A ''lishenets'' ( rus, лишенец, p=lʲɪˈʂenʲɪt͡s), лишение ''deprivation'' + -ец '' -ee''; "disenfranchised"; plural ''lishentsy'', russian: лишенцы) was a disenfranchised person in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

from 1918 to 1936.

History

The 1918 Soviet Constitution enumerated the categories of disenfranchised people: * Persons who used hired labor to obtain increase in profits * Persons who have income without doing any work, such as interests from capital, receipts from property, etc. * Private

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

s, trade and commercial

broker A broker is a person or firm who arranges transactions between a buyer and a seller for a commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer becomes a principal party to the deal. Neither role should be con ...

s *

Monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedic ...

s and

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

of all denominations * Persons who were policemen or

military officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...

s before 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 mom ...

* Persons who have been declared demented or mentally deficient, persons under guardianship, etc. The

Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first)Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

used disfranchisement as a means of repression against categories of the population that were classified as " enemies of the working people", first in the

Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

and later the Soviet Union after its founding in 1922.Смирнова Т.М. "Бывшие люди Советской России. Стратегии выживания и пути интеграции. 1917 - 1936 годы", Мир истории, 2003. — 296 pp. — A person deemed to be a ''lishinets'' by Soviet authorities was subsequently stripped of their right to

vote Voting is a method by which a group, such as a meeting or an electorate, can engage for the purpose of making a collective decision or expressing an opinion usually following discussions, debates or election campaigns. Democracies elect holde ...

or to be elected by the enfranchised. The

1924 Soviet Constitution The 1924 Constitution of the Soviet Union was the constitution of the Soviet Union adopted on 31 January 1924. According to Archie Brown the constitution was never an accurate guide to political reality in the USSR. For example, the fact that th ...

and subsequent decrees detailed this list further and added new categories, and being disenfranchised meant much more than simply being disallowed to vote or be elected. A ''lishenets'' could not occupy any governmental position, could not receive higher and technical education, could not be a member of

kolkhoz A kolkhoz ( rus, колхо́з, a=ru-kolkhoz.ogg, p=kɐlˈxos) was a form of collective farm in the Soviet Union. Kolkhozes existed along with state farms or sovkhoz., a contraction of советское хозяйство, soviet ownership or ...

es and other kinds of cooperatives, and was deprived of various privileges and subsidies for employment, housing, retirement, etc. The voting rights of a ''lishenets'' could be restored by local

election commissions An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operat ...

upon the proof of engagement in productive labor and of loyalty to the Soviets. The ultimate authorities for the rights of ''lishentsy'' were the

Central Election Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

and

Presidium A presidium or praesidium is a council of executive officers in some political assemblies that collectively administers its business, either alongside an individual president or in place of one. Communist states In Communist states the presid ...

of the Central Executive Committee. The

1936 Soviet Constitution Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

instituted

universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political sta ...

, and the category of ''lishenets'' was officially eliminated.

References

{{Reflist Elections in the Soviet Union Political repression in the Soviet Union Social groups of Russia Soviet phraseology

History

See also

References