Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaya
Encyclopedia
Nadezhda Konstantinovna "Nadya" Krupskaya ( – February 27, 1939) was a Russian
Bolshevik
revolutionary
and politician. She married the Russian revolutionary leader
Vladimir Lenin
in 1898. She was deputy minister (Comissar) of Education in 1929–1939, Doctor of Education.
officer
, a nobleman
of the Russian Empire
. Nadya’s father, Krupski
Konstantin Ignat’evich, was orphaned in 1847 at nine years of age. He was educated and given a commission as an infantry
officer in the Russian Army. Just before leaving for his assignment in Poland
he married Nadya’s mother. After six years of service, Krupski
lost favor with his supervisors and was charged with “un-Russian activities.” He may have been suspected of being involved with revolutionaries. Following this time he worked in factories or wherever he could find work until later in life when he was recommissioned just before his death.
Her mother, Elizaveta Vasilyevna Tistrova was the daughter of landless Russian nobles
. Elizaveta’s parents died when she was young and she was enrolled in the Bestuzhev Courses
, which happened to be the highest formal education
available to women in Russia during this time. After earning her degree
Elizaveta went on to work as a governess
for noble families until she married Krupsky.
Having parents who were well educated, and of aristocratic descent, combined with firsthand experience with lower class
working conditions probably lead to the formation of many of Nadya’s ideologies
. “From her very childhood Krupskaya was inspired with the spirit of protest against the ugly life around her.”
One of Nadya’s friends from gymnasium
, Ariadne Tyrkova, described Krupskaya as “a tall, quiet girl, who did not flirt with the boys, moved and thought with deliberation, and had already formed strong convictions
… She was one of those who are forever committed, once they have been possessed by their thoughts and feelings….” Nadya attempted to attend two different secondary schools before finding the perfect fit with Prince A.A. Obolensky
's Female Gymnazium “a distinguished private girls’ secondary school in Petersburg
.” This education was probably more liberal
than most other gymnasiums since it was noted that some of the staff were former revolutionaries.
After her father’s death Krupskaya and her mother gave lessons as a source of income. Krupskaya had expressed an interest in entering the education field from a young age. She was particularly drawn to Tolstoy
’s theories on education
, which were fluid instead of structured. They focused on the personal development of each individual student and centered on the importance of the teacher-student relationship.
This led Krupskaya to study many of Tolstoy’s works, including his theories of reformation. These were peaceful, law abiding ideologies, which focused on people abstaining
from unneeded luxuries and being self dependent instead of hiring someone else to tend your house, etc. Tolstoy had a lasting impression on Krupskaya, since it was said she had “a special contempt for stylish clothes and comfort.” She was always modest
in dress, as were her furnishings in her home and office.
As a devoted, lifelong student, Krupskaya began to participate in several discussion circles. These groups got together to study and discuss particular topics for the benefit of everyone involved. It was later, in one of these circles that Krupskaya was first introduced to the theories of Marx
. This piqued her interest as a potential way of making life better for her people. Krupskaya began an in-depth study of the subject. This was difficult since such books had been banned by the Russian government. Consequently, revolutionaries had been collecting such books and keeping them in underground libraries.
, a dedicated Marxist
who later came to be called Lenin
. Krupskaya was impressed by his speeches, but not by his personality, at least not at first. It is hard to know very much of the courtship
between Lenin and Krupskaya as neither party spoke often of personal matters.
In October 1896, several months after Lenin was arrested, Krupskaya was also arrested. After some time Lenin was sentenced to exile
in Siberia
. They had very little communication while in prison but before leaving for Siberia, Lenin wrote a “secret note” to Krupskaya which was delivered by her mother. It suggested that she could be permitted to join him in Siberia if she told people she was his fiancée
. At that time Krupskaya was still awaiting sentencing in Siberia. Krupskaya was permitted to accompany Lenin, but only under the stipulation that they were to be married as soon as she arrived. In her memoirs, Krupskaya notes "with him even such a job as translation was a labour of love". Her relationship
with Lenin was more professional than marital – which Kollontai compared to slavery – but she remained loyal, never once considering divorce
.
