Komsomol

/kom'seuh mawl", kom"seuh mawl'/, n. (formerly)

1. a communist organization in the Soviet Union for youths 16 years of age and older.

2. a member of this organization. Cf. Octobrist (def. 2), Pioneer (def. 6).

Also, Comsomol.

[ < Russ Komsomól, for Kom(munistícheskii) so(yúz) mol(odëzhi) Communist Union of Youth]

* * *

Organization in the former Soviet Union for young people aged 14–28 years.

Primarily a political organ for spreading Communist teachings and preparing future members of the Communist Party, it was organized in 1918. Members participated in health, sports, education, and publishing activities and various industrial projects. They were frequently favoured over nonmembers for employment, scholarships, and the like. Its membership reached its height, about 40 million, in the 1970s and early 1980s. It disbanded with the collapse of Soviet communism in the early 1990s.

* * *

▪ Soviet youth organization

Russian abbreviation of  Vsesoyuzny Leninsky Kommunistichesky Soyuz Molodyozhi , English  All-Union Leninist Communist League of Youth 

      in the history of the Soviet Union, organization for young people aged 14 to 28 that was primarily a political organ for spreading Communist teachings and preparing future members of the Communist Party. Closely associated with this organization were the Pioneers (All-Union Lenin Pioneer Organization, established in 1922), for ages 9 to 14, and the Little Octobrists (Little Octobrist), for the very young.

      The Komsomol was organized in 1918 in order to band together various youth organizations that had previously been involved in the Russian Revolution; many of these groups had fought in the Civil War. When the military phase ended, a new purpose was set in 1922—to engage the members in health activities, sports, education, publishing activities, and various service and industrial projects. Komsomol membership reached a maximum of about 40 million in the 1970s and early '80s. In Soviet society, its members were frequently favoured over nonmembers in matters of employment and scholarships. Active participation in the Komsomol was also considered an important factor in gaining membership and eventual leadership positions in the Communist Party. All Komsomol cells were federated at levels paralleling those of the party. Reflecting the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union, the Komsomol disbanded in 1991.

      Both the Pioneers and the Octobrists were preparatory organizations for providing politically directed education and recreation to children ultimately destined for Komsomol membership. The Pioneers were organized into brigades, each attached to a local Komsomol cell.

* * *