Work

Chronicling the city they built: ‘first-builders’ as guardians of memory in Komsomolsk-na-Amure

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: This article explores urban memory politics in Komsomolsk-na-Amure – a military-industrial stronghold erected in Russia’s Far East in the 1930s with the participation of Komsomol volunteers from across the USSR. Known as pervostroiteli or ‘first-builders’, Komsomolsk’s founders became the city’s first chroniclers, who played an enduring role in shaping the city’s heroic popular image. I argue that the Soviet government’s active efforts to glorify Komsomol builders endowed the figures of pervostroiteli with unparalleled moral authority, which participants in the city’s early development used to curate their own memorialization and local historical politics.

Source: Urban History

DOI: 10.1017/s0963926825100369

Author: Victoria Fomina

Institution: University of St Andrews

Language: English

Topic: Soviet and Russian History

Subfield: Political Science and International Relations

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Sustainable cities and communities

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,550