Krupskaya is believed to have suffered from Graves' disease
, an illness affecting the thyroid gland
in the neck which causes the eyes to bulge and the neck to tighten. In female sufferers it can also disrupt the menstrual cycle
, which may explain why Lenin and Krupskaya never had children (and the rumors about Lenin allegedly choosing to have an affair with Inessa Armand
).
Upon his release Lenin went off to Europe and settled in Munich
where Krupskaya later met up with him upon her release (1901). After she had arrived the couple moved to London
.
faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
from 1903. She became secretary of the Central Committee in 1905; she returned to Russia the same year, but left again after the failed revolution of 1905 and worked as a teacher in France a couple of years.
After the October Revolution
in 1917, she was appointed deputy to Anatoliy Lunacharskiy, the People's Commissar for Education, where she took charge of Vneshkol'nyi Otdel the Adult Education Division; she became chairman of the education committee in 1920 and was deputy commissar (government minister) from 1929 to 1939. She was instrumental in the foundation of Komsomol
and the Pioneer movement
as well as the Soviet educational system, including the censorship and political indoctrination within it. She was also fundamental in the development of Soviet librarian
ship.
Krupskaya became a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
in 1924, a member of its control commission in 1927, a member of the Supreme Soviet
in 1931 and an honorary citizen in 1931. She apparently favored Stalin in the great debates between the Left Opposition
and the CPSU majority
of the 1920s. In 1925, she attacked Lev Trotsky in a polemic that was in response to Trotsky's tract The Lessons of October. In it, she stated that "Marxist analysis was never Comrade Trotsky’s strong point." In relation to the debate around Socialism in one country
versus Permanent Revolution
, she asserted that Trotsky "under-estimates the role played by the peasantry." Furthermore, she held that Trotsky had misinterpreted the revolutionary situation in post-WWI Germany. During the congress of 1925, she initially supported Grigory Zinoviev
and Lev Kamenev
, but eventually voted for the process against Nikolai Bukharin
and the exclusion of Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev from the party.
Krupskaya is the author of the biography Reminiscences of Lenin, which chronicles the life of her husband. Her biography
is the most detailed account of Lenin’s life before coming to power. It ends in 1919, shortly after the Bolsheviks took power.
, Krupskaya worked five years as an instructor for a factory owner who offered evening classes for his employees. Legally, reading, writing and arithmetic
were taught. Illegally, classes with a revolutionary influence were taught for those students who might be ready for them. Krupskaya and other instructors were relieved of duty when nearly 30,000 factory workers in the area went on strike for better wages. Even after the revolution her emphasis was on “the problems of youth organization and education.” In order to become educated they needed better access to books and materials.
Pre-revolutionary Russian libraries had a tendency to exclude particular members. Some were exclusively for higher classes and some were only for employees of a particular company's "Trade Unions". In addition they also had narrow, Orthodox
literature. It was hard to find any books with new ideas, which is exactly why the underground libraries began. Another problem was the low level of literacy of the masses.
The revolution did not cause an overnight improvement in the libraries. In fact, for a while there were even more problems. The Trade Unions still refused to allow general public use, funds for purchasing books and materials were in short supply and books that were already a part of the libraries were falling apart. In addition there was a low interest in the library career field due to low income and the libraries were sorely in need of re-organization.
Krupskaya directed a census of the libraries in order to address these issues. She encouraged libraries to collaborate and to open their doors to the general public. She encouraged librarians to use common speech when speaking with patrons. Knowing the workers needs was encouraged; what kind of books should be stocked, the subjects readers were interested in, and organizing the material in a fashion to better serve the readers. Committees were held to improve card catalogs.
Krupskaya stated at a library conference: “We have a laughable number of libraries, and their book stocks are even more inadequate. Their quality is terrible, the majority of the population does not know how to use them and does not even know what a library is.”
She also sought better professional schools for librarians. Formal training was scarce in pre-revolutionary Russia for librarians and it only truly began in the twentieth century. Krupskaya, therefore, advocated the creation of library “seminaries” where practicing librarians would instruct aspiring librarians in the skills of their profession, similar to those in the West. The pedagogical characteristics were however those of the Soviet revolutionary period. Librarians were trained to determine what materials were suitable to patrons and whether or not they had the ability to appreciate what the resource had to offer. Also, Krupskaya desired that librarians possess greater verbal and writing skills so that they could more clearly explain why certain reading materials were better than others to their patrons. She believed that explaining resource choices to patrons was a courtesy and an opportunity for more education in socialist political values, not something that was required of the librarian. They were to become facilitators of the revolution and, later, those who helped preserve the values of the resulting socialist state.
