After the 1917 Revolution, the new Bolshevik authorities paid special attention to propaganda and set about quickly creating a great number of entertaining periodicals and newspapers for workers, soldiers, peasants, women, and of course, Soviet children.
One of them – in fact, one of the first – was Murzilka, a monthly magazine for young children (4-7 years old). Here’s what the first ever issue, published May 16, 1924, looked like.
Murzilka, (N1, 1924)
Russian National Electronic Children's LibraryThe title ‘Murzilka’ was actually a pet name of a puppy from the short stories by children’s author Alexander Fyodorov-Davydov. And the first issue started with a story about the adventures of the cute little trouble-maker.
‘When I grow up, I will be a Bolshevik as well’. (N2, 1924)
Russian National Electronic Children's LibraryThe magazine was actually a small children’s book with short stories on a variety of topics, including the new Soviet reality and its important moral lessons, such as the meaning of May Day, the figure of Lenin, and the Bolshevik Revolution.
Children next to Lenin’s Mausoleum (N1, 1926)
Russian National Electronic Children's LibraryThe best Soviet writers of the day used to write for Murzilka: Sergei Mikhalkov (the author of the lyrics of the Soviet anthem), children’s writers Agnia Barto, Kornei Chukovsky and Samuil Marshak, and comedians Daniil Kharms and Mikhail Zoshchenko were among them.
Greetings to the 17th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (N1, 1934)
Russian National Electronic Children's LibraryAt first, Murzilka was a supplement of Rabochaya Gazeta (Workers' Newspaper) which also included a bunch of other magazines that became iconic: Krokodil illustrated magazine, Rabotnitsa women’s magazine, and Soviet Ekran, a magazine about cinema.
Labor Day (N5, 1930)
Russian National Electronic Children's LibraryIn July 1937, the magazine featured a brand new image of Murzilka, painted by artist Aminadav Kanevsky. Since then, it no longer resembled a puppy, but a yellow creature in a red beret and scarf, with a camera slung over its shoulder.
Murzilka’s new image (N7, 1937)
Russian National Electronic Children's LibraryHowever, in 1941, Murzilka was also pictured as a boy in a puzzle game.
‘Who’s driving Murzilka’ (N7, 1941)
Russian National Electronic Children's LibraryIn 1941, Murzilka started being published by the Molodaya Gvardiya (Young Guard) publishing house, and began to be focused on a slightly older audience, from 6 to 12 years old.
The new face of the magazine. (N5, 1941)
Russian National Electronic Children's LibraryThe magazine didn’t cease publication even during World War II. It published moralistic stories of heroism, pioneer tales and so on.
A happy meeting of a soldier and a partisan (N1-2, 1942)
Russian National Electronic Children's LibraryAnd of course, the theme of war was featured heavily as well. Murzilka wrote about how Soviet children shared their clothes with those who lost their homes during war, as well as stories of children who lost their parents and were rescued by the Red Army.
Stars mean downed aircrafts (N10, 1942)
Russian National Electronic Children's LibraryIn 1945, Murzilka celebrated the victory over the Nazis.
Glory to the Red Army (N5-6, 1945)
Russian National Electronic Children's LibraryThe magazine also published stories about Soviet sightseeing, such as pictures of cities etc.
The Bolshoi Theater in Moscow (N3, 1950)
Russian National Electronic Children's Library
The Bronze Horseman in Leningrad (N5, 1950)
Russian National Electronic Children's LibraryIt also emphasized the importance of education.
Knowledge Day (N9, 1951)
Russian National Electronic Children's LibraryA Soviet child should have known that he/she should act friendly and work together with other kids on a common mission.
A spring clean-up and tree-planting (N4, 1958)
Russian National Electronic Children's LibraryAnd of course, in 1961, Murzilka featured the portrait of Yury Gagarin on the cover,depicting children around the world reading newspapers about his space flight.
‘Honor and glory to the first cosmonaut, Yury Gagarin’ (N5, 1961)
Russian National Electronic Children's LibraryAn image of a yellow fluffy Murzilka appeared in the magazine again in 1959, and has since been settled on, becoming an iconic symbol.
Murzilka skiing (N1, 1959)
Russian National Electronic Children's LibraryIn the 1960-80s the magazine had a circulation of over five million copies (in the 1920s it was only 20,000), so most Soviet kids had a chance to read it or borrow it from friends or a library.
An issue preparing for the 60th anniversary of the Pioneer organization (N9, 1981)
Russian National Electronic Children's LibraryThe magazine had a lot of colorful pictures and attachments, so that children could cut them out and glue them like stickers.
After the Soviet Union’s collapse, the magazine kept being published. Today, the magazine is still around – not a single issue has been missed.
Murzilka’s family (N 9, 1991)
Russian National Electronic Children's LibraryIn 2011, Murzilka entered the Guinness Book of Records as the “longest-running children’s magazine”. A pretty impressive feat!
‘Studying is an important thing!’ (N9, 2002)
Russian National Electronic Children's LibraryIn 2015 a huge digital archive of all the Murzilka issues was uploaded online, so everyone can look through them for free now.
The cover of the new issue (N6, 2023)
murzilka.orgDear readers,
Our website and social media accounts are under threat of being restricted or banned, due to the current circumstances. So, to keep up with our latest content, simply do the following:
If using any of Russia Beyond's content, partly or in full, always provide an active hyperlink to the original material.
Subscribe
to our newsletter!
Get the week's best stories straight to your inbox
