Zvezda

(Star), a Bolshevik “legal” newspaper. It was published in St. Petersburg from Dec. 16 (29), 1910, to Apr. 22 (May 5), 1912.

At first Zvezda was issued weekly; from Jan. 21 (Feb. 3), 1912, it came out twice a week; and beginning on Mar. 8 (21), 1912, it appeared three times a week. In the beginning it had a circulation of 7,000–10,000, then 15,000–20,000, and during the Lena events of 1912 50,000–60,000. Sixty-nine issues were published, of which 30 were confiscated and eight were fined. Beginning on Feb. 26 (Mar. 10), l9\\2,Nevskaia zvezda was published in St. Petersburg; it was a continuation of Zvezda and it was meant to replace it in case it should be confiscated or closed down. The last (27th) issue ofNevskaia zvezda came out on Oct. 5 (18), 1912. The first editors were V. D. Bonch-Bruevich (from the Bolsheviks), N. I. lordanskii (from the Menshevik Party members), and I. P. Pokrovskii (from the Social Democratic faction of the Third State Duma). Until the autumn of 1911 this newspaper was the organ of the Duma’s Social Democratic faction. N. G. Poletaev, a Bolshevik of the Social Democratic faction, played a large role in its organization and publication. During its first period the influence of the Mensheviks was felt on the newspaper. V. I. Lenin noted that it was “dull” (see Poln. sobr. soch., 5th ed., vol. 48, p. 13).

Beginning in October 1911, Zvezda became a purely Bolshevik newspaper. Its ideological leader was Lenin, and Zvezda and Nevskaia zvezda published about 50 of his articles. The following people worked on the editorial board: N. N. Baturin, M. S. Ol’minskii, and K. S. Eremeev. Also collaborating in this work were A. I. Elizarova-Ul’ianova, V. V. Vorovskii, V. D. Bonch-Bruevich, L. M. Mikhailov (Politikus), V. I. Nevskii, Dem’ian Bednyi, and A. M. Gorky. A number of articles by G. V. Plekhanov were also placed in Zvezda. The newspaper illuminated political life and conducted a struggle for the purity of the principles of revolutionary Marxism, against liquidationism and Otzovism. It had the following sections: “In the World of Labor,” “Workers’ Life,” “The Workers’ Movement,” “The State Duma,” “Press Survey,” “Chronicle,” “Around and About Russia,” “The Provinces,” and “Life Abroad.” In January, 1912, Zvezda began to collect funds for a daily workers’ newspaper and prepared the way for the publication of Pravda.

(Star), Soviet monthly literary and sociopolitical journal; organ of the Writers’ Union of the USSR. Zvezda has been published in Leningrad since 1924. The journal regularly features prose, poetry, essays, documentary materials, criticism, and literary survey. In 1972 the circulation was 90,000.