''Krokodil'' ( rus, Крокодил, p=krəkɐˈdʲil, a= Ru-крокодил.ogg, ) was a

satirical magazine This is a list of satirical magazines which have a satirical bent, and which may consist of fake news stories for mainly humorous purposes. List See also * List of satirists and satires * List of satirical news websites * List of satir ...

published 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 national ...

. It was founded in 1922 as the satirical supplement to the '' Workers' Gazette'' (called simply «Приложения» upplement. When it became a separate publication, the name ''Crocodile'' was chosen at an editorial meeting from among a list of suggested animal names.Boris Efimov
Десять десятилетий
ch. 6: "Тогда пошли в ход всевозможные жалящие и кусающие представители животного мира: оса, еж, шмель, ерш, ястреб, волкодав, скорпион и даже… крокодил." At that time, many satirical magazines existed, such as ''Zanoza'' and ''Prozhektor''. Nearly all of them eventually disappeared.

History

Krokodil was founded in 1922, first as a supplement to

Rabochaya Gazeta ''Rabochaya Gazeta'' ( rus, Рабочая Газета, p=rɐˈbot͡ɕɪjə ɡɐˈzʲetə, t=Workers' Newspaper) was an illegal social democratic newspaper in the Russian Empire, published in 1897 in Kiev. It was an organ of the Russian Social Dem ...

('Workers' Newspaper'), and was published once a week. Although

political satire Political satire is satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where Political discourse analysis, political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing ...

was dangerous during much of the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

period, ''Krokodil'' was given considerable license to lampoon political figures and events. Typical and safe topics for lampooning in the Soviet era were the lack of initiative and imagination promoted by the style of an average Soviet middle-bureaucrat, and the problems produced by drinking on the job by Soviet workers. ''Krokodil'' also ridiculed capitalist countries and attacked various political, ethnic and religious groups that allegedly opposed the Soviet system. Many notable persons contributed to the magazine, including

Vladimir Mayakovsky Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky (, ; rus, Влади́мир Влади́мирович Маяко́вский, , vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvʲɪtɕ məjɪˈkofskʲɪj, Ru-Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky.ogg, links=y; – 14 Apr ...

Mikhail Zoshchenko Mikhail Mikhailovich Zoshchenko (russian: Михаи́л Миха́йлович Зо́щенко; – 22 July 1958) was a Soviet and Russian writer and satirist. Biography Zoshchenko was born in 1894, in Saint Petersburg, Russia, according to h ...

Kukriniksy The Kukryniksy (russian: Кукрыниксы) were three caricaturists/ cartoonists in the USSR with a recognizable style. "Kukryniksy" is a collective name, which is derived from the names of three caricaturists Mikhail Kupriyanov (Михаи� ...

, and

Yuliy Ganf Yuliy Abramovich Ganf () (8 June 1898 – 21 May 1973) was a Soviet Russian graphic artist, a People's Artist of the USSR, especially known for his satirical cartoons in the ''Krokodil'' magazine. He was furthermore active as a caricaturist, il ...

. Similar magazines existed in all the

Union republic The Republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or the Union Republics ( rus, Сою́зные Респу́блики, r=Soyúznye Respúbliki) were National delimitation in the Soviet Union, national-based administrative units of ...

s, and in several ASSRs and in other states of the Soviet bloc, e.g. '' Starshel'' ("Wasp") in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

, '' Eulenspiegel'' in

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

, ''

Urzica Urzica is a commune in Olt County, Oltenia, Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the we ...

'' ("The Nettle") in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, '' Dikobraz'' ("

Porcupine Porcupines are large rodents with coats of sharp spines, or quills, that protect them against predation. The term covers two families of animals: the Old World porcupines of family Hystricidae, and the New World porcupines of family, Erethizont ...

") in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, and ''

Szpilki ''Szpilki'' was a Polish satirical magazine. It was established in 1936 by a group of leftist literary people, including Eryk Lipiński, , and (chief editor).J. Łojek, J. Myśliński, W. Władyka, ''Dzieje prasy polskiej'', Warszawa 1988, p. 103 ...

'' (''Pins'') in Poland. 1924-HVZ-Mag2

Among the

vocal The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production i ...

compositions of

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throug ...

, who is known for his satirical character, there are ''5 Romances on texts from Krokodil Magazine'' (1965), taken from the section of the magazine where were published real-life nonsense texts.

Reinstatement

After the 1991

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

the magazine was discontinued (2000). It was reinstated in 2005 in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, issued monthly, headquartered in

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 million ...

, and with editor-in-chief Sergei Mostovshchikov. The reinstated version, deliberately printed on old Soviet-style paper, ceased publication in 2008.

Editors-in-chief

The Editorial Staff of Krokodil by P Belyanin 1929

Konstantin Eremeev Konstantin Stepanovich Eremeev (Russian: Константи́н Степа́нович Ереме́ев; 6 June 1874, Minsk – 28 January 1931, Moscow) was a Russian Bolshevik revolutionary, Soviet military leader, journalist and newspaper editor ...

(1922–23) * Nikolay Smirnov (1924–27) * Konstantin Maltsev (1927–28) * Felix Kohn (1928–30) * Nikolay Ivanov-Gramen (1928–30) * Mikhail Manuilsky (1930–34) *

Mikhail Koltsov Mikhail Efimovich Koltsov (russian: Михаи́л Ефи́мович Кольцо́в) (The record of the birth of Moisey Fridlyand in the metric book of the Kiev rabbinate for 1898 ( ЦГИАК Украины. Ф. 1164. Оп. 1. Д. 442. Л. 13 ...

(1934–38) * Yakov Rovinsky (1938–41) *

Lazar Lagin Lazar Iosifovich Lagin (russian: Ла́зарь Ио́сифович Лагин), real name Lazar Ginzburg (4 December 1903, Vitebsk – 4 June 1979, Moscow), was a Soviet and Russian author of children's and science fiction books. Lagin is be ...

(1938–41) * Grigory Ryklin (1941–48) * Dmitry Belyaev (1948–53) * Sergei Shvetsov (1953–58) * Manuil Semyonov (1958–75) * Evgeny Dubrovin (1975–85) * Alexey Pyanov (1986–2000) * Emil Bondarenko (since 2017)

References

External links

{{Commons category, Krokodil
Archive 1922-2008

Archive 1935-1991

Krokodil
1922 establishments in Russia 2006 disestablishments in Russia Magazines established in 1922 Magazines disestablished in 2008 Magazines published in Moscow Satirical magazines published in Russia Russian humour Magazines published in the Soviet Union Russian-language magazines