Stalin's School: Moscow's Model School No. 25, 1931-1937

by Larry E. Holmes

From 1931 to 1937, School No. 25 was the most famous and most lavishly appointed school in the Soviet Union, instructing the children of such prominent parents as Joseph Stalin, head of the Communist Party, Viacheslav Molotov, head of the Soviet State, and Paul Robeson, American actor and singer. Relying on published records, materials in eleven archives, accounts left by visiting foreigners - including American educator George Counts - and thirty-six interviews with surviving pupils, Holmes brings Model School No. 25 to life. The school's administrators, teachers, pupils, friends, and foes become companions as well as objects of this study as we walk the school's halls, enter its classrooms, eavesdrop on feuding officials who debate its fate, and learn something of what the school and the period meant for its youth. Photographs of the school's teachers and students and reproductions of the students' notebooks, drawings, and watercolors add personality to this story.

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short, quick read about one of the more prestigious schools in Moscow during the 1930s. Holmes looks at how the school, selected as part of a program to try out different programs as part of the Soviet education reform, worked, and discusses the results. Interviewing some of the students who attended (albeit five decades later), he gets to hear how the students felt about the program, though regrettably there is no record from any of the faculty. Overall though the conclusions don't really show how different the school was compared to other public schools in Moscow, aside from noting they received a lot more funding and attention from the government. Still, it is a good look at Soviet education policies, and worth reading for anyone interested in the topic.