Osip Yermansky
Encyclopedia
Osip Arkadyevich Yermansky (Russian
: О́сип Арка́дьевич Ерма́нский, born Yosif Arkadyevich Kogan, Иосиф Аркадьевич Коган; known by the pseudonyms M. Borisov, A. O. Gushka, Meerovich, and P. R.) (July 28, 1867, Akkerman
, Bessarabia Governorate
- 1941) was a Russian
Social Democratic political figure, economic theorist, pamphleteer, and memoirist. He was one of the originators of the Soviet
school of management
, in particular its psychophysiological tendency. He regarded scientific management
as a syncretic, interdisciplinary system, drawing material from other scientific disciplines, such as technology, economics, psychology, and physiology.
estuary, into a family of artisans. After receiving a traditional Jewish education
, he studied jurisprudence at Odessa University
. In 1888, as a consequence of his involvement in the students' movement, he was expelled and sent to the Caucasus. In 1891 he went to Switzerland
, where he became acquainted with Pavel Axelrod
, Vera Zasulich
, Georgi Plekhanov
, and Rosa Luxemburg
. In 1892 he joined the Social Democratic movement while a student in Zurich
, and in 1895 returned to Russia.
He became one of the leaders of the Social Democratic Party in southern Russia and editor of the newspaper Southern Worker («Южный рабочий»). After the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, he became a Menshevik
. He was a delegate to the 4th Congress
. In 1907 he turned his focus to literary activity, and became the editor of several newspapers. During the First World War, as one of the leaders of the St. Petersburg "Initiative-taking group" (which espoused an internationalist anti-war position), Yermansky authored anti-war leaflets and contributed to the Menshevik press.
After the February Revolution
of 1917, he was from March to May the editor in chief of the Working Gazette («Рабочая газета»), the official paper of the Menshevik organization. In June he was a delegate to the first Congress of Soviets
, and to the first All-Russian Central Executive Committee
. From September to December he was the editor of Iskra
.
After the October Revolution
of 1917 he spoke in favor of the creation of uniform socialist government. At the Extraordinary 7th Congress of the RCP(b), he was elected to the presidium of congress. In contrast to Julius Martov
, he proposed that the Mensheviks enter the All-Russian Central Executive Committee
in order to provide a counterweight to the Bolshevik
s.
In the spring of 1918 he moved to Moscow
, where he edited the Menshevik journal Working International. In 1919 he became a full member of the Socialist Academy, and in 1920 he was elected to the Mossovet
. He was arrested on August 23, 1920, and released in September. In April 1921 he left the RSDLP and joined the faculty of Moscow State University, where he concentrated exclusively on management and the scientific organization of labor. He was once more arrested on July 30, 1921, and again in 1931. From 1933 to 1936 he managed the department of economics and management at Bauman Moscow State Technical University. He was arrested in 1937 and again, for the last time, in 1940. He died in a Gulag
in 1941.
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
: О́сип Арка́дьевич Ерма́нский, born Yosif Arkadyevich Kogan, Иосиф Аркадьевич Коган; known by the pseudonyms M. Borisov, A. O. Gushka, Meerovich, and P. R.) (July 28, 1867, Akkerman
Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi
Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi is a city situated on the right bank of the Dniester Liman in the Odessa Oblast of southwestern Ukraine, in the historical region of Bessarabia...
, Bessarabia Governorate
Bessarabia Governorate
Bessarabia was an oblast and later a guberniya in the Russian Empire. It was the eastern part of the Principality of Moldavia annexed by Russia by the Treaty of Bucharest following the Russo-Turkish War, 1806-1812...
- 1941) was a Russian
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....
Social Democratic political figure, economic theorist, pamphleteer, and memoirist. He was one of the originators of the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
school of management
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
, in particular its psychophysiological tendency. He regarded scientific management
Scientific management
Scientific management, also called Taylorism, was a theory of management that analyzed and synthesized workflows. Its main objective was improving economic efficiency, especially labor productivity. It was one of the earliest attempts to apply science to the engineering of processes and to management...
as a syncretic, interdisciplinary system, drawing material from other scientific disciplines, such as technology, economics, psychology, and physiology.
Biography
Yermansky was born in Akkerman, a town on the DniesterDniester
The Dniester is a river in Eastern Europe. It runs through Ukraine and Moldova and separates most of Moldova's territory from the breakaway de facto state of Transnistria.-Names:...
estuary, into a family of artisans. After receiving a traditional Jewish education
Jewish education
Jewish education is the transmission of the tenets, principles and religious laws of Judaism. Due to its emphasis on Torah study, many have commented that Judaism is characterised by "lifelong learning" that extends to adults as much as it does to children.-History:The tradition of Jewish...
, he studied jurisprudence at Odessa University
Odessa University
The I. I. Mechnikov Odessa National University , located in Odessa, Ukraine, is one of the country's major universities. It was founded in 1865, by an edict of Czar Alexander II of Russia, reorganizing the Richelieu Lyceum of Odessa into the new Imperial Novorossiya University. In the Soviet...
. In 1888, as a consequence of his involvement in the students' movement, he was expelled and sent to the Caucasus. In 1891 he went to Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, where he became acquainted with Pavel Axelrod
Pavel Axelrod
Pavel Borisovich Axelrod was a Russian Menshevik.- Early life and career :Born Pinches Borutsch in Potscheff near Chernigov and raised to Shklov, a small provincial town in and Mogilev, the biggest town of the three in the Russian Empire , Axelrod was the son of a Jewish innkeeper.In 1875 in...
