Lenizdat published books, political literature, magazines, posters, brochures, postcards and newspapers. Its origins began in 1917 as the publishing entity for the Petrograd Soviet whereby its offices were located in the Smolny Institute of Petrograd (St. Petersburg). Around 1919, the publishing entity was named Petrogosizdat (Petrograd State Publishing) and in 1924 its name was abbreviated to Lengiz (Leningrad State Publishing House) when the city took the name Leningrad in honor of the deceased Vladimir Lenin. After 1925, Lengiz served as a quasi-independent publisher but was subordinate to Gosizdat (State Publishing House). By the mid-1920s, its offices were located on the Avenue of the 25th of October (today, Nevsky Prospect).

In 1930, the Lengiz name was changed to Lenoblizdat (Leningrad Regional Publishing) and it became the Leningrad base for Ogiz (Association of State Book and Magazine Publishers), the state publishing monopoly. In 1938 Lenoblizdat was reconstituted as Lenizdat-- the publishing arm of the Leningrad Regional Committee of the Communist Party. From 1963 until 1992, the publisher was located at 59 Fontanka River Embankment, St. Petersburg.