Znanie

The All-Union Society “Znanie,” originally named the All-Union Society for the Dissemination of Political and Scientific Knowledge, was an educational and propaganda organization that arose in the Soviet Union in 1947. It addressed the population through lectures and the publication of popular-science literature. Its remit combined the dissemination of political and scientific knowledge with anti-religious propaganda. The supplied account describes it as, like other Soviet public organizations, under the control of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The organization’s first president was Sergei Vavilov. The society also had a publishing house called Znanie; that publishing operation should not be confused with the identically named Russian publishing house that operated from 1898 to 1913. The society received the Order of Lenin in 1972. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the society’s property in Russia passed to the Knowledge Society of Russia, described in the supplied account as its legal successor. That successor organization declined during the 1990s, with membership decreasing and many regional branches disappearing. In June 2016, its congress decided to liquidate it. A separate Russian state-public organization named Znanie was created by presidential decree in 2015; the supplied account explicitly states that it was not the official successor of either earlier organization. The evidence does not establish a current operating website or headquarters for the historical All-Union Society.

The All-Union Society “Znanie” arose in 1947 under the original name All-Union Society for the Dissemination of Political and Scientific Knowledge. It was an educational and propaganda organization in the Soviet Union and later Russia. Its principal public-facing activities, as described in the supplied account, were lectures and the publication of popular-science literature. The organization also conducted anti-religious propaganda. The account places it within the Soviet system of public organizations controlled by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Sergei Vavilov was the society’s first president. The society had a publishing house of its own called Znanie. This is distinct from a separate, identically named Russian publishing house that operated from 1898 to 1913. In 1972, the society received the Order of Lenin. The collapse of the Soviet Union marked a major change in the organization’s institutional setting. The society’s property in Russia passed to the Knowledge Society of Russia, which the supplied account identifies as the legal successor of the All-Union Knowledge Society. The successor declined during the 1990s: membership fell and many regional branches disappeared. In June 2016, its congress decided to liquidate the organization. A separate state-public organization called Znanie was created in Russia by presidential decree in 2015. The supplied account distinguishes it from the earlier organizations and says it is not the official successor of either. The evidence does not detail the All-Union Society’s formal dissolution date, its headquarters, or its later activity beyond these successor-related developments.

• 2016

  Russian successor votes to liquidate

• 2015

  A separate Russian organization named Znanie is created

• 1990

  Soviet Union collapses

• 1972

  Awarded the Order of Lenin

• 1947

  The All-Union Society arises

A mass educational and propaganda society for disseminating political and scientific knowledge in the Soviet Union.

• Public lectures

  Lectures were a means of disseminating political and scientific knowledge and conducting the organization’s educational activities.

• Popular-science literature

  The society published popular-science literature through a publishing house named Znanie.

1. 1Znanie (educational organization, founded 1947)en.wikipedia.org
2. 2Znaniewikidata.org
3. 3ГОЛОВНАznannya.org.ua
4. 4ПРО ТОВАРИСТВОznannya.org.ua
5. 5У лекторіїznannya.org.ua
6. 6Знамениті українціznannya.org.ua