CCCP Writers CP-7077-02

Yevgeny Ivanovich Kamzolkin (1885 -1957) was a Russian and Soviet decorative artist, photographer, and creator of the hammer and sickle symbol later used in the State Emblem of the Soviet Union.

Between 1904 and 1912 he studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. In 1907 he exhibited at the International Photography Exhibition in Turin.

In 1917, Vladimir Lenin held a competition to create a Soviet emblem in time for the May Day decorations of 1918. Kamzolkin won the competition. The winning design was a hammer and sickle on top of a globe in the rays of the sun, surrounded by a wreath of grain and under a five-pointed star, with the inscription "Proletarians of the world, unite!"

On July 6, 1923, the second session of the Central Executive Committee adopted this design as the official emblem of the Soviet state.

The hammer and sickle was widely used by communist parties around the world and is arguably one of the best-known emblems of the 20th century.