Novaya Zhizn (New Life), newspaper (1917-1918)

Categories / Press. Mass Media/Periodical Press/Newspapers
NOVAYA ZHIZN (New Life), a public literary daily newspaper which appeared in Petrograd from 18 April (1 May) 1917 until 16 July 1918 (with a total of 354 issues). A. N. Tikhonov was the official publisher (real name А. Serebrov) but it was M. Gorky who founded and edited the paper also covering the costs of publishing through his own assets and from money received from the Bank of Siberia and some other publishers. The Headquarters were located at 64 Nevsky Prospect and the editorial office at 26 Shpalernaya Street. The staff included political and public figures such as B. V. Avilov, V. А. Bazarov, D. Y. Dalin, V. A. Desnitsky, А. V. Lunacharsky, N. N. Sukhanov, G. V. Tsyperovich et al. (with most of them belonging to the Social Democrat Party, i.e. the Mensheviks), writers and poets V. Y. Bryusov, Е. I. Zamyatin, V. V. Mayakovsky, М. М. Prishvin et al. The paper advocated the principles of International Socialism, raising its voice against WW I and the Civil War, and after the events of October 1917 harshly criticised Bolshevik policy. Gorky's notes on the Russian Revolution from Untimely Thoughts triggered a particularly strong public reaction. Based on the platform conceptualised by a group of Novaya Zhizn authors in January 1918, the Russian Social-Democratic Workers' Party (internationalists) was established. In 1918, Novaya Zhizn became the mouthpiece of the anti-Bolshevik independent workers' movement, operating in Petrograd within extraordinary assemblies of factory and plant delegates. On 16 July 1918, the publication was closed down by resolution of the Commissariat of Press and Propaganda of the Petrograd Commune.

References: Горький А. М. Несвоевременные мысли и рассуждения о революции и культуре (1917-1918 гг.). М., 1990; Чураков Д. О. Организованный рабочий протест и становление Советского государства. М., 2003.

D. O. Churakov. Avilov Boris Vasilievich
Bazarov (real name Rudnev) Vladimir Alexandrovich
Bryusov Valery Yakovlevich
Dalin D.Y.
Desnitsky Vasily Alexandrovich
Gorky Maxim (Alexey Maximovich Peshkov)
Lunacharsky Anatoly Vasilievich
Mayakovsky Vladimir Vladimirovich
Prishvin Mikhail Mikhailovich
Sukhanov Nikolay Nikolaevich
Tikhonov Alexander Nikolaevich
Tsyperovich Grigory Vladimirovich
Zamyatin Evgeny Ivanovich
Nevsky prospect/Saint Petersburg, city, house 64
Shpalernaya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 26
Горький А. М. Несвоевременные мысли и рассуждения о революции и культуре (1917-1918 гг.) . М., 1990
Чураков Д. О. Организованный рабочий протест и становление Сов. гос-ва. М., 2003