Anatoly V. Lunacharsky and “Kuban Language”: Intrigues of Soviet Ukrainisation of the 1920s

Abstract

Modern Ukrainian literature considers Anatoly V. Lunacharsky an opponent of Ukrainisation. The reason for this are some little-known statements made by the people's Commissar of Education of the RSFSR in September 1926 in Krasnodar before school employees. According to the 1926 census, there were many Ukrainians among the local population. Therefore, in accordance with the adopted course on “indigenization”, it was decided to open national schools. In the Kuban there were both active supporters and opponents of Ukrainisation. There were people who insisted on the need to carry out not Ukrainisation, but Kubanisation. When Lunacharsky answered questions about school policy in the Kuban, he advised that the Kuban language be used in schools. Modern historiography pays little attention to this subject. We can assume that the Russian people's Commissar tried to maneuver between the supporters and opponents of Ukrainisation in the North Caucasus. It took into account the desire of the population to give their children an education in educational institutions with Russian as the language of instruction. The article analyzes the situation in which Lunacharsky made this statement, analyzes the features of national policy in the Kuban, and considers attempts to influence the situation in the region made by the leadership of Soviet Ukraine.