Anatoly Lunacharsky
1875 – 1933 Russian Soviet Commissar of Enlightenment
The cultured first Soviet minister of education and the arts.
- Religion
- Russian Orthodox background; an atheist who nonetheless explored a spiritual 'God-building' current within Marxism.
- Affiliations
- Bolshevik Party; first Soviet commissar for education and culture.
Lunacharsky ran Soviet education and culture for the regime's first decade and protected many artists and old cultural treasures. A writer and critic, he had once flirted with 'God-building,' an attempt to give Marxism the emotional pull of religion. He was eased out as Stalin tightened cultural control.
Connections
- associate of Vladimir Lenin — Served in his government though Lenin mocked his God-building ideas.