Ogonek (meaning “Little Flame”) was a legendary Russian social-political and literary-artistic weekly that chronicled the life of the country for nearly a century and a half. Its history came to an end in late 2020 when the print version was shut down.
Key Milestones in Its History
The history of Ogonek began in 1899 in St. Petersburg, when publisher Stanislav Propper launched it as a weekly illustrated supplement to the newspaper Birzhevye Vedomosti. Over its existence, the magazine went through several important stages:
-
Pre-revolutionary period: The magazine quickly became popular due to its abundance of photographs and reports from events. It covered the Russo-Japanese War and World War I, publishing portraits of heroes and photos from the front lines. After the October Revolution in 1918, it was shut down by the Bolsheviks as an “organ of the White Guards.”
-
Soviet era: Revived in 1923 on the initiative of journalist Mikhail Koltsov. It was under him that Ogonek became what millions remembered: a high-quality illustrated weekly. Zoshchenko, Ilf and Petrov, and Mayakovsky were published there; the crossword puzzle and the word “quiz” (viktorina) appeared for the first time in the USSR in its pages.
-
War years: The magazine continued to be published weekly on low-quality paper, but its main task was to support soldiers at the front and provide truthful accounts of the war’s progress.
-
Perestroika and peak popularity: With the arrival of editor-in-chief Vitaly Korotich in 1986, Ogonek became one of the main mouthpieces of glasnost (openness). Its circulation reached a record 4.6 million copies.
-
Recent history: In 2009, the magazine was bought by the Kommersant publishing house. However, due to financial difficulties and cost-cutting measures, the print version was discontinued on December 21, 2020, and the staff was laid off.
Key Facts About Ogonek
-
Pioneer in photojournalism: Ogonek is rightfully considered the founder of photojournalism in Russia. Its correspondents photographed all key events, from the funeral of Leo Tolstoy to the first days of the war.
-
Innovation: This magazine introduced crossword puzzles to the Soviet press and coined the Russian word for “quiz” (viktorina).
-
Stalin and Ogonek: Legend has it that Joseph Stalin decorated the walls of his dacha in Kuntsevo with photographs cut out specifically from Ogonek.
-
“Ogonek Library”: From 1925 until the collapse of the USSR, a famous supplement was published — small booklets featuring works by the best Russian and foreign authors. Over a thousand such books were released in total.
-
Awards: For its contribution to journalism, Ogonek was awarded the Order of Lenin (1973) and received the Gratitude of the President of the Russian Federation (1999).
Today, archival issues of Ogonek can be found in major libraries, such as the Russian National Library in St. Petersburg, as well as on enthusiast websites dedicated to digitizing old publications.