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I`d like to add something to this long censorship thread. 
 
I was happy to see that Kondratief`s case is well-known. And I must say 
that the History of Russian Economic Thought is the continuous row of 
examples of such (more or less severe) censorship. 
 
The first quarter of 19 century in Russia was the period of liberty and 
the political economy of Adam Smith became popular among intellectual 
elite as the argument for democracy and freedom (that is, the abolition of 
monarchy and serfdom -- two great evils of Russia). This period was ended 
with Decabrists` Rebellion (1825) and the beginning of the long period of 
severe censorship -- all ideas of freedom (including theories of 
industrial and labor freedom) were cut from printed papers. All professors 
in Universities and Colleges can see a censor at there lectures and if 
they told something about Smith`s or somebody else ideas of `laissez fair` 
they had an examination in the intelligent service. 
 
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In the middle of 19th century socialist and communist ideas became famous 
in Russian society and they were also banned. Such talented economist and 
thinker as N.G.Chernishevsky (the translator and commentator of Mill`s 
Principles) in his economic articles had to use the term `old backward 
economists` to designate the classical school and the term `new 
progressive economists` to designate the socialist school -- the censors 
missed it but educated public understood real sense of this `old` and 
`new`. At last Chernishevsky was arrested for his ideas, put in the 
pillory and sent to Siberia in exile. 
 
One joke is known about his being there. In exile a dissenter usually 
lived in a small village under supervision of a gendarme which was sent 
from Saint-Petersburg and periodically (once at several months) changed 
for security. After some time intelligent service found that returning 
from Chernishevsky`s company each gendarme was more clever than before... 
 
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At the end of 19th and beginning of 20th centuries we can find 
other type of censorship. Marxist ideas became very popular 
in our society and all admirers of Marx split into two camps: 
- `legal marxism` which approved many ideas of Marx except his 
appeal to rebel. This camp was constituted from several professors 
   (Struve, Tugan-Baranovsky etc.) and was not prohibited. 
- `revolutionary marxism` which liked inevitable character of communist 
   revolution and try to speed it in Russia. This camp was constituted 
from revolutionists (Plehanov, Lenin etc.) and was prohibited. 
 
But the `legal marxists` also had problems - censors visited their 
lectures. And, for example, Tugan-Baranovsky, though being very popular 
among the students, was not able to work at Saint-Petersburg 
University for several years (1899-1905). After February Revolution (1905) 
he was allowed to lecture but soon (in 1913) he was again pushed 
out of the University. 
 
------------- 
 
After the Revolution of 1917 things turned to the opposite. Gradually all 
non-marxist thinkers found themselves prohibited and only marxists became 
the allowed. 
 
In 1917 `old` economists still tried to proceed their intellectual life - 
for example, B.Brutskus was able to publish the article in which he proved 
the ineffective character of command economy (long before the history and 
F.Hayek did that, by the way). But soon many economists were exiled from 
the country. 
 
Even in the communist party several dissenters in the economic questions 
were obliged in the treason and executed (N. Buharin is the best example). 
 
--------------- 
 
Several economists of 1920s with neutral political position were also 
repressed. One example - Kondratieff. His theory of long waves were 
contradictory to marxist beliefs of permanent crisis of capitalism. L. 
Trotsky even wrote an article in `Pravda` against Kondtratief. Eventually 
the later was repressed. 
 
Another example - A.V.Chayanov - the brilliant theorist of cooperation 
and the researcher of Russian peasants. His very literate ideas on cooperation 
(supposing effectiveness of small farms) were contradictory to communist` 
will to put our peasants into large collective farms (`kolhoz`s) and exploit 
them in such manner. In 1930 Chayanov was arrested, prosecuted for organizing 
the so-named `Peasant-Labor Party` (Kondratieff was the other `leader` of 
this `party`), imprisoned, after several years exiled to Kazahstan but 
in 1937 arrested again and executed. 
 
--------------- 
 
In the second half of 20th century our economic science was dead. The 
exception was some mathematical economists like Kantorovich or Novozhilov. 
Their optimum of the command economy was similar to optimum of perfect 
competition in the market economy. But they had to hide this neoclassical 
content of their theories in the veil of mathematics. So as our communist 
censors were weak in this science they failed to find these `enemies`. 
Kantorovich and Novozhilov even get Lenin Prize in the 1965. 
 
Also to be legal Kantorovich and Novozhilov had to reconcile their 
theories with marxism and devote multiple pages to these useless 
`foundations`. Some concepts similar to neoclassical ones were hidden in 
different words. For example, the concept of opportunity cost which is 
necessary for an optimum theory and surely was known by Kantorovich and 
Novozhilov was introduced into their analysis as a technical term with a 
distinct name. 
 
--------------- 
 
Now Russian economic thought is free. But for a while, of course. 
American-style mainstream economics is penetrating in our Universities. 
Soon we will get the situation similar to the American one. Another 
orthodoxy, another dissenters and following censorship. 
 
Maxim Storchevoy 
Saint-Petersburg State University 
Department of Economics 
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