Prapor Marksyzmu [The Banner of Marxism]

Prapor marksyzmu [The Banner of Marxism]

Archive of the journal “Prapor marksyzmu” ["The Banner of Marxism"] (1927–1931; in 1931–1933 – “Prapor marksyzmu-leninzmu” ["The Banner of Marxism-Leninism"]).

“Prapor marksyzmu” was a periodical of the central philosophical institutions of the Ukrainian SSR in 1927–1933.

In the early 1920s, a research department of Marxism and Marxist studies was established at the Kharkiv Institute of People's Education [Kharkivskyi instytut narodnoi osvity], headed by Semen Yuliiovych Semkovskyi (Bronstein). In the spring 1922, the department was transferred to the Artem Communist University [Komunistychnyi universytet imeni Artema].

In 1924, the Ukrainian Institute of Marxism (UIM) [Ukraiinskiy instytut marxismu] was created on the basis of the department that was separated from the university structure. UIM consisted of at least two departments: the Department of Philosophy (headed by Semen Semkovsky) and the Department of Sociology (headed by Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Yurynets).

In 1927, "Prapor marxyzmu" was founded as an official journal of the UIM. It was originally announced to be published 4 times per year (since 1929 – 3 times per year). However, paired issues and issues with double numbering were a frequent occurrence throughout the journal's existence. The journal was orginally published by the State Publishing House of Ukraine [Derzhavne vydavnytstvo Ukraiiny], starting with №1, 1932 – by the Party Publishing House “Proletar” [Partvydav “Proletar”], starting with №2–3, 1933 – by the Party Publishing House of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine [Partvydav TsK KP(b)U]. According to data available, throughout its existence, the journal was edited and published in Kharkiv. The editorial office was located at 21b Rivnosty  ta Braterstva St. (1927–mid 1928) (now Myronosytska St.); 33 Karl Liebknecht St. (1928–1930) (now Sumska St., most probably it was located in the block where the Opera and Ballet Theater is located today). Currently, we do not have accurate information about the address of the editorial office in 1931–1933, However, at this time the journal was not the only journal of the Institute of Philosophy and Natural Science of VUAMLIN: from 1932 onwards, there was also a journal “Za marxystsko-leninske pryrodoznavstvo” ["For Marxist-Leninist Natural Science"], which was announced as a journal of the Association of Natural Science of the Ukrainian Institute of Philosophy and Natural Science and the Marxist-Leninist Natural Science Societies of the VUAMLIN: the editorial board of this journal included scholars who were on the editorial board of the "Prapor marxyzmu" (from 1931  - “Prapor marxyzmu-leninizmu”). We know that the address of the editorial office of this journal was located at the same address as that previously indicated as the address of the editorial office of the "Prapor marxyzmu": 33 Karl Liebknecht Street, Kharkiv. This suggests that in 1931–1933 the address of the editorial office of the "Prapor marxizmu-leninizmu" remained unchanged.

The journal's profile was not purely philosophical: it regularly published articles on sociology, history, economics, law and other disciplines, materials on the “national question”, reviews on Western – mostly German – publications in these disciplines and works by Ukrainian emigrant scholars. The journal was organized with the corresponding sections that varied from issue to issue depending on the presence of the materials from a particular section in a particular issue. A number of issues of the journal also contained a version of the table of contents in German.

Although according to some of the available literature, the UIM was renamed the Ukrainian Institute of Marxism-Leninism (UIML) as early as 1927, the first time the journal published a change in the name of the institute was in № 2(3), 1928: the journal of the Ukrainian Institute of Marxism-Leninism.

According to available sources, in 1931 the UIML became part of the newly created All-Ukrainian Association of Marxist-Leninist Institutes [Vseukraiinska asotsiatsiya marxystsko-leninskyh instytutiv] (VUAMLIN), and the journal changed its name to the “Prapor marxyzmu-leninizmu” [The Banner of Marxism-Leninism]. The official subordination of the journal also changed. In the text of the available issues of the journal, in №1, 1932, it is first noted that the journal is a bimonthly journal of the Institute of Philosophy and Natural Science of the VUAMLIN. From this point on, the character of the printed materials becomes predominantly philosophical.

In № 5-6, 1932, we have an interesting controversy: on the cover of the issue, the journal is for the first time identified as a bimonthly organ of the Research Institute of Philosophy of the VUAMLIN, but the title page and the technical page of the issue present the old subordination of the journal: a bimonthly organ of the Institute of Philosophy and Natural Science of the VUAMLIN. In addition, the title page of this issue contains an incorrect year: 1933 instead of 1932. Apparently, those are editorial errors, which, we may assume, could be related to the rapid change of the Institute's staff, as well as to the change in its organizational structure.

The first non-controversial designation of the journal “Prapor marxyzmu-leninizmu” as a bimonthly journal of the Research Institute of Philosophy of the VUAMLIN is found on the cover and title page of № 1, 1933. At the end of 1933, a year of large-scale repression against VUAMLIN, including the Research Institute of Philosophy, the journal, like a number of other journals of the VUAMLIN, was cancelled.

In the literature, and in particular on the reference page of the journal “Filosofska dumka” ["Philosophical Thought"] on the website of the Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine, we often encounter a general misconception that the journal “Prapor marxizmu-leninizmu” changed its name at the end of 1933 and continued to exist under the new title “Pid marxo-leninskym praporom” ["Under the Marxist-Leninist Banner"] (1934–1936). In fact, the very first issue (1934) of the “Pid marxo-leninskym praporom”, that was announced as a journal of the VUAMLIN, contains a direct explanation: "Instead of the journals “Economist-marxyst” [Economist-Marxist] and “Prapor marxizmu-leninizmu”, all subscribers to the above-mentioned journals will be sent a new theoretical journal of the VUAMLIN <emphasis added – I. D.> “Pid marxo-leninskym praporom”." Having this in mind, as well as considering the change in the editorial board, the subject matter of the journals, and a certain change in institutional subordination (“Prapor marxyzmu-leninizmu” was a journal of one of the institutes of the VUAMLIN, while “Pid marxo-leninskym praporom” was announced as a journal of the VUAMLIN as such), “Pid marxo-leninskym praporom” should be considered a standalone journal. Thus, the historical note on this journal is provided on the corresponding web page of the archive.

Illia Davidenko