Krupskaya was a committed Marxist for whom each element of public education was a step toward improving the life of her people, granting all individuals access to the tools of education and libraries, needed to forge a more fulfilling life. The fulfillment was education and the tools were education and library systems. Krupskaya’s was a life of service and dedication to improving the quality of life of her people.
The asteroid
2071 Nadezhda
discovered in 1971 by Soviet astronomer Tamara Mikhailovna Smirnova was named in her honour.
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
revolutionary
Revolutionary
A revolutionary is a person who either actively participates in, or advocates revolution. Also, when used as an adjective, the term revolutionary refers to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor.-Definition:...
and politician. She married the Russian revolutionary leader
Leader
A leader is one who influences or leads others.Leader may also refer to:- Newspapers :* Leading article, a piece of writing intended to promote an opinion, also called an editorial* The Leader , published 1909–1967...
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
in 1898. She was deputy minister (Comissar) of Education in 1929–1939, Doctor of Education.
Early life
She was the daughter of a Russian militaryMilitary
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
officer
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
, a nobleman
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. Nadya’s father, Krupski
Krupski
Krupski - Belorussian are a noble, family from Eastern Europe-Origin of the Surname:The family Krupski was before the 14th century together with common practice for all noblemen in Europe. Comes from attachment to a personal name of hereditary nobles who owned the family nest Krupe , founders...
Konstantin Ignat’evich, was orphaned in 1847 at nine years of age. He was educated and given a commission as an infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
officer in the Russian Army. Just before leaving for his assignment in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
he married Nadya’s mother. After six years of service, Krupski
Krupski
Krupski - Belorussian are a noble, family from Eastern Europe-Origin of the Surname:The family Krupski was before the 14th century together with common practice for all noblemen in Europe. Comes from attachment to a personal name of hereditary nobles who owned the family nest Krupe , founders...
lost favor with his supervisors and was charged with “un-Russian activities.” He may have been suspected of being involved with revolutionaries. Following this time he worked in factories or wherever he could find work until later in life when he was recommissioned just before his death.
Her mother, Elizaveta Vasilyevna Tistrova was the daughter of landless Russian nobles
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
. Elizaveta’s parents died when she was young and she was enrolled in the Bestuzhev Courses
Bestuzhev Courses
The Bestuzhev Courses were the largest and most prominent women's higher education institution in Imperial Russia.The institute opened its doors in 1878. It was named after Konstantin Bestuzhev-Ryumin, the first director. Other professors included Baudouin de Courtenay, Alexander Borodin, Faddei...
, which happened to be the highest formal education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
available to women in Russia during this time. After earning her degree
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
Elizaveta went on to work as a governess
Governess
A governess is a girl or woman employed to teach and train children in a private household. In contrast to a nanny or a babysitter, she concentrates on teaching children, not on meeting their physical needs...
for noble families until she married Krupsky.
Having parents who were well educated, and of aristocratic descent, combined with firsthand experience with lower class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
working conditions probably lead to the formation of many of Nadya’s ideologies
Ideology
An ideology is a set of ideas that constitutes one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to...
. “From her very childhood Krupskaya was inspired with the spirit of protest against the ugly life around her.”
One of Nadya’s friends from gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
, Ariadne Tyrkova, described Krupskaya as “a tall, quiet girl, who did not flirt with the boys, moved and thought with deliberation, and had already formed strong convictions
Belief
Belief is the psychological state in which an individual holds a proposition or premise to be true.-Belief, knowledge and epistemology:The terms belief and knowledge are used differently in philosophy....
… She was one of those who are forever committed, once they have been possessed by their thoughts and feelings….” Nadya attempted to attend two different secondary schools before finding the perfect fit with Prince A.A. Obolensky
Obolensky
Obolensky is the name of a princely Russian family of the Rurik Dynasty. The family of aristocrats mostly fled Russia in 1917 during the Russian Revolution...
