Ogoniok

For the diacritic mark, see Ogonek.
Ogoniok
first issue
Frequency Weekly
First issue 21 December 1899
Company Kommersant Publishing Group
Logotype
The print shop of Ogonyok magazine designed by El Lissitzky

Ogoniok (Russian: Огонёк, lit. "little flame"; sometimes transliterated as Ogonyok) is one of the oldest weekly illustrated magazines in Russia.

History and profile

Ogoniok has issued since 21 December [O.S. 9 December] 1899.[1] It was re-established in the Soviet Union in 1923 by Mikhail Koltsov.

The colour magazine reached the pinnacle of its popularity in the Perestroika years, when its editor-in-chief Vitaly Korotich "was guiding Ogoniok to a pro-American and pro-capitalist position".[2] Those years are the subject matter of the book Small Fires: Letters From the Soviet People to Ogonyok Magazine 1987-1990 (Summit Books, NY, 1990) selected and edited by Christopher Cerf, Marina Albee, and with an introduction by Korotich. The magazine sold 1.5 million copies in 1987 and 4.6 million copies in 1990.[1]

In the early 1990s, Ogoniok was owned by Boris Berezovsky, and its popularity started to decline. It sold 0.2 million copies in 1993.[1] Viktor Loshak, the former editor of Moskovskiye Novosti, took over as editor in 2003. As of 2004, it was published by the Russian OVA-PRESS publishing house. At the height of the 2008–2009 Russian financial crisis, in January 2009, the publication was suspended due to an ownership change.[3]

After a four-month break, publication of Ogoniok was resumed on 18 May 2009, by Kommersant Publishing Group. The first issue published by Kommersant is the 5079th Ogoniok since 1899.[4]

Vladimir Putin sent a telegram of congratulation to the editorial team on the 110th anniversary of publication in December 2009.[5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Jukka Pietiläinen (2008). "Media Use in Putin's Russia". Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics 24 (3). doi:10.1080/13523270802267906. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  2. ↑ David M. Kotz, Fred Weir (1997). "Chapter 4: Glasnost and the intelligentsia". Revolution from Above: The Demise of the Soviet System. London: Routledge. p. 65. ISBN 0-415-14316-0
  3. ↑ Telen, Lyudmila (25 February 2009). "Закроется ли "Огонек"? " (in Russian). Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 1 December 2009.
  4. ↑ "Перерыв на обет" (in Russian). Ogoniok, no. 1 (5079), 18 May 2009. Retrieved 19 May 2009.
  5. ↑ "Putin congratulates Ogonyok magazine with 110 anniversary". The Voice of Russia. 21 December 2009. Retrieved 28 November 2014.

External links

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