Boris Nikolayevich Agapov (,

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

– 6 October 1973,

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 ...

) was a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

poet, journalist and screenwriter. He is best known for a 1950 article on

cybernetics Cybernetics is the transdisciplinary study of circular causal processes such as feedback and recursion, where the effects of a system's actions (its outputs) return as inputs to that system, influencing subsequent action. It is concerned with ...

which proved influential for the early reception of

cybernetics in the Soviet Union Cybernetics in the Soviet Union had its own particular characteristics, as the study of cybernetics came into contact with the dominant scientific ideologies of the Soviet Union and the nation's economic and political reforms: from the unmitig ...

Biography

Agapov was born on and spent his childhood in Tbilisi, where he graduated from the Department of

Philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

Tbilisi State University Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University ( ka, ივანე ჯავახიშვილის სახელობის თბილისის სახელმწიფო უნივერსიტეტი, tr; often shorten ...

in 1922. Having been secretary of the Caucaus Bureau of the

Russian Telegraph Agency Russian Telegraph Agency (, ROSTA) was the state news agency in Soviet Russia between 1918 and 1935. It was the central information organ of the Soviet Union. After the creation of Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union in 1925, it remained the ne ...

from 1921–22, Agapov moved to Moscow in 1922 to continue his career as a journalist. Agapov began his career here as the member of the group of constructivist poets, the , but soon moved on to less radical grounds. From the 1930s, the subjects of his works were mostly recent advances in

Soviet science The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until it dissolved in 1991. During its existence, it was the largest country by are ...

and Soviet construction works, though he also published articles on education and a

travel journal The genre of travel literature or travelogue encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs. History Early examples of travel literature include the ''Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'' (generally considered a 1s ...

. In 1950 he was the editor of the Soviet newspaper, ''

Literaturnaya Gazeta ''Literaturnaya Gazeta'' (, ''Literary Gazette'') is a weekly cultural and political newspaper published in Russia and the Soviet Union. It was published for two periods in the 19th century, and was revived in 1929. Overview The current newspa ...

''. In 1967, Agapov summarised his view of art as "primarily a tool of communication". One event in Agapov's career that has gathered much attention was the publication of an article on cybernetics in 1950. In the wake of the formation of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

Agitprop Agitprop (; from , portmanteau of ''agitatsiya'', "agitation" and ''propaganda'', "propaganda") refers to an intentional, vigorous promulgation of ideas. The term originated in the Soviet Union where it referred to popular media, such as literatu ...

against American culture was ordered to be intensified, giving rise to a scramble among Soviet journalists to find more original ways to present

anti-American Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment and Americanophobia) is a term that can describe several sentiments and po ...

views. On 4 May 1950, Agapov published " Mark III, a Calculator" in ''Literaturnaia gazeta''. This article ridiculed the interest in computers and cybernetics in post-war America, mocking American capitalists who "love information as American patients love patented pills" singling out

Norbert Wiener Norbert Wiener (November 26, 1894 – March 18, 1964) was an American computer scientist, mathematician, and philosopher. He became a professor of mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ( MIT). A child prodigy, Wiener late ...

(the founding thinker of cybernetics) for his support of American capitalists' "sweet dream" of replacing workers with robots. He commented on a recent issue of ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' (23 January 1950), depicting the Mark III dressed in American military clothing on its cover, as making it "immediately clear in whose service tis employed". This issue of ''Time'' was Agapov's only source in writing the article, having never read any of Wiener's actual work. According to historian of science Slava Gerovitch, though it never mentioned cybernetics by name, this "article had a profound impact on the reception of cybernetics in the Soviet Union" and was "evidently taken as a 'signal' of the official negative attitude toward cybernetics", beginning a Soviet ideological campaign against cybernetics. It was not until the

death of Stalin Joseph Stalin, second leader of the Soviet Union, died on 5 March 1953 at his Kuntsevo Dacha after suffering a stroke, at age 74. He was given a state funeral in Moscow on 9 March, with four days of national mourning declared. On the day of t ...

that the role of cybernetics would be reevaluated by Soviet scientists. Its significance has been questioned by scholar Valery Shilov, instead proposing 1952 article as the beginning of the campaign against Soviet cybernetics. Agapov was also a writer of several Soviet documentaries. In 1946, Agapov feared disapproval from

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

over his role (though minor) as one of the writers of the prohibited film, ''Great Life''; this fear dissipated, as Valery Shilov mentions he became, evidently, a "man who could be trusted to fulfill important and responsible Party tasks". Agapov was twice the recipient of the

USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize () was one of the Soviet Union’s highest civilian honours, awarded from its establishment in September 1966 until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. It recognised outstanding contributions in the fields of science, mathem ...

for his scripts for these documentaries: first in 1946 for ''

The Renaissance of Stalingrad ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'' (1944), then in 1948 for ''

The Day of the Conquering Country ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'' (1947). Agapov died on 6 October 1973, in Moscow.

Reception and legacy

The third edition of the ''

Great Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; , ''BSE'') is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Great Russian Enc ...

'' (1970–79) assessed Agapov favourably, citing him as "one of the pioneers of the Soviet industrial sketch genre", characterised by his "broad generalizations and a poetic treatment of science".

Slavic studies Slavic (American English) or Slavonic (British English) studies, also known as Slavistics, is the academic field of area studies concerned with Slavic peoples, Slavic peoples, languages, literature, history, and culture. Originally, a Slavist or ...

scholar

Wolfgang Kasack Wolfgang Kasack (, ''Volfgang Germanovich Kazak''; Potsdam, 20 January 1927 – Much, 10 January 2003) was a German Slavic studies Slavic (American English) or Slavonic (British English) studies, also known as Slavistics, is the academic fiel ...

was less flattering, pithily summarising that "he wrote uninteresting stories devoted to the socialism building .. ndwas popularizer of actual events in economics and science".

Bibliography

* ''Material for the Creation of the World'' (1933) * '' The I.V. Stalin White Sea – Baltic Sea Canal'' (1934) (among others) * ''Technical Stories'' (1936) * ''Exploits of the Innovators'' (1950) * ''Journey to Brussels'' (1959) * ''About the Past, About Various Things, About the Future (The Great Polymers)'' (1960)

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Agapov, Boris 1899 births 1973 deaths Journalists from Tbilisi Recipients of the USSR State Prize Soviet male poets Soviet non-fiction writers Soviet male screenwriters Writers from Moscow Soviet male non-fiction writers