Lunacharsky, Anatoli Vasilyevich
Related Category: Russian and Eastern European Literature: Biographies
(ənətô´lyē vəsē´lyəvĭch l
nəchär´skē), 1875–1933, Russian revolutionary, dramatist, and critic. He began his revolutionary career in 1892 and joined the Bolshevik party when it appeared, forming with
Gorky and Bogdanov the left wing of the group, which was in opposition to
Lenin. Later he was Lenin's ally in overthrowing the
Kerensky government. His most important position was as commissar of education (1917–29). He advocated the creation of a new proletarian literature, but was also instrumental in the preservation of Russian cultural monuments during the revolution.
