# Anatoly Lunacharsky — Ten Days That Shook the World character guide

> Anatoly Lunacharsky in Ten Days That Shook the World by John Reed.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Lunatcharsky, A. V. Lunatcharsky

**First appearance:** 0011-i-background

## Snapshot

A Bolshevik intellectual and future Commissar of Education, Lunacharsky gave the insurrection a cultural voice amid the smoke and slogans of Smolny.

## Who they are

Lunacharsky stands among the Bolshevik leaders who had to reconcile revolutionary violence with the preservation of Russia's cultural inheritance. His presence signals that the new government intends not merely to seize power but to define what the revolution means for art, schooling, and daily life. He matters because the book's middle chapters show the Bolsheviks moving from insurrection to administration, and figures like him embody that uneasy transition.

## In the story

### [Moscow](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/chapters/x-moscow)

Commissar of Education; resigns in protest over the bombardment of the Kremlin and destruction of art treasures.

### [Appendix to Chapter VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/chapters/appendix-to-chapter-viii)

Appointed People's Commissar of Education and outlined the educational program.

### [Acts of the Council of People’s Commissars](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/chapters/3-acts-of-the-council-of-people-s-commissars)

As People's Commissar of Education, Lunacharsky issues a detailed decree outlining the principles of universal literacy, decentralization, and collaboration with pedagogues.

### [Appendix to Chapter X](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/chapters/appendix-to-chapter-x)

As Commissar of Public Education, he issued a declaration expressing anguish over the damage to the Kremlin and urging the protection of artistic and scientific treasures.

### [Lunatcharsky’s Declaration](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/chapters/2-lunatcharsky-s-declaration)

Commissar of Public Education who resigns in protest over damage to cultural treasures but is convinced to remain at his post.

### [Appendix to Chapter XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/chapters/appendix-to-chapter-xi)

Co-signed the decree on monopoly of advertisements as People's Commissar for Public Instruction.

### [Decree on the Monopoly of Advertisements](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/chapters/10-decree-on-the-monopoly-of-advertisements)

As People's Commissar for Public Instruction, Lunacharsky is a co-signatory of the decree.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/characters/lunatcharsky
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/ten_days_that_shook_the_world_se/characters