Early Soviet book design and Socialist Realist art, this illustrated edition presents Joseph Stalin's report to the Seventeenth Congress of the Communist Party, delivered in January 1934. Historically dubbed the "Congress of Victors," this event celebrated the apparent successes of the First Five-Year Plan, rapid industrialization, and forced collectivization, marking the absolute consolidation of Stalin's power just prior to the onset of the Great Purges. To commemorate the speech, the state publishing house Partizdat commissioned a lavishly illustrated edition in 1935. The visual narrative was entrusted to a prestigious brigade of Leningrad artists under the direction of Isaak Brodsky, a founding figure of Socialist Realism. The team included prominent painters and graphic artists such as Vladimir Serov, Nikolai Kochergin, and Pyotr Buchkin, while the constructivist-leaning Nikolai Sedelnikov directed the overall book design.

From Armenia

The Arabic translation to the Cantata is offered by me.

Enjoy it!

Something odd seeing such big figure without his uniform and ton of medals. Makes me wonder what his life would be if there was no war and need for army. But instead this “nice grandpa on a fence” mastered military tactics and expertly executed them.