's Female Gymnazium “a distinguished private girls’ secondary school in Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
.” This education was probably more liberal
Social liberalism
Social liberalism is the belief that liberalism should include social justice. It differs from classical liberalism in that it believes the legitimate role of the state includes addressing economic and social issues such as unemployment, health care, and education while simultaneously expanding...
than most other gymnasiums since it was noted that some of the staff were former revolutionaries.
After her father’s death Krupskaya and her mother gave lessons as a source of income. Krupskaya had expressed an interest in entering the education field from a young age. She was particularly drawn to Tolstoy
Tolstoy
Tolstoy, or Tolstoi is a prominent family of Russian nobility, descending from Andrey Kharitonovich Tolstoy who served under Vasily II of Moscow...
’s theories on education
Philosophy of education
Philosophy of education can refer to either the academic field of applied philosophy or to one of any educational philosophies that promote a specific type or vision of education, and/or which examine the definition, goals and meaning of education....
, which were fluid instead of structured. They focused on the personal development of each individual student and centered on the importance of the teacher-student relationship.
This led Krupskaya to study many of Tolstoy’s works, including his theories of reformation. These were peaceful, law abiding ideologies, which focused on people abstaining
Abstinence
Abstinence is a voluntary restraint from indulging in bodily activities that are widely experienced as giving pleasure. Most frequently, the term refers to sexual abstinence, or abstention from alcohol or food. The practice can arise from religious prohibitions or practical...
from unneeded luxuries and being self dependent instead of hiring someone else to tend your house, etc. Tolstoy had a lasting impression on Krupskaya, since it was said she had “a special contempt for stylish clothes and comfort.” She was always modest
Modesty
Standards of modesty are aspects of the culture of a country or people, at a given point in time, and is a measure against which an individual in society may be judged....
in dress, as were her furnishings in her home and office.
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
. This piqued her interest as a potential way of making life better for her people. Krupskaya began an in-depth study of the subject. This was difficult since such books had been banned by the Russian government. Consequently, revolutionaries had been collecting such books and keeping them in underground libraries.
Married life
It was at a similar discussion circle that Krupskaya first met Vladimir Ilyich UlyanovVladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
, a dedicated Marxist
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
who later came to be called Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
. Krupskaya was impressed by his speeches, but not by his personality, at least not at first. It is hard to know very much of the courtship
Courtship
Courtship is the period in a couple's relationship which precedes their engagement and marriage, or establishment of an agreed relationship of a more enduring kind. In courtship, a couple get to know each other and decide if there will be an engagement or other such agreement...
between Lenin and Krupskaya as neither party spoke often of personal matters.
In October 1896, several months after Lenin was arrested, Krupskaya was also arrested. After some time Lenin was sentenced to exile
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...
in Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
. They had very little communication while in prison but before leaving for Siberia, Lenin wrote a “secret note” to Krupskaya which was delivered by her mother. It suggested that she could be permitted to join him in Siberia if she told people she was his fiancée
Engagement
An engagement or betrothal is a promise to marry, and also the period of time between proposal and marriage which may be lengthy or trivial. During this period, a couple is said to be betrothed, affianced, engaged to be married, or simply engaged...
. At that time Krupskaya was still awaiting sentencing in Siberia. Krupskaya was permitted to accompany Lenin, but only under the stipulation that they were to be married as soon as she arrived. In her memoirs, Krupskaya notes "with him even such a job as translation was a labour of love". Her relationship
Intimate relationship
An intimate relationship is a particularly close interpersonal relationship that involves physical or emotional intimacy. Physical intimacy is characterized by romantic or passionate love and attachment, or sexual activity. The term is also sometimes used euphemistically for a sexual...
with Lenin was more professional than marital – which Kollontai compared to slavery – but she remained loyal, never once considering divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
.
Krupskaya is believed to have suffered from Graves' disease
Graves' disease
Graves' disease is an autoimmune disease where the thyroid is overactive, producing an excessive amount of thyroid hormones...
, an illness affecting the thyroid gland
Thyroid
The thyroid gland or simply, the thyroid , in vertebrate anatomy, is one of the largest endocrine glands. The thyroid gland is found in the neck, below the thyroid cartilage...
in the neck which causes the eyes to bulge and the neck to tighten. In female sufferers it can also disrupt the menstrual cycle
Menstrual cycle
The menstrual cycle is the scientific term for the physiological changes that can occur in fertile women for the purpose of sexual reproduction. This article focuses on the human menstrual cycle....
