Krokodil (, ) was a satirical magazine published in the Soviet Union. The first issue was published on 27 August 1922 as the satirical supplement to the Workers' Gazette (called simply «Приложения» [Supplement]). When it became a separate publication, the name Crocodile was chosen at an editorial meeting from among a list of suggested animal names. At that time, many satirical magazines existed, such as Zanoza and Prozhektor. Nearly all of them eventually disappeared.
History
Krokodil was founded in 1922, first as a supplement to Rabochaya Gazeta ('Workers' Newspaper'), and was published once a week. Although political satire was dangerous during much of the Soviet period, Krokodil was given considerable license to lampoon political figures and events. Typical and safe topics for lampooning in the Soviet era were the lack of initiative and imagination promoted by the style of an average Soviet middle-bureaucrat and the problems produced by drinking on the job by Soviet workers. Krokodil also ridiculed capitalist countries and attacked various political, ethnic and religious groups that allegedly opposed the Soviet system.
Many notable persons contributed to the magazine, including Vladimir Mayakovsky, Mikhail Zoshchenko, Kukriniksy, and Yuliy Ganf.
Similar magazines existed in all the Union republics, and in several ASSRs and in other states of the Soviet bloc, e.g. Starshel ("Wasp") in Bulgaria, Eulenspiegel in East Germany, Urzica ("The Nettle") in Romania, Dikobraz ("Porcupine") in Czechoslovakia, and Szpilki ("Pins") in Poland.
Among the vocal compositions of Dmitri Shostakovich, who is known for his satirical character, there are 5 Romances on texts from Krokodil Magazine (1965), taken from the section of the magazine where were published real-life nonsense texts.
Reinstatement
After the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union the magazine was discontinued (2000). It was reinstated in 2005 in Russia, issued monthly, headquartered in Moscow, and with editor-in-chief Sergei Mostovshchikov. The reinstated version, deliberately printed on old Soviet-style paper, ceased publication in 2008.
Editors-in-chief
Konstantin Eremeev (1922–23) Nikolay Smirnov (1924–27) Konstantin Maltsev (1927–28) Felix Kohn (1928–30) Nikolay Ivanov-Gramen (1928–30) (1930–34) Mikhail Koltsov (1934–38) Yakov Rovinsky (1938–41) Lazar Lagin (1938–41) Grigory Ryklin (1941–48) Dmitry Belyaev (1948–53) Sergei Shvetsov (1953–58) Manuil Semyonov (1958–75) Evgeny Dubrovin (1975–85) Alexey Pyanov (1986–2000) Emil Bondarenko (since 2017)
See also
Molla Nasraddin, an Azerbaijani satirical periodical published in the early 20th century.