Ernst Kolman
Encyclopedia
Ernst Kolman or Arnošt Yaromirovich Kolman , was a Marxist philosopher, notable for his activities as chief ideological watchdog in Soviet science.
During the First world war he fought in the Austro-Hungarian army and was taken prisoner by the Russian forces. After the Russian revolution he joined the Bolshevik party and worked as a party functionary in the Red Army and the Communist International.
In 1923 Kolman was assigned to the party apparatus in Moscow, where he quickly assumed the role of ideological watchdog in scientific community. He became deputy head of the Moscow party Science Department in 1936.
In 1930 Dmitri Egorov
, the president of Moscow Mathematical Society
was arrested by Soviet secret police. Under threat of the society's closure, Ernst Kolman was elected its new president, a position he held from 1930 to 1932.
In June 1931, Kolman attended the Second International Congress of the History of Science and Technology with a group of Soviet scientists led by Bukharin.
He attacked a number of prominent Soviet matematicians and physicists, accusing them of wrecking
and different political crimes. Kolman initiated the so-called "Academician Luzin case". In July–August 1936, Nikolai Luzin
was criticised in Pravda
in a series of anonymous articles, whose authorship later was attributed to Kolman. Luzin was accused of publishing his works in foreign scientific journals and denounced for being close to the “slightly modernized ideology of the black hundreds, orthodoxy, and monarchy
.”
After World War II
Kolman was sent to Czechoslovakia
, where he worked as a head of the propaganda department of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
Central Committee. He helped to establish communist party control over the Czekhoslovak scientific community. At the 10th International Congress of Philosophy in Amsterdam Kolman attacked all non-Marxist philosophies as "fascist and imperialist."
In 1948 Kolman attacked Rudolf Slánský
and other Communist party leaders in official Communist party publications, accusing them of nationalism, social-democratism and deviation from Marxist-Leninist line. He was summoned back to USSR and spent three years at the Lubianka prison.
He returned to Czechoslovakia
in 1958-1963, and then lived in Moscow, where he became increasingly disaffected with Soviet communism and eventually moved to Stockholm
. On 22 September 1976 he terminated his 58-year membership of the USSR communist party in an open letter addressed to party general secretary Leonid Brezhnev
. On 9 December 1976 the Czechoslovak government revoked his membership of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. He died on 22 January 1979 in Stockholm.
Kolman authored several books on dialectical materialism
and historical materialism
.
Biography
He was born in Prague to a Jewish family and studied at Charles University.During the First world war he fought in the Austro-Hungarian army and was taken prisoner by the Russian forces. After the Russian revolution he joined the Bolshevik party and worked as a party functionary in the Red Army and the Communist International.
In 1923 Kolman was assigned to the party apparatus in Moscow, where he quickly assumed the role of ideological watchdog in scientific community. He became deputy head of the Moscow party Science Department in 1936.
In 1930 Dmitri Egorov
Dmitri Egorov
- External links :...
, the president of Moscow Mathematical Society
Moscow Mathematical Society
The Moscow Mathematical Society is a society of Moscow mathematicians aimed at the development of mathematics in Russia.The first meeting of the society was . Nikolai Brashman was the first president of MMO. Victor Vassiliev is the current president of MMO....
was arrested by Soviet secret police. Under threat of the society's closure, Ernst Kolman was elected its new president, a position he held from 1930 to 1932.
In June 1931, Kolman attended the Second International Congress of the History of Science and Technology with a group of Soviet scientists led by Bukharin.
He attacked a number of prominent Soviet matematicians and physicists, accusing them of wrecking
Wrecking (Soviet crime)
Wrecking , was a crime specified in the criminal code of the Soviet Union in the Stalin era. It is often translated as "sabotage"; however "wrecking" and "diversionist acts" and "counter-revolutionary sabotage" were distinct sub-articles of Article 58 , and the meaning of "wrecking" is closer to...
and different political crimes. Kolman initiated the so-called "Academician Luzin case". In July–August 1936, Nikolai Luzin
Nikolai Luzin
Nikolai Nikolaevich Luzin, , was a Soviet/Russian mathematician known for his work in descriptive set theory and aspects of mathematical analysis with strong connections to point-set topology. He was the eponym of Luzitania, a loose group of young Moscow mathematicians of the first half of the...
was criticised in Pravda
Pravda
Pravda was a leading newspaper of the Soviet Union and an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1912 and 1991....
in a series of anonymous articles, whose authorship later was attributed to Kolman. Luzin was accused of publishing his works in foreign scientific journals and denounced for being close to the “slightly modernized ideology of the black hundreds, orthodoxy, and monarchy
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
.”
After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Kolman was sent to Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, where he worked as a head of the propaganda department of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, in Czech and in Slovak: Komunistická strana Československa was a Communist and Marxist-Leninist political party in Czechoslovakia that existed between 1921 and 1992....
Central Committee. He helped to establish communist party control over the Czekhoslovak scientific community. At the 10th International Congress of Philosophy in Amsterdam Kolman attacked all non-Marxist philosophies as "fascist and imperialist."
In 1948 Kolman attacked Rudolf Slánský
Rudolf Slánský
Rudolf Slánský was a Czech Communist politician. Holding the post of the party's General Secretary after World War II, he was one of the leading creators and organizers of Communist rule in Czechoslovakia...
and other Communist party leaders in official Communist party publications, accusing them of nationalism, social-democratism and deviation from Marxist-Leninist line. He was summoned back to USSR and spent three years at the Lubianka prison.
He returned to Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
in 1958-1963, and then lived in Moscow, where he became increasingly disaffected with Soviet communism and eventually moved to Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
. On 22 September 1976 he terminated his 58-year membership of the USSR communist party in an open letter addressed to party general secretary Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev – 10 November 1982) was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in...
. On 9 December 1976 the Czechoslovak government revoked his membership of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. He died on 22 January 1979 in Stockholm.
Kolman authored several books on dialectical materialism
Dialectical materialism
Dialectical materialism is a strand of Marxism synthesizing Hegel's dialectics. The idea was originally invented by Moses Hess and it was later developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels...
and historical materialism
Historical materialism
Historical materialism is a methodological approach to the study of society, economics, and history, first articulated by Karl Marx as "the materialist conception of history". Historical materialism looks for the causes of developments and changes in human society in the means by which humans...
.
Publications (incomplete list)
- Karl Marx and Mathematics (1968)
- Hegel and Mathematics (1931)
- The adventure of cybernetics in the Soviet Union. Minerva vol 16, no 3 (September 1978) 416-424.
- Der verirrte Generation (with Hanswilhelm Haefs and Frantisek Janouch). Fischer Taschenbuch-Verlag 1985. ISBN 978-3596234646. (In German. Translations into Swedish and Danish exist).