Bookvica

[SPORT IN THE SOVIET UNION] Izvestiya fizicheskoy kul’tury: Dvukhnedel’nyy ill. zhurn. Organ Vysshego soveta fiz. kul’tury [i.e. News of Physical Culture: A Bimonthly Illustrated Magazine. An Organ of the Supreme Council for Physical Culture]

[Moscow]: 1924-1927. Item #1559

#20 of 1927 (1 issue of 81 published). 16 pp.: ill. 22.2x 29.6 cm. In original illustrated wrappers. Fine.

Scarce. Front wrapper by S.M. One of the leading 1920s Soviet sports magazines.

From the very outset of the Communist regime, Soviet society witnessed the emergence of numerous editions dedicated to physical culture and sports. In 1924, the Bolsheviks’ struggle for the creation of the new Soviet man moved to the next level when the All-Union Council on Physical Culture and Sports started the publication of the bimonthly magazine Izvestiya fizicheskoy kul’tury [i.e. News of Physical Culture]. Intended to popularize a healthy and active lifestyle, the periodical was first printed on January 1st, 1924, under the editorship of the People’s Commissar of Public Health and Chairman of the Council Nikolai Semashko (1874-1949). The magazine included articles on the Soviet sportsmen, latest achievements and developments in physical culture (both in the USSR and abroad), DIYs (how to construct a boat, tent, ice skates, etc.), bibliography of sports literature, etc. Among the authors were A. Ittin, S. Kal’pus, B. Kal’pus, E. Radin, V. Starikov, F. Reysner, etc. The magazine comprised numerous black-and-white illustrations and featured both dynamic photographs (in the first issues) and colorful drawings on the wrappers. In 1928, Izvestiya fizicheskoy kul’tury and sports newspaper Krasnyy sport [i.e. Red Sport] were substituted by the magazine Fizkul’tura i sport [i.e. Physical Culture and Sport] which is published up to date.

The issue #20 of 1927 includes an article on the Soviet Institute of Physical Culture (El’za Gerkan), an overview of 10 years of physical culture in the Red Army (E. Chernyak), DIY ski (V. Serebryakov), sport news from abroad, critics and bibliography, as well as the article describing the ascent of the eastern summit of Mount Elbrus by L. Barkhash, G. Maretskiy, and V. Semenovskiy in 1927. The article is especially interesting as it was written by one of the participants of the ascent V. Semenovskiy. The issue features numerous black-and-white photographs depicting a parade of Moscow athletes, Alexei Rykov with pioneers, the first congress of the Red Sportintern in 1920, Profsouz celebration in 1925, the Red Army relay race in Leningrad, healthy and happy Soviet men, etc. The issue came out under the editorship of Boris Kal’pus (1895-1938), a deputy Chairman of the All-Union Council on Physical Culture and Sports, who was executed under the claims of terrorism in 1938.

No copies found in Worldcat.

Price: $350.00