In Russian language and culture, "former people" (russian: Бывшие люди, byvshiye lyudy) are people who lost their social status, an expression somewhat similar to the English one, " has-beens". The expression went into a wide circulation in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

after the 1897 short story of

Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and social ...

, ''Бывшие люди'', translated in English as ''

Creatures That Once Were Men "Creatures That Once Were Men" (russian: Бывшие люди, literally, "former people") is a 1897 novella by the Russian writer Maxim Gorky. It is regarded as a work of social realism, and it depicts the bottom of Russian society (like Gorky' ...

'', about people fallen from prosperity into an abyss of misery. After the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

the expression referred to people who lost their social status after the revolution: aristocracy, imperial military, bureaucracy, clergy, etc.

Background

While the "former people" of Gorky were the object of pity and compassion, from the very first days of the

Soviet power The political system of the Soviet Union took place in a federal single-party soviet socialist republic framework which was characterized by the superior role of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), the only party permitted by the Co ...

, the "former people" in the new meaning had become a target of severe persecution of various kinds. In fact, during the wave of repressions after the assassination of

Sergey Kirov Sergei Mironovich Kirov (né Kostrikov; 27 March 1886 – 1 December 1934) was a Soviet politician and Bolshevik revolutionary whose assassination led to the first Great Purge. Kirov was an early revolutionary in the Russian Empire and membe ...

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

carried out Operation "Former People", in the course of which during March 1935 over 11,000 of "former people" were arrested or deported from

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

(whose Communist Party organization Kirov headed and where he was killed), according to Directive № 29 of February 27, 1935, "On the eviction of a counter-revolutionary element from Leningrad and suburban areas to remote areas of the country.". In April, NKVD chief

Genrikh Yagoda Genrikh Grigoryevich Yagoda ( rus, Ге́нрих Григо́рьевич Яго́да, Genrikh Grigor'yevich Yagoda, born Yenokh Gershevich Iyeguda; 7 November 1891 – 15 March 1938) was a Soviet secret police official who served as director ...

expanded the scope of the operation to cleanse the border region of

Leningrad Oblast Leningrad Oblast ( rus, Ленинградская область, Leningradskaya oblast’, lʲɪnʲɪnˈgratskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ, , ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It was established on 1 August 1927, a ...

and

Karelian ASSR The Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic ( rus, Каре́льская Автоно́мная Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респу́блика, r=Karelskaya Avtonomnaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respub ...

from further 22,000 "formers". Further 8,000 were deported from the area during the so-called "passport operations". During the peak of the

Great Purge The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Nikolay Yezhov, Yezhov'), was General ...

, the cleansing of the country from the "former people" was explained by the necessity to eliminate the "insurgence base" in the case of a war. The 1939 NKVD Order No. 001223, which established the detailed bureaucratic procedures for keeping track of "

anti-Soviet Anti-Sovietism, anti-Soviet sentiment, called by Soviet authorities ''antisovetchina'' (russian: антисоветчина), refers to persons and activities actually or allegedly aimed against the Soviet Union or government power within the ...

and socially alien elements", defined the category of "former people" as follows: "former tsarist and

White Army The White Army (russian: Белая армия, Belaya armiya) or White Guard (russian: Бѣлая гвардія/Белая гвардия, Belaya gvardiya, label=none), also referred to as the Whites or White Guardsmen (russian: Бѣлогв� ...

administration, former '' dvoryans'' ussian nobility ''pomeshchiks'' (noble landowners), merchants and petty merchants, those who employ hired labor, industrialists, and others". The number of "former people" was in the millions. According to various estimates, in 1913 in Russia, there were between 22 and 35 million relatively wealthy people, counting both urban and rural population. Historian Douglas Smith's book, ''Former People: The Final Days of the Russian Aristocracy'', traces the calamities of two representative aristocratic families, the Golitsyns and the

Sheremetev The House of Sheremetev (russian: Шереме́тевы) was one of the wealthiest and most influential noble families in Russia descending from Feodor Koshka who was of Old Prussian origin. History The family held many high commanding ran ...

s. Additionally,

Amor Towles Amor Towles (born 1964) is an American novelist. He is best known for his bestselling novels ''Rules of Civility'' (2011), ''A Gentleman in Moscow'' (2016), and ''The Lincoln Highway'' (2021). Early life and education Towles was born and raise ...

' novel ''

A Gentleman in Moscow ''A Gentleman in Moscow'' is a 2016 novel by Amor Towles. It is his second novel, published five years after his The New York Times Best Seller list, '' New York Times'' best seller, ''Rules of Civility'' (2011). Background The protagonist is ...

'' chronicles the tale of a former person imprisoned in the Moscow hotel Metropol for much of his adult life.

Background

See also

References

Further reading