Platon Kerzhentsev

Who was Platon Kerzhentsev?

Platon Mikhailovich Kerzhentsev, real name Lebedev was a Russian state and party official, journalist, playwright and arts theorist who was involved with the Proletkult movement. From 29 December 1930 – 23 March 1933 he was appointed Executive Officer of the Soviet Union, the second person to fill that post.

Kerzhentsev became a Bolshevik in 1904 and gained experience of mass theatre in Europe and anglophone countries during a period of exile. He was influenced by Percy MacKaye, Richard Wagner and Alexandr Bogdanov. He had articles published in Vestnik Teatra, the Journal of the Theatre Department of Narkompros based in Moscow.