Establishment and Activity of Petrograd Commission on Improving the Welfare of Scientists in the 1920s

Abstract

The article shows the process of formation of Soviet scientists’ social status and the relationship between the scientific intelligentsia and the authorities. It studies the creation and activity of the Petrograd Commission on the Improvement of the Welfare of Scientists (PCIWS) in the 1920s, which has been subordinated and financed by the People’s Commissariat of Education of the RSFSR and has had its information press agency. It is established that the Soviet authorities, liquidating the bourgeoisie, have added to its number all the free professions of intellectual labor, including scientists. Petrograd Commission on the Improvement of the Welfare of Scientists (PetroCIWS) has served as a liaison between the authorities and the scientists, and its activities reflect the process of formation of these relations. The main task of PetroCIWS has been to support scientists, writers, artists, and their families who had financial difficulties. The commission has managed to provide scholars with academic rations and to assist in solving their problems of material standards and living conditions . It is proved that an important achievement of PetroCIWS has become the creation of the House of Scientists, its various forms of work have been analyzed. Owing to the organization and activities of the House of Scientists, Petrograd scientists have been able to implement interdisciplinary contacts and meet their cultural needs. Coverage of Petrograd House of Scientists activities has demonstrated the experience of cultural and civic self-organization of the scientific community.