Srečko Kosovel, Vladimir Martelanc in tržaška veja Mednarodnega proletkulta 1922–1923

Proletkult, a movement promoting direct cultural activity and artistic creation of the proletariat and inspired by Alexander A. Bogdanov’s teachings in post-revolutionary Russia, was introduced to the Slovene Littoral region – initially occupied and later annexed by Italy – from German and Italian workers’ publications. Organizationally, it grafted onto the older educational tradition of the Trieste-based organization Ljudski oder (People’s Stage) and its branches from the Soča Valley to the hinterland of the Kvarner Gulf. One of its impor­tant initiators and promoters was Antonio Gramsci from the Turin workers’ movement with the newspaper L’Ordine Nuovo (The New Order). He recruited Ivan Regent from the Littoral into the national leadership of Proletkult. In the Trieste area, Dragotin Gustinčič, Jože Pertot, and Alojzij Hreščak wrote along the same lines in the weekly Delo (Labor), Učiteljski list (Teachers’ Journal), and the volume Komunistični koledar za navadno leto 1922 (Communist Calendar for the Ordinary Year of 1922). Two young men and close friends, Vladimir Martelanc as the cultural editor at Delo and Srečko Kosovel within the circle of contributors to the magazine Mladina (Youth), were particularly instrumental in the movement’s development.