940, 1942.

In March 1924, the Pioneer magazine launched its publication. The first issue was dedicated to Vladimir Lenin, about whom Leon Trotsky wrote an essay for the magazine.

The Pioneer organized the work of Timurov’s teams and detachments and carried out a lot of work with detectives. The arguments of the pioneers, along with the materials of famous authors, were published in every issue of the magazine.

In addition to creating notes and small articles, the guys also popularized their favorite magazine.

The Pioneer magazine was published for more than nine decades, until the end of 2016. A selection of issues of the Pioneer magazine for 1930 is available on the Presidential Library’s portal.

On June 1, 1924, the Counselor (Vozhaty) magazine began to be published to help the leaders of the pioneer organization. The publication described the work experience of the best squads, detachments, units of Pioneer leaders and councils of the Pioneer organization. The collections of the Presidential Library make it possible to familiarize yourself with individual issues of the magazine Counselor from 1927 to 1939.

Another anniversary of this year, which cannot be ignored, is the country’s first newspaper for children and teenagers, Lenin Sparks (Leninskie Iskry) which was published in Leningrad on August 31, 1924. It was here that new abbreviations appeared - “detkor” (“children’s correspondent”), and later “junkor” (“young correspondent”).

The children's correspondents also engaged in subscriptions, distributing the newspaper among their friends and classmates. Journalists still say with a smile that if Russian literature came out of Gogol’s “The Overcoat,” then journalism in the northern capital came from Lenin’s Sparks.

At different times, Arkady Gaidar, Maxim Gorky, Alexander Kuprin, Mikhail Zoshchenko, Lev Kassil, Boris Zhitkov, Korney Chukovsky, Sergei Mikhalkov, Vitaly Bianki, Olga Bergholz, Samuil Marshak and many others wrote for the newspaper. Among the authors were also trainer Vladimir Durov and biologist Nikolai Vavilov. The newspaper was published for 67 years. Since 1992, the legal successor of Lenin Sparks has been published in St. Petersburg - only not a newspaper, but the magazine Five Corners (Pyat’ Uglov), individual issues of which are available in the Presidential Library’s collections.

But not only children and teenagers needed publications that raised issues that concerned them and discussed their problems. Mentors, educators and teachers also needed support.

In total, the collection Domestic periodicals in the collections of the Presidential Library currently includes 192 titles of magazines and 188 newspapers. One can learn about them on the Presidential Library’s portal, as well as in more than 1,600 remote access centers located in the Russian Federation and abroad.