Vozhd

A vozhd romanized from Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian: вождь, also Bulgarian, Macedonian and Serbo-Croatian: вожд, romanized: vožd,[lower-alpha 1] Czech: vůdce, Polish: wódz, Slovak: vodca, or Slovene: vodja, literally meaning "the guidesperson" or "the leader", is a historical title with etymology deriving from the Proto-Slavic *voďь and thus common across Slavic languages. It originally denoted a chieftain of a tribe, whereas upon rise of statehood it was used thereafter also in the context of a supreme leader and/or supreme commander, in particular when both roles were combined in one person.

Vozhdi of the world's proletariat: Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin (1 May 1953, Berlin, GDR).
Ogoniok 1934 cover featuring portraits of Stalin and Gorky with a text that ends: "Thus did Comrade Stalin, beloved Vozhd of the world's proletariat, define the role of the Soviet writer."

In most Slavic languages the official and colloquial usage of the designation has nowadays been discontinued in favor of (at least) two more precise derivates, one meaning "a leader" and another one "a commander" (e.g., in Polish: przywódca and dowódca, respectively); therefore, the original term may typically be encountered exclusively in historical or ironic contexts; otherwise occasionally only when referring to extant foreign tribal communities.

History

In Serbia, that title was given to Karađorđe Petrović by all the voivodes who elected him to be their leader at their first Praviteljstvujusceg sovejeta (Government Council) during the First Serbian Uprising in the 19th century. As such Karađorđe was titled Grand Vožd of Serbia.

Later, in Russian, it was often used in reference to Soviet leaders such as Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin as Vozhd of the proletariat (Russian: Вождь пролетариата),[1] Vozhd of the Russian Communist Party (Russian: Вождь Российской Коммунистической Партии),[2][3] Vozhd of the World Revolution (Russian: Вождь мировой революции),[4] Vozhd of the Peoples (Russian: Вождь народов),[5] Vozhd of the Soviet people (Russian: Вождь советского народа).[6]

In modern Russian, vozhd became exclusive for Communist leaders or leaders of aboriginal tribes. The word is becoming somewhat obsolete and is being replaced by its English version, "leader". It is a counterpart to the word Führer in German.[7]

After the East German cinema studio DEFA began mass-producing Red Western movies depicting the "Wild West" in the 18th and 19th centuries, the term vozhd became closely associated with tribal chiefs of Native Americans (such as Vozhd Beloye Pero, i. e. Chief White Feather.)

Vozhd also has connotations to "master" in the Russian language, from the days of serfdom.[8]

See also

Notes
  1. vožd is a loanword from Russian. Not to be confused with the regular Serbo-Croatian noun vođa.

References
  1. The life of the Vozhd: how Lenin became the main revolutionary of the country (Жизнь вождя: как Ленин стал главным революционером страны). Mir 24. 2 November 2017
  2. Stalin, I. Lenin as organizer and vozhd of RCP (Ленин как организатор и вождь РКП). Marxist. December 2010
  3. Stalin, I. Lenin as organizer and vozhd of RCP (Ленин как организатор и вождь РКП). Leninism.
  4. "Книга".
  5. Soviet Vozhdi and their money (Советские вожди и их деньги). Russia House News
  6. Данилкин, Рыбас: Вожди Советского народа. Ленин. Сталин. Комплект в 2-х томах Danilkin, Rybas: Vozhdi of the Soviet People. Lenin. Stalin.
  7. Сталин о Гитлере и Германии, Гитлер о Сталине и России Stalin on Hitler and Germany, Hitler on Stalin and Russia
  8. Stalin, Court of the Red Tsar - Simon Sebag-Montefiore
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