, Vera Zasulich
Vera Zasulich
Vera Ivanovna Zasulich was a Russian Marxist writer and revolutionary.-Radical beginnings:Zasulich was born in Mikhaylovka, Russia, one of four daughters of an impoverished minor noble. When she was 3, her father died and her mother sent her to live with her wealthier relatives, the Mikulich...
, Georgi Plekhanov
Georgi Plekhanov
Georgi Valentinovich Plekhanov was a Russian revolutionary and a Marxist theoretician. He was a founder of the Social-Democratic movement in Russia and was one of the first Russians to identify himself as "Marxist." Facing political persecution, Plekhanov emigrated to Switzerland in 1880, where...
, and Rosa Luxemburg
Rosa Luxemburg
Rosa Luxemburg was a Marxist theorist, philosopher, economist and activist of Polish Jewish descent who became a naturalized German citizen...
. In 1892 he joined the Social Democratic movement while a student in Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, and in 1895 returned to Russia.
He became one of the leaders of the Social Democratic Party in southern Russia and editor of the newspaper Southern Worker («Южный рабочий»). After the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, he became a Menshevik
Menshevik
The Mensheviks were a faction of the Russian revolutionary movement that emerged in 1904 after a dispute between Vladimir Lenin and Julius Martov, both members of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party. The dispute originated at the Second Congress of that party, ostensibly over minor issues...
. He was a delegate to the 4th Congress
4th Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
The Fourth Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party that took place in Stockholm, Sweden, from April 10-25 , 1906....
. In 1907 he turned his focus to literary activity, and became the editor of several newspapers. During the First World War, as one of the leaders of the St. Petersburg "Initiative-taking group" (which espoused an internationalist anti-war position), Yermansky authored anti-war leaflets and contributed to the Menshevik press.
After the February Revolution
February Revolution
The February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. Centered around the then capital Petrograd in March . Its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire...
of 1917, he was from March to May the editor in chief of the Working Gazette («Рабочая газета»), the official paper of the Menshevik organization. In June he was a delegate to the first Congress of Soviets
Congress of Soviets
The Congress of Soviets was the supreme governing body of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and several other Soviet republics from 1917–36 and again from 1989-91. After the creation of the Soviet Union, the Congress of Soviets of the Soviet Union functioned as its legislative branch...
, and to the first All-Russian Central Executive Committee
All-Russian Central Executive Committee
All-Russian Central Executive Committee , was the highest legislative, administrative, and revising body of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Although the All-Russian Congress of Soviets had supreme authority, in periods between its sessions its powers were passed to VTsIK...
. From September to December he was the editor of Iskra
Iskra
Iskra was a political newspaper of Russian socialist emigrants established as the official organ of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. Initially, it was managed by Vladimir Lenin, moving as he moved. The first edition was published in Stuttgart on December 1, 1900. Other editions were...
.
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...
of 1917 he spoke in favor of the creation of uniform socialist government. At the Extraordinary 7th Congress of the RCP(b), he was elected to the presidium of congress. In contrast to Julius Martov
Julius Martov
Julius Martov or L. Martov was born in Constantinople in 1873...
, he proposed that the Mensheviks enter the All-Russian Central Executive Committee
All-Russian Central Executive Committee
All-Russian Central Executive Committee , was the highest legislative, administrative, and revising body of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Although the All-Russian Congress of Soviets had supreme authority, in periods between its sessions its powers were passed to VTsIK...
in order to provide a counterweight to the 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....
s.
In the spring of 1918 he moved to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, where he edited the Menshevik journal Working International. In 1919 he became a full member of the Socialist Academy, and in 1920 he was elected to the Mossovet
Mossovet
Mossovet , an abbreviation of Moscow Soviet of People's Deputies, was the informal name of *parallel, shadow city administration of Moscow, Russia run by left-wing parties in 1917*city administration of Moscow in Soviet period...
. He was arrested on August 23, 1920, and released in September. In April 1921 he left the RSDLP and joined the faculty of Moscow State University, where he concentrated exclusively on management and the scientific organization of labor. He was once more arrested on July 30, 1921, and again in 1931. From 1933 to 1936 he managed the department of economics and management at Bauman Moscow State Technical University. He was arrested in 1937 and again, for the last time, in 1940. He died in a Gulag
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
in 1941.
Works
- The Taylor System: Its Significance to the Working Class and to All of Humanity. «Система Тейлора. Что несет она рабочему классу и всему человечеству.» (Petersburg-Moscow, 1918)
- Index of Books and Articles on the Scientific Organization of Labor and Production. «Указатель книг и статей по научной организации труда и производства.» (Moscow, 1921)
- The Scientific Organization of Labor and Production in Taylor's System. «Научная организация труда и производства в системе Тейлора.» (Moscow, 1925, fourth edition)
- The Tragedy of Overproduction. «Трагедия расточительства в производстве» (Moscow-Leningrad, 1929)
- The Theory and Practice of Rationalization. «Теория и практика рационализации» (Moscow-Leningrad, 1928, fifth edition in 1933)
- The Stakhanovite movement and Stakhanovite Methods. «Стахановское движение и стахановские методы» (Moscow, GoskomizdatGoskomizdatGoskomizdat was the State Committee for Publishing in the Soviet Union.It had control over publishing houses, printing plants, book trade and was in charge of the ideological...
, 1940) - From Experience (1877-1921) «Из пережитого (1877-1921)» (Moscow, Goskomizdat), Yermansky's memoirs, containing extensive material on the history of the Social Democratic movement in Russia.