Dmitry Ilyich Leshchenko (Russian: Дми́трий Ильи́ч Лéщенко; 25 October 1876, Nikolaev, Kherson province – 9 November 1937,

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

) was a Russian revolutionary,

Old Bolshevik The Old Bolsheviks (), also called the Old Bolshevik Guard or Old Party Guard, were members of the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917. Many Old Bolsheviks became leading politi ...

, professor and one of the founders and first organizers of

Soviet Cinema The cinema of the Soviet Union includes films produced by the constituent republics of the Soviet Union reflecting elements of their pre-Soviet culture, language and history, albeit they were all regulated by the central government in Moscow. ...

who served as first head of the All-Russian Photo and Cinematographic Department of the

People's Commissariat for Education The People's Commissariat for Education (or Narkompros; , directly translated as the "People's Commissariat for Enlightenment") was the Soviet agency charged with the administration of public education and most other issues related to culture. In 1 ...

Life and career

Born into a working-class family of an artisan, he became a student at the

St. Petersburg University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBGU; ) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the Great, the university from the be ...

and joined the

Russian Social Democratic Labour Party The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP), also known as the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party (RSDWP) or the Russian Social Democratic Party (RSDP), was a socialist political party founded in 1898 in Minsk, Russian Empire. The ...

in his student years in 1900. He graduated from the university in 1902. During the

1905 Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, was a revolution in the Russian Empire which began on 22 January 1905 and led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Russian Constitution of 1906, th ...

, he was a member of the "chemical group" created in December 1905 under the Central Committee of the RSDLP. He was entrusted with the serial production of bombs. During this period, he was also the permanent secretary of the Bolshevik newspapers ''Volna'', '' Vperyod'', ''Echo'', published in St. Petersburg, and worked with

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

on most days. Leshchenko's three-room apartment was used for meetings among fellow party members. Lenin, Krupskaya,

Anatoly Lunacharsky Anatoly Vasilyevich Lunacharsky (, born ''Anatoly Aleksandrovich Antonov''; – 26 December 1933) was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and the first Soviet People's Commissariat for Education, People's Commissar (minister) of Education, as well ...

Vatslav Vorovsky Vatslav Vatslavovich Vorovsky (; 27 October ld Style and New Style dates, O.S. 15 October1871 – 10 May 1923) was a Russian Bolsheviks, Bolshevik revolutionary, literary critic, journalist, and Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Soviet dipl ...

and others were visitors. Later he helped to create new safe houses, also acted as an agitator for the Central Committee. He was a delegate of the Fifth Congress of the RSDLP. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Leshchenko firmly defended the Leninist slogan of turning the imperialist war into a civil war, and resolutely fought against defencism. He was active participant in the February Revolution and served as the secretary of the editorial board Izvestia of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies. In 1917 he worked with Krupskaya in the Vyborg District Duma as the secretary of the cultural and educational commission. In 1917 he photographed Lenin in Razliv for a secret passport in the name of K.P Ivanov, a worker of a

Sestroretsk Sestroretsk (; ; ) is a municipal town in Kurortny District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located on the shores of the Gulf of Finland, the Sestra River and the Sestroretskiy Lake northwest of St. Petersburg. Po ...

plant. After the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

, from November 1917 to 1920 he served as Secretary of the State Commission on Education and Secretary of the

RSFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

People's Commissariat A People's Commissariat (; Narkomat) was a structure in the Soviet state (in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, in other union and autonomous republics, in the Soviet Union) from 1917–1946 which functioned as the central executive ...

for Education. In 1918 he headed the

Petrograd Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

Film Committee, in December 1918 - the Central Film Committee in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. He was the founder and professor of the Higher Institute of Photography and Photographic Technology. He played the role of a professor in one of the first Soviet feature films ''Cohabitation''. From 1919 to 1921 he was the head of the All-Russian photographic and cinematographic department of the People 's Commissariat for Education of the RSFSR, the first organization for the management of cinematography within the entire RSFSR. He participated in the organization of the 1st State School of Cinematography (now Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography). In January 1922, he was appointed head of the Petrograd District Photographic and Film Department of POFKO, on the basis of which a new film organization was established on 9 May 1922, the Sevzapkino (North-West Cinema and Photo Administration) which was later renamed to Lenifilm. He headed Sevzapkino until 1923. In March 1923 he became a member of the Artistic Council

Goskino Goskino USSR () is the abbreviated name for the USSR State Committee for Cinematography (Государственный комитет по кинематографии СССР) in the Soviet Union. It was a central state directory body for Sovi ...

. From 19231929 he was elected a member of the Petrograd and then Leningrad City Council. From 1924 to 1929 he was the director of the Leningrad State Photo-Cinema School. From 1923 to 1937 he worked as the head of the department of inorganic chemistry at the Leningrad Agricultural Institute. Leshchenko died on 9 November 1937 in Leningrad after suffering an illness.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leshchenko, Dmitry 1876 births 1937 deaths Revolutionaries of the Russian Revolution of 1905 Revolutionaries of the Russian Revolution Old Bolsheviks Russian Social Democratic Labour Party members Soviet film producers State Committee for Cinematography