Throughout his career, Vasilii Nikolaevich Kostianitsyn worked as a portrait artist, a poster artist, a graphic artist, and even as a house painter. He was born into a family of icon painters who lived in a small town located on the right bank of the Volga River in Russia. Early on, Kostianitsyn (whose family name was likely Kostitis and of Latvian heritage) was trained in icon painting by his father and grandfather. Prior to the ...

Litizdat (Literaturno-izdatel'skii otdel politicheskogo upravleniia RVSR) was established in June 1919 by order of the Department of the Political Directorate (PUR) of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic (RVSR). A formal decree approved its existence in October that year. Due to the hierarchy of Litizdat's formation, its title is often abbreviated as Litizdat PUR RVSR on publications it issued. As the main publishing arm for the Red Army and the Red Navy, Litizdat distributed a ...