Viktor Grigoryevich Afanasyev (; 18 November 1922 – 10 April 1994) 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 ...

and

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 ...

public figure, journalist and professor of philosophy who is remembered for his work as a

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

academic, politician, and newspaper editor. Afanasyev was editor-in-chief (1974-1975) of the journal ''

Kommunist ''Kommunist'' (Russian: Коммунист), named ''Bolshevik'' (Большевик) until 1952, was a Soviet journal. The journal was started in 1924. The founders were Nikolai Bukharin, Georgy Pyatakov, and Yevgenia Bosch. It was the offici ...

'' and deputy editor (1968–1974) and editor-in-chief (1976–1989) of ''

Pravda ''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, 'Truth') is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most in ...

''. Moderately critical of Soviet leader

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

and still more so as a rising independent politician

Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician and statesman who served as President of Russia from 1991 to 1999. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1961 to ...

in his capacity as editor, Afanasyev was dismissed from his high position at ''Pravda'' after a period of falling circulation and a negative official reaction to the newspaper's highlighting Boris Yeltsin's troubles with

alcohol Alcohol may refer to: Common uses * Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds * Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life ** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages ** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...

during the Gorbachev administration in 1989 and spent the remaining half-decade of his life working for the national Academy of Sciences in Moscow.

Biography

Early life

Born in 1922 in

Aktanysh Aktanysh (; ; ), historically known as Lower Aktanyshbash (; ) is a rural locality (a selo) and the administrative center of Aktanyshsky District of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. The population is less than 10,000, though it has steadily i ...

in the

Tatar ASSR The Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as Tatar ASSR or TASSR, was an autonomous republic of the Russian SFSR. The resolution for its creation was signed on 27 May 1920 and the republic was proclaimed on 25 June 1920. Kazan ...

(now

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Republic of Tatarstan Tatarstan, officially the Republic of Tatarstan, sometimes also called Tataria, is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia located in Eastern Europe. It is a part of the Volga Federal District; and its capital city, capital and largest city i ...

) in 1922, Afanasyev joined the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

in 1940 and served with the Soviet paratroopers in the 1940s and

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, remaining in the armed forces until 1953. He was awarded his first university degree for his independent completion of the required curriculum of the Chita Pedagogical Institute in

Chita, Zabaykalsky Krai Chita (, ) is a city and the administrative center of Zabaykalsky Krai, Russia, located on the Trans-Siberian Railway route, roughly east of Irkutsk and roughly west of Khabarovsk. Population: History Pyotr Beketov's Cossacks founded Chi ...

while still serving in the Soviet military. Afanasyev joined the All-Union Communist Party (b) in 1943.

Academic and public figure

Afanasyev first became a professional instructor upon leaving the Soviet Army in 1953 and continued concentrate his professional interest on teaching and administrative appointments in academia into the 1960s and 1970s. His appointments during this period included teaching as an instructor in Soviet

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

theory at the Chelyabninsk Pedogagical Institute and a position with the philosophical branch of the Academy of Social Sciences of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. He authored a range of papers and books on philosophical subjects in the 1960s and 1970s. His dissertation for a ''

Doktor nauk A Doctor of Sciences, abbreviated д-р наук or д. н.; ; ; ; is a higher doctoral degree in the Russian Empire, Soviet Union and many Commonwealth of Independent States countries. One of the prerequisites of receiving a Doctor of Science ...

'' degree, a work concerned with issues pertinent to both

and

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

on a theoretical level, was accepted in 1964. Afanasyev was elected a corresponding member of the

Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was the highest scientific institution of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991. It united the country's leading scientists and was subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (un ...

in 1972 and advanced to become a full member in 1981."Афанасьев Виктор Григорьевич"
("Afanasyev, Viktor Grigoryevich"). ''Большая Советская Энциклопедия'' (''

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 ...

''), Third Edition. Ed.

Alexander Prokhorov Alexander Mikhailovich Prokhorov (born Alexander Michael Prochoroff, ; 11 July 1916 – 8 January 2002) was an Australian-born Russian physicist and researcher on lasers and masers, in the former Soviet Union. He shared the Nobel Prize in P ...

. Moscow: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1978. He was elected to the

Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the Central committee, highest organ of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) between Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Congresses. Elected by the ...

in 1976. Afanasyev became deputy editor of ''

'' (a newspaper given the prestige of serving as the "official voice of the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),. Abbreviated in Russian as КПСС, ''KPSS''. at some points known as the Russian Communist Party (RCP), All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet ...

