Background
MAKARENKO, Anton was born on March 13, 1888 in Bclopol’yc, Khar’kov Province. Son of a worker.
Experimental Pedagogue and writer
MAKARENKO, Anton was born on March 13, 1888 in Bclopol’yc, Khar’kov Province. Son of a worker.
1905 graduate Kremenchug City College and affiliated teachers’ training course. 1917 graduate Poltava Teachers’ Institute.
Provincial teacher before the revolution. Became widely known in connection with one of the most persistent social problems of the 1920s-30s — the great masses of children orphaned by the chaotic conditions of the revolution and Civil War. (Left to fight for themselves or die, these ‘besprizornye’ reverted to an almost savage level of existence: they were gathered into colonies, which were sometimes little more than camps for juvenile delinquents.) Appointed director of one such colony near Poltava, and later one near Khar’kov.
Tried to base his relations with his charges on a humane approach, stressing the necessity of trust and mutual respect, and also of collective work. This was adorned by Stalinist collectivist slogans, which made him especially popular with the authorities. His genuine success in dealing with the young victims of revolutionary chaos was later blown out of all proportion into the Stalinist myth of the creation of a new man.
Treated as a superhuman figure, who had allegedly changed the whole education system of mankind. Wrote several books about his work and experiences, and articles on educational problems.