About Anatoly Lunacharsky
Anatoly Vasilyevich Lunacharsky (Russian: Анато́лий Васи́льевич Лунача́рский, born Anatoly Aleksandrovich Antonov; 23 November [O.S. 11 November] 1875 – 26 December 1933) was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and the first Soviet People's Commissar (minister) of Education, as well as an active playwright, critic, essayist, and journalist throughout his career. == Background == Lunacharsky was born on 23 or 24 November 1875 in Poltava, in the Russian Empire (now in Ukraine), as the illegitimate child of state councillor Alexander Antonov and Alexandra Lunacharskaya, née Rostovtseva. His mother was then married to statesman Vasily Lunacharsky, a nobleman of Polish origin, whence Anatoly's surname and patronym. She later divorced Vasily Lunacharsky and married Antonov, but Anatoly kept his former name. In 1890, at the age of 15, Lunacharsky became a Marxist. From 1894, he studied at the University of Zurich under Richard Avenarius for two years without taking a degree. In Zürich he met European socialists, including Rosa Luxemburg and Leo Jogiches, and joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. He also lived for a time in France. == Early career == In 1899, Lunacharsky returned to Russia, where he and Maria Ulyanova (Vladimir Lenin's sister) revived the Moscow Committee of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP), until they were betrayed by an informant and arrested. He was allowed to settle in Kiev, but was arrested again after resuming his political activities, and after ten months in prison he was sent to Kaluga, where he joined a Marxist circle that included Alexander Bogdanov and Vladimir Bazarov.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.