''Vokrug sveta'' (russian: Вокруг света, literally: "Around the World") is a Russian geographic magazine. It is the longest running magazine in the Russian language. The first issue was printed 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 December 1861, almost thirty years before the establishment of the ''

National Geographic Magazine ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

''. Thus, it is one of the oldest popular science magazines in the world. Release of ''Vokrug sveta'' was suspended twice: from 1918 to 1927, during the Russian Revolution, and from 1941 to 1945, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Nevertheless, the magazine always resumed and continues to be published to this day.

History

Before the Revolution

The magazine was conceived by a

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

-born entrepreneur, Maurycy Bolesław Wolff, who defined ''Vokrug Sveta'' as a lavishly illustrated yearly publication, dedicated to "physical geography, natural sciences, the most recent discoveries, inventions and observations". Its roster of authors included:

Alfred Brehm Alfred Edmund Brehm (; 2 February 1829 – 11 November 1884) was a German zoologist, writer, director of zoological gardens and the son of Christian Ludwig Brehm, a famous pastor and ornithologist. Through the book title ''Brehms Tierleb ...

Camille Flammarion Nicolas Camille Flammarion FRAS (; 26 February 1842 – 3 June 1925) was a French astronomer and author. He was a prolific author of more than fifty titles, including popular science works about astronomy, several notable early science fic ...

, Nikolai Przhevalsky and Nicholai Miklukho-Maklai. The Wolff edition was discontinued after 1868 for unclear reasons, but the project of a popular geographical journal was revived in 1885 by Ivan Sytin, a printer who directed his periodicals toward a wider audience. Sytin's ''Vokrug sveta'' was issued monthly and featured original translations of popular adventure fiction from such authors as Jules Verne,

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

and Arthur Conan Doyle.

After the Revolution

The Russian Revolution brought this period of the magazine's history to an abrupt termination. Like many other periodicals of Imperial Russia, ''Vokrug sveta'' suspended publication for ten years. It was back in print under the auspices of the

Young Communist League The Young Communist League (YCL) is the name used by the youth wing of various Communist parties around the world. The name YCL of XXX (name of country) originates from the precedent established by the Communist Youth International. Examples of Y ...

, specifically targeted toward the youth audience. Contributing editors included some of the finest Soviet science fiction authors, including Alexander Belayev, Vladimir Obruchev and

Ivan Yefremov Ivan Antonovich (real patronymic Antipovich) Yefremov ( ru , Ива́н Анто́нович (Анти́пович) Ефре́мов; April 23, 1908 – October 5, 1972; last name sometimes transliterated as Efremov) was a Soviet paleonto ...

. In 1938, the magazine's headquarters relocated, from Leningrad to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

and its publication was altogether suspended during

. For Soviet readers, ''Vokrug sveta'' represented a rare source of authentic, fully illustrated information about foreign cultural attractions. This is despite the insistence of Soviet officials that the magazine should cover domestic tourist attractions, rather than those situated outside the USSR. In the 1960s and 1970s, the magazine continued to grow in popularity and increased the circulation to 2,300,000 copies by 1971. A television subsidiary was also popular, particularly in the early 1990s. As of 2007, ''Vokrug sveta'' ranks third among Russia's popular monthlies, with a circulation hovering around 250,000. The free archives of past issues (starting from 1970) are available on their website.

References

External links

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''Vokrug sveta'' official website
{{in lang, ru 1861 establishments in the Russian Empire Geographic magazines Magazines established in 1861 Magazines published in Saint Petersburg Russian-language magazines Monthly magazines published in Russia Science and technology magazines published in Russia Magazines published in the Soviet Union