''Iskra'' (russian: Искра, Spark) was a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

satirical weekly published in

Saint Petersburg 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 ...

in 1859–1873. The magazine, founded by the

caricaturist A caricaturist is an artist who specializes in drawing caricatures. List of caricaturists * Abed Abdi (born 1942) * Al Hirschfeld (1903–2003) * Alex Gard (1900–1948) * Alexander Saroukhan (1898–1977) * Alfred Grévin (1827–1892) * Alf ...

Nikolai Stepanov and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

Vasily Kurochkin Vasily Stepanovich Kurochkin (russian: Василий Степанович Курочкин, 9 August 1831 – 27 August 1875) was a Russian satirical poet, journalist and translator. Biography Vasily Kurochkin was born in Saint Petersburg. His fa ...

was a

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

publication, targeting social inequality and the

Tsarism Tsarist autocracy (russian: царское самодержавие, transcr. ''tsarskoye samoderzhaviye''), also called Tsarism, was a form of autocracy (later absolute monarchy) specific to the Grand Duchy of Moscow and its successor states th ...

. Yet, in its heyday it attracted a host of famous authors from diverse literary factions, including Alexey K. Tolstoy, Alexey Zhemchuzhnikov,

Alexey Pleshcheyev Aleksey Nikolayevich Pleshcheyev (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Никола́евич Плеще́ев; 8 October 1893) was a radical Russian poetry, Russian poet of the 19th century, once a member of the Petrashevsky Circle. Pleshcheyev's ...

Lev Mei Lev Aleksandrovich Mei (russian: Лев Алекса́ндрович Мей (name sometimes transliterated as Lev Mey); ) was a Russian dramatist and poet. Biography Mei was born on 13/25 February 1822, in Moscow. His father was a German officer wh ...

Viktor Burenin Viktor Petrovich Burenin (russian: Виктор Петрович Буренин, March 6 ebruary 22, o.s. 1841 in Moscow, Russian Empire – August 15, 1926 in Leningrad, Soviet Union) was a Russian literary and theatre critic, publicist, no ...

, Liodor Palmin, Vladimir Shchiglev,

Gleb Gleb (Russian and be, Глеб) or Hlib ( uk, Гліб) is a Slavic male given name derived from the Old Norse name ''Guðleifr'', which means "heir of god." According to another version, the name Gleb comes from the name Olaf. It is popular in Rus ...

and

Nikolai Uspensky Nikolai Vasilyevich Uspensky (russian: link=no, Никола́й Васи́льевич Успе́нский; 31 May 1837 – 2 November 1889) was a Russian writer, and a cousin of fellow writer Gleb Uspensky. Uspensky wrote extensively about the ...

s, Alexander Levitov, Pavel Yakushkin, Fyodor Reshetnikov,

Grigory Eliseev Grigory Zakharovich Eliseev (russian: Григо́рий Заха́рович Елисе́ев, 6 February (25 January) 1821, village Spasskoe, Kainsk district, Tomsk Governorate, Russian Empire – 30 (18) January 1891, Saint Petersburg, Russian ...

. ''Iskra'' became famous for its caricatures, made by the best Russian artists of the time, among them Nikolai Stepanov,

Mikhail Mikeshin Mikhail Osipovich Mikeshin (russian: Михаил Осипович Микешин; 1835–1896) was a Russian artist who regularly worked for the Romanov family and designed a number of outdoor statues in the major cities of the Russian Empire. ...

Mikhail Znamensky Mikhail Stepanovich Znamensky (russian: Михаи́л Степа́нович Зна́менский, 26 May 1833, Kurgan, Imperial Russia—15 March 1892, Tobolsk, Imperial Russia) was a Russian writer, memoirist, painter, caricaturist, arch ...

. Throughout its history ''Iskra'' suffered from severe censorship, and in 1865 was forced to part with Vasily Kurochkin. It was finally closed in 1873.Iskra
at the Soviet Literary Encyclopedia in 11 volumes,1929—1939

References

1859 establishments in the Russian Empire 1873 disestablishments in the Russian Empire Defunct literary magazines published in Europe Defunct magazines published in Russia Magazines established in 1859 Magazines disestablished in 1873 Magazines published in Saint Petersburg Literary magazines published in Russia Russian-language magazines Satirical magazines published in Russia Socialist magazines Weekly magazines published in Russia Russian political satire {{poli-mag-stub