") in 1968. He remained as deputy editor with ''Pravda'' until joining the ''

'' (regarded as the theoretical and political organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union) for a brief period as

chief editor An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's Editing, editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is hel ...

in 1974-1975. He returned to become chief editor of ''Pravda'' in 1975, remaining with the newspaper in the same capacity until 1989. Afanasyev was a Deputy (representative) of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, serving from 1974 to 1979. He was twice elected as a Deputy of the

Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (SSUSSR) was the highest body of state authority of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1936 to 1991. Based on the principle of unified power, it was the only branch of government in the So ...

, serving from 1979 to 1989.

As ''Pravda'' editor

Afansyev's period as editor of ''Pravda'' saw a lukewarm response to

's changes in the late 1980s, vacillating between support for Gorbachev's policies and for those of his opponents in the leading circles of the party, while ''Pravda'' readership witnessed a precipitous decline, dropping by around half in the course of Gorbachev's first four years at the helm of the Soviet Union.Doerner, William R., and John Kohan
"Soviet Union: Dear Editor: You're Fired. Signed, Mikhail Gorbachev"
''

TIME Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

''. 30 October 1989. Retrieved 18 December 2009. A ''

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 ...

'' story of October 1989 also recalled that Afanasyev "suffered a nasty embarrassment last month, when ''Pravda'' reprinted a lurid dispatch from an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

newspaper claiming that

reformist Reformism is a political tendency advocating the reform of an existing system or institution – often a political or religious establishment – as opposed to its abolition and replacement via revolution. Within the socialist movement, ref ...

Supreme Soviet The Supreme Soviet () was the common name for the legislative bodies (parliaments) of the Soviet socialist republics (SSR) in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). These soviets were modeled after the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, establ ...

Deputy

boozed and shopped his way through a tour of the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

" The report noted that the newspaper was pressured into publishing an apology, although recorded video subsequently broadcast over the Soviet television "appeared to show Yeltsin at least mildly intoxicated." Afanasyev was dismissed in favor of Gorbachev ally Ivan Frolov under the guise of requesting a "transfer to scientific work" during the subsequent fallout. He spent the remaining half-decade of his life absorbed in work for the Academy of Sciences of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...

since 1991). He died 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 ...

in 1994 and was buried at the

Kuntsevo Cemetery The Kuntsevo Cemetery () is a cemetery servicing Kuntsevo, Moscow. It is located on the bank of the Setun River, to the south of the Mozhaisk Highway (the continuation of the Kutuzovsky Prospekt). The local five-domed church was commissioned in 16 ...

Recognition

Afanasyev was well-recognized for his service by the Soviet state: among the honors awarded him were two Orders of the October Revolution. He was a laureate 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 ...

in 1983."В. Брюсова. Личность. Ученый. Педагог. Журналист. К 80-летию со дня рождения В.Г. Афанасьева".
("V. Bryusova. Public Figure. Scholar. Academic. Journalist. In Honor of the 80th Anniversary of the Birth of V. G. Afanasyev".) Institute of Socio-Political Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 2002. Retrieved 22 December 2009. A thirty-six page work devoted to the achievements of Afanasyev's life was published by the Institute of Socio-Political Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2002, in honor of what would have been Afanasyev's 80th birthday.

Bibliography

1978: ''Social Information and the Regulation of Social Development'', Progress Publishers (Moscow). 1987: ''Historical Materialism'', International Publishers (New York), .

References

External links

*
Social Information and the Regulation of Social Development
', a book by Afanasyev. {{DEFAULTSORT:Afanasyev, Viktor Grigoryevich 1922 births 1994 deaths 20th-century Russian philosophers People from Aktanyshsky District Members of the Central Committee of the 25th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Members of the Central Committee of the 26th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Members of the Central Committee of the 27th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Full Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences Full Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Tenth convocation members of the Soviet of Nationalities Eleventh convocation members of the Soviet of Nationalities Recipients of the Medal "For Courage" (Russia) Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Order of the Red Star Recipients of the USSR State Prize Pravda people Russian atheists Russian male journalists Personnel of the Soviet Airborne Forces Soviet military personnel of World War II Soviet newspaper editors Soviet philosophers Burials at Kuntsevo Cemetery