Renaming of Soviet Cities after Exceptional People: A Historical Perspective on Toponymy

Abstract

A senior urban geographer examines historical trends in the renaming of urban places bearing people's names in the former USSR, from the Bolshevik Revolution to the formal end of its existence in December 1991. Particular attention is devoted to waves of renamings (a) to honor political and military leaders during the 1920s and 1930s; (b) to erase the legacy of Stalin; honor native writers, composers, and poets; and boost fraternal relations within the socialist block in the 1950s; and (c) to eliminate unwanted vestiges of the communist past during the period from the late 1980s to the present. 1 table, 29 references.