, which may explain why Lenin and Krupskaya never had children (and the rumors about Lenin allegedly choosing to have an affair with Inessa Armand
Inessa Armand
Inessa Armand , born Elisabeth-Inès Stéphane d'Herbenville, was a French communist politician and feminist who spent most of her life in Russia. She was also known for her affair with Vladimir Lenin....
).
Upon his release Lenin went off to Europe and settled in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
where Krupskaya later met up with him upon her release (1901). After she had arrived the couple moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Political career
Krupskaya's political life was active: she was a functionary of the bolshevikBolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party , also known as Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party or Russian Social Democratic Party, was a revolutionary socialist Russian political party formed in 1898 in Minsk to unite the various revolutionary organizations into one party...
from 1903. She became secretary of the Central Committee in 1905; she returned to Russia the same year, but left again after the failed revolution of 1905 and worked as a teacher in France a couple of years.
After the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
in 1917, she was appointed deputy to Anatoliy Lunacharskiy, the People's Commissar for Education, where she took charge of Vneshkol'nyi Otdel the Adult Education Division; she became chairman of the education committee in 1920 and was deputy commissar (government minister) from 1929 to 1939. She was instrumental in the foundation of Komsomol
Komsomol
The Communist Union of Youth , usually known as Komsomol , was the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Komsomol in its earliest form was established in urban centers in 1918. During the early years, it was a Russian organization, known as the Russian Communist Union of...
and the Pioneer movement
Pioneer movement
A pioneer movement is an organization for children operated by a communist party. Typically children enter into the organization in elementary school and continue until adolescence. The adolescents then typically joined the Young Communist League...
as well as the Soviet educational system, including the censorship and political indoctrination within it. She was also fundamental in the development of Soviet librarian
Librarian
A librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs...
ship.
Krupskaya became a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , abbreviated in Russian as ЦК, "Tse-ka", earlier was also called as the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party ...
in 1924, a member of its control commission in 1927, a member of the Supreme Soviet
Supreme Soviet
The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union was the Supreme Soviet in the Soviet Union and the only one with the power to pass constitutional amendments...
in 1931 and an honorary citizen in 1931. She apparently favored Stalin in the great debates between the Left Opposition
Left Opposition
The Left Opposition was a faction within the Bolshevik Party from 1923 to 1927, headed de facto by Leon Trotsky. The Left Opposition formed as part of the power struggle within the party leadership that began with the Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin's illness and intensified with his death in January...
and the CPSU majority
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
of the 1920s. In 1925, she attacked Lev Trotsky in a polemic that was in response to Trotsky's tract The Lessons of October. In it, she stated that "Marxist analysis was never Comrade Trotsky’s strong point." In relation to the debate around Socialism in one country
Socialism in One Country
Socialism in One Country was a theory put forth by Joseph Stalin in 1924, elaborated by Nikolai Bukharin in 1925 and finally adopted as state policy by Stalin...
versus Permanent Revolution
Permanent Revolution
Permanent revolution is a term within Marxist theory, established in usage by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels by at least 1850 but which has since become most closely associated with Leon Trotsky. The use of the term by different theorists is not identical...
, she asserted that Trotsky "under-estimates the role played by the peasantry." Furthermore, she held that Trotsky had misinterpreted the revolutionary situation in post-WWI Germany. During the congress of 1925, she initially supported Grigory Zinoviev
Grigory Zinoviev
Grigory Yevseevich Zinoviev , born Ovsei-Gershon Aronovich Radomyslsky Apfelbaum , was a Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet Communist politician...
and Lev Kamenev
Lev Kamenev
Lev Borisovich Kamenev , born Rozenfeld , was a Bolshevik revolutionary and a prominent Soviet politician. He was briefly head of state of the new republic in 1917, and from 1923-24 the acting Premier in the last year of Lenin's life....
, but eventually voted for the process against Nikolai Bukharin
Nikolai Bukharin
Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin , was a Russian Marxist, Bolshevik revolutionary, and Soviet politician. He was a member of the Politburo and Central Committee , chairman of the Communist International , and the editor in chief of Pravda , the journal Bolshevik , Izvestia , and the Great Soviet...
and the exclusion of Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev from the party.
