Publishing houses in the Soviet Union
Open-knowledge reference entry

Publishing houses in the Soviet Union were a series of publishing enterprises which existed in the Soviet Union.
Centralization
On 8 August 1930, the Sovnarkom of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) established the state publishing monopoly, OGIZ (ОГИЗ, Объединение государственных книжно-журнальных издательств, Union of the State Book and Magazine Publishers), subordinated to Sovnarkom. At its core was the former Gosizdat. Other union republics followed the same pattern.
During the era of centralization the names of most publishers contained the acronym "гиз" ("giz") standing for "государственное издательство" (gosudarstvennoye izdatelstvo, i.e., "State Publisher", S.P.).
List
Early publishers
As of 1 January 1930, there were 995 publishers in the RSFSR alone.
«Новая Москва» (New Moscow)
«Долой неграмотность» (Down with Illiteracy)
«Прибой»
«Всемирная литература» (Vsemirnaya literatura) (World Literature) (1919–1924)
Nedra Publishers (1922–1931), literary publisher
Period of centralization
Gosizdat (Госиздат) (State Publishing House)
«Земля и фабрика» (Land and Factory)
«Московский рабочий» (The Moscow Worker)
«Молодая гвардия» (The Young Guard)
«Советская энциклопедия» (Soviet Encyclopedia)
«Работник просвещения» (The Worker for Enlightenment)
Госмедиздат
Госюриздат
Госсельхозиздат (State Agriculture Publishing House)
Госхимиздат
«Безбожник» (The Atheist)
«Academia»
«Федерация» (Federation)
«Недра» (Nedra)
Центроиздат
Издательство АН СССР (Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR)
Издательство Коммунистической академии (Publishing House of the Communist Academy)
Издательство НКВД (Publishing House of the NKVD)
Издательство Осоавиахима
OGIZ
Detgiz (Детгиз) - stands for "State Publishing House for Children's Literature"
Sotsekgiz (Соцэкгиз, Изд-во социально-экономической литературы, Publisher for Social-Economic Literature) -
Renamed as Государственное издательство экономической литературы, State Publishing House of Economic Literature
Uchpedgiz (Учпедгиз) - stands for "State Publishing House of Student and Pedagogical Literature", turned into the Prosveshcheniye Publishing House
Масспартгиз
Гостехиздат (Gostekhizdat)
Сельколхозгиз
Медиздат
Государственное издательство художественной литературы - ГИХЛ (State Publishing House for Literary Works)
Юндетиздат
Военгиз
Музгиз
Юриздат
Изогиз
Словарно-энциклопедическое издательство (Lexicographic-Encyclopedic Publishing House)
Гострансиздат
Снабкоопгиз
Физкультура и туризм (Physical Culture and Tourism)
Издательство партийной литературы (Партиздат) (Publishing House for Party Literature)
Renamed into Госполитиздат (Gospolitizdat)
Государственное издательство физико-математической литературы (Fizmatgiz/Физматгиз)
Наука (Nauka) (= Science)
РИА Новости (RIA Novosti) - for news
Издательство "Мир" (Mir (= world) Publishers)
Издательство "Прогресс" (Progress Publishers)
Государственное технико-теоретическое издательство GTTI/ГТТИ
Spin-offs of Gostekhizdat
Государственное научно-техническое издательство Наркомтяжпрома (ГНТИ НКТП), later decentralized into the Объединение научно-технических издательств ONTI (ОНТИ) that included Государственное объединённое научно-техническое издательство GONTI (ГОНТИ):
Техтеоретиздат (Tehteoretizdat) aka Государственное издательство технико-теоретической литературы (Gosudarstvennoe Izdatel'stvo Tehniko-Teoretičeskoj Literatury (ГИТТЛ / GITTL)
Машметиздат
Химтехиздат
Энергоиздат
Стройиздат
etc.
Гизлегпром
Гослестехиздат
Perestroika publishers
Книжная возврата (RKP)
Fizmatlit (Izdatelstvo fiziko-matematicheskói i tejnicheskói literatury Физматли́т) (Изда́тельство фи́зико-математи́ческой и техни́ческой литерату́ры) (1990–1998)
List of printing houses
«Полиграфкнига» (Polygraph Book)
«Полиграф» (Polygraph)
References
Further reading
Немировский (Nemirovsky), Е. Л. (E. L.); Платова (Platova), М. Л. (M. L.) (1987). Книгоиздание СССР. Цифры и факты. 1917–1987 [Book publishing of the USSR. Figures and facts.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Publishing houses in the Soviet Union” as open-knowledge reference entry. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as open-knowledge reference entry. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q17014605. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1930, 1919, 1924 and 1922.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Publishing houses in the Soviet Union”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Publishing houses in the Soviet Union primary sources, Publishing houses in the Soviet Union archive and Publishing research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Publishing houses in the Soviet Union”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Publishing houses in the Soviet Union” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.