V. M. Stein and the campaign of “fighting with cosmopolitanism”: a dramatic fate of one book

Abstract

Prof. V. M. Stein was one of the most outstanding economists in Leningrad. Nearly all his large works were met with a sharp criticism because he was not educated in Marxian traditions; moreover, in 1917 and 1922 he criticized Bolsheviks’ economic program and Soviet economic policy very sharply. So several times he was forced to change a profi le of his scientific work. However, in all cases his works were very interesting and valuable. During the Great Patriotic War, he started to research problems of history of Russian economic thought in XIX century. That time, this topic was both scientifi cally and ideologically actual. For this reason, prof. V. M. Stein might be hoped for the official supporting of this project
especially that during the Soviet period his attitude to Marxism and Soviet power was getting more and more loyal. His outstanding book “Essays on development of Russian social-economic thought of XIX–XX centuries” was published in 1948. It was awarded with the University prize of the first degree; but very soon the campaign of fi ghting against “cosmopolitanism” has begun, and prof. V. M. Stein was one of its victims. Besides, in 1949 “Leningrad cause” began to come untwisted. Prof. V. M. Stein was close to A. A. Voznesensky, N. A. Voznesensky’s brother, and the latter was a principal defendant in this trial. Th is fact much more aggravated prof. V. M. Stein’s state. Th e author shows how such events effected the
destiny of prof. V. M. Stein’s and his splendid book.

Keywords:

Campaign of “fighting with cosmopolitanism”, “Leningrad cause”, V. M. Stein, A. A. Voznesensky, N. A. Voznesensky, N. A. Tsagolov, I. V. Stalin, S. A. Il’in, V. V. Reihardt, K. V. Ostrovityanov, V. F. Tsaga, S. M. Firsova, A. I. Bukovetsky, A. Morozov, I. G. Blumin, M. V. Rautbard