''Strekoza'' () was a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

weekly magazine of humour and satire established in

Saint Petersburg 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 ...

in 1875 by the publisher German Kornfeld. Its original editor-in-chief was Nikolai Bogdanov who left in 1879 to be succeeded by Ippolit Vasilevsky (1879-1905). In its heyday its circulation peaked at 9 thousand.Стрекоза
at the Brief Russian Encyclopedia // Фундаментальная электронная энциклопедия. Краткая литературная энциклопедия Initially seen by many as a successor to the leading Russian satirical magazine ''

Iskra ''Iskra'' (, , ''the Spark'') was a fortnightly political newspaper of Russian socialist emigrants established as the official organ of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP). History ''Iskra'' was published in exile and then smuggl ...

'' which had been closed in 1873, ''Strekoza'' attracted many authors, associated with its radical predecessor, including Pyotr Bykov, Gavriil Zhulev, Nikolai Leykin, Aleksey Pleshcheyev, Pyotr Sergeyenko and

Liodor Palmin Liodor (Iliodor) Ivanovich Palmin (; May 27 (May 15), 1841 in Yaroslavl, Yaroslavskaya gubernia, Russian Empire – November 7 (October 26), 1891 in Moscow, Russian Empire) was a Russian poetry, Russian poet, translator and journalist. Biography ...

. Still, the political climate in Russia by this time had changed, and the magazine adopted a centrist, liberal stance, choosing not to conflict with authorities, even if Vasilevsky, its most active contributor, rarely missed an opportunity to fence with his conservative opponents, notably

Mikhail Katkov Mikhail Nikiforovich Katkov (; 13 February 1818 – 1 August 1887) was a conservative Russian journalist influential during the reign of tsar Alexander III. He was a proponent of Russian nationalism, an important figure in the creation of a fee ...

and Prince Meshchersky. Among the authors whose work occasionally appeared in ''Strekoza'', were

Nikolai Leskov Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov (; – ) was a Russian novelist, short-story writer, playwright, and journalist, who also wrote under the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky. Praised for his unique writing style and innovative experiments in form, and held ...

Yakov Polonsky Yakov Petrovich Polonsky (; ) was a leading Pushkinist poet who wrote poems faithful to the traditions of Russian Romantic poetry during the heyday of realistic prose. Of noble birth, Polonsky attended the Moscow University, where he befriended ...

, Dmitry Grigorovich and Viktor Bilibin. It was in ''Strekoza'' that in 1879 (No. 51 issue)

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

debuted with a piece called "The Mayor's Archeological Report" (Археологический рапорт городничего), followed in March 1880 (No.10 issue) by "The Don Landowner's Stepan Vladimirovich's Letter to His Learned Neighbor Dr. Friedrich" (better known under its shortened title "A Letter to a Learned Neighbor"). In all, ten Chekhov's stories appeared here in 1880, then two more in 1883-1884. In 1908 ''Strekoza'' folded. It was re-launched in 1915 by the publisher Isaak Bogelman, and lasted until 1918.

References

{{Reflist Defunct magazines published in Russia Magazines established in 1875 Magazines disestablished in 1908 Russian political satire Russian-language magazines Satirical magazines published in Russia Weekly magazines published in Russia