Anton Makarenko

Who was Anton Makarenko?

Anton Semenovych Makarenko was a Russian and Soviet educator and writer, who promoted democratic ideas and principles in educational theory and practice. As one of the founders of Soviet pedagogy, he elaborated the theory and methodology of upbringing in self-governing child collectives and introduced the concept of productive labor into the educational system. Makarenko is often reckoned among the world’s great educators, and his books have been published in many countries.

In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution he established self-supporting orphanages for street children - including juvenile delinquents - left orphaned by the Russian Civil War. Among these establishments were the Gorky colony and later the Dzerzhinsky labor commune in Kharkiv, where the FED camera was produced.

Although there was some opposition by the authorities at the early stages of Makarenko's "experiments", the Soviet establishment eventually came to hail his colonies as a grand success in communist education and rehabilitation.