Krupskaya is the author of the biography Reminiscences of Lenin, which chronicles the life of her husband. Her biography
Biography
A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
is the most detailed account of Lenin’s life before coming to power. It ends in 1919, shortly after the Bolsheviks took power.
Soviet education and libraries
Before the revolutionOctober Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
, Krupskaya worked five years as an instructor for a factory owner who offered evening classes for his employees. Legally, reading, writing and arithmetic
Arithmetic
Arithmetic or arithmetics is the oldest and most elementary branch of mathematics, used by almost everyone, for tasks ranging from simple day-to-day counting to advanced science and business calculations. It involves the study of quantity, especially as the result of combining numbers...
were taught. Illegally, classes with a revolutionary influence were taught for those students who might be ready for them. Krupskaya and other instructors were relieved of duty when nearly 30,000 factory workers in the area went on strike for better wages. Even after the revolution her emphasis was on “the problems of youth organization and education.” In order to become educated they needed better access to books and materials.
Pre-revolutionary Russian libraries had a tendency to exclude particular members. Some were exclusively for higher classes and some were only for employees of a particular company's "Trade Unions". In addition they also had narrow, Orthodox
Orthodoxy
The word orthodox, from Greek orthos + doxa , is generally used to mean the adherence to accepted norms, more specifically to creeds, especially in religion...
literature. It was hard to find any books with new ideas, which is exactly why the underground libraries began. Another problem was the low level of literacy of the masses.
The revolution did not cause an overnight improvement in the libraries. In fact, for a while there were even more problems. The Trade Unions still refused to allow general public use, funds for purchasing books and materials were in short supply and books that were already a part of the libraries were falling apart. In addition there was a low interest in the library career field due to low income and the libraries were sorely in need of re-organization.
Krupskaya directed a census of the libraries in order to address these issues. She encouraged libraries to collaborate and to open their doors to the general public. She encouraged librarians to use common speech when speaking with patrons. Knowing the workers needs was encouraged; what kind of books should be stocked, the subjects readers were interested in, and organizing the material in a fashion to better serve the readers. Committees were held to improve card catalogs.
Krupskaya stated at a library conference: “We have a laughable number of libraries, and their book stocks are even more inadequate. Their quality is terrible, the majority of the population does not know how to use them and does not even know what a library is.”
She also sought better professional schools for librarians. Formal training was scarce in pre-revolutionary Russia for librarians and it only truly began in the twentieth century. Krupskaya, therefore, advocated the creation of library “seminaries” where practicing librarians would instruct aspiring librarians in the skills of their profession, similar to those in the West. The pedagogical characteristics were however those of the Soviet revolutionary period. Librarians were trained to determine what materials were suitable to patrons and whether or not they had the ability to appreciate what the resource had to offer. Also, Krupskaya desired that librarians possess greater verbal and writing skills so that they could more clearly explain why certain reading materials were better than others to their patrons. She believed that explaining resource choices to patrons was a courtesy and an opportunity for more education in socialist political values, not something that was required of the librarian. They were to become facilitators of the revolution and, later, those who helped preserve the values of the resulting socialist state.
Krupskaya was a committed Marxist for whom each element of public education was a step toward improving the life of her people, granting all individuals access to the tools of education and libraries, needed to forge a more fulfilling life. The fulfillment was education and the tools were education and library systems. Krupskaya’s was a life of service and dedication to improving the quality of life of her people.
Legacy
Following her death in 1939 a Leningrad chocolate factory was renamed in her honour. Its chocolate bar product was named Krupskaya and retains that name today.The asteroid
Asteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
2071 Nadezhda
2071 Nadezhda
2071 Nadezhda is an asteroid. It was discovered on August 18, 1971 by T. M. Smirnova at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory. It was named after Nadezhda Krupskaya for her role as one of the creators of the Soviet public education system....
discovered in 1971 by Soviet astronomer Tamara Mikhailovna Smirnova was named in her honour.
Sources
- Raymond, Boris The contribution of N. K. Krupskaia to the development of Soviet Russian Librarianship: 1917–1939 (Ann Arbor : The University of Chicago, 1978)