Draft:Albert Mailiantz

• Comment: Vague and superficial analysis such as The article identified Mailiantz as a member of the Union of Journalists of the USSR and noted that the exhibition had been organised by the Tashkent organisation of the Union of Journalists of the USSR is characteristic of LLM usage; ideally you should remove all prose from the draft and start over from a blank slate without LLMs. Helpful Raccoon (talk) 02:52, 20 June 2026 (UTC)

• Comment: In accordance with Wikipedia's Conflict of interest guideline, I disclose that I have a conflict of interest regarding the subject of this article. VMailiantz (talk) 14:54, 28 April 2026 (UTC)

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Albert Nikolayevich Mailiantz (Russian: Альберт Николаевич Маилянц; born 1923) was a Soviet graphic artist, political caricaturist, journalist, and World War II veteran. A member of the Union of Journalists of the USSR, he drew anti-fascist political cartoons produced during the Great Patriotic War. He had a career as an editorial correspondent and satirical illustrator across the Turkmen and Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic. His work appeared across Central Asian periodicals, including Komsomolets Uzbekistana, the journal Sotsialistichesky Uzbekistan, the journal Uzbekistan, Leninsky Put.

Early life and military service

Albert Mailiantz was raised in Ashgabat, Turkmen SSR, and attended Ashgabat Secondary School No. 5 in 1941. As a tenth-grade student, he drew his first political caricature in response to Nazi invasion and propaganda statements.

In February 1942, before completing his secondary education, Mailiantz left for the Red Army as a Komsomol member. He was sent for training at the Kharkiv Infantry School, which had been evacuated to Namangan in the Uzbek SSR. Following training and unit formation in the forests near Tambov, he was deployed to the front lines as a machine gunner.

Holding the rank of Junior Sergeant, Mailiantz was wounded in fighting near Voronezh in 1942. After receiving treatment at a military hospital, he was medically discharged from active duty as disabled war veteran and returned to Ashgabat in late 1942.

Wartime satire (1941–1945)

Following his return to Ashgabat, Mailiantz was employed as a draftsman in the Design Bureau of the Ashgabat railway (Проектная Контора Ашхабадской железной дороги). He monitored late-night radio bulletins from the Sovinformburo and drew editorial cartoons addressing the latest military developments.

His political drawings were published in the republican daily newspaper Turkmenskaya Iskra (Туркменская Искра) and exhibited in outdoor street showcases, including the display windows of the Ashgabat House of Political Education. In 1943, a Komsomol wall newspaper edited and illustrated by Mailiantz was awarded second place in an All-Union competition.

Beginning in October 1944, Mailiantz worked with Ashgabat poet Viktor Pavlovich Permyakov, then the executive secretary of the railway newspaper Na Relsakh (На Рельсах). who composed poetic texts and satirical verses for his cartoons. Together they created thematic cycles such as Almost After Krylov (Почти по Крылову), adapting the fables of Ivan Krylov to satire on Nazi leadership. Mailiantz also collaborated with poet G. Veselkov on illustrated feature appearing in January 1945 series in Turkmenskaya Iskra titled "What 1944 Was Remembered for by Hitler & Co."

On May 5 1945, four days before the end of the war in Europe, Mailiantz's first exhibition, titled With Bayonet and Drawing (Штыком и Рисунком), opened at the Ashgabat Railway Administration, featuring over twenty drawings, fable adaptations, and TASS windows (Окна ТАСС) posters.

Later career

By 1945, Mailiantz was on the editorial staff of Na Relsakh. He subsequently served as a department head of the newspaper Komsomolets Turkmenistana (Комсомолец Туркменистана).

In the late 1940s, Mailiantz relocated to the Uzbek USSR, where he resided in Tashkent for about twenty-five years. Throughout his career in Uzbekistan, he worked as a literary contributor, including Komsomolets Uzbekistana (Комсомолец Узбекситана), the journal Uzbekistan (Узбекистан), and the Samarkand regional newspaper Leninsky Put (Ленинский Путь).

As a traveling correspondent, Mailiantz toured construction and agricultural sites across the republic, documenting the work of construction crews in the Karshi Steppe and sketching in the foothills of Samarkand. In addition to his regional reportage, he produced political cartoons on international affairs as well as domestic satires targeting bribe-takers, idlers and bureaucrats.

Public outreach and exhibitions

Mailiantz was a member of the Union of Journalists of the Soviet Union. As a lecturer for the All-Union Znanie (Knowledge) Society, he delivered public presentations on the art of Soviet caricature to cotton-growers in Fergana and Namangan, as well as workers and students in Samarkand. He also organized mobile exhibitions of his wartime graphic works, touring educational institutions, factories, and collective farms.

In May 1975, to mark the 30th anniversary of Victory Day, the Tashkent branch of the Union of Journalists mounted an exhibition of his work at the Tashkent District Officer's House (Окружной Дом Офицеров). Titled Political Caricature of the War Years, the exhibition comprised more than fifty wartime drawings organized into three thematic sections:

1. With Bayonet and Drawing ("Штыком и Рисунком")
2. Illustrated Quotations ("Иллюстрированные цитаты")
3. Almost After Krylov ("Почти по Крылову"

The exhibition was presented by Mailiantz as a gift to the personnel of the Red Banner Turkestan Military District.

Notable works and series

• Russian Blizzard (Русская метелица): Depicting Hitler fleeing in the retreat from Moscow.
• Aunt Franco's Cabin (Хижина тети Франко): Satirizing Spanish neutrality and Nazi fugitives.
• At a Dead End (В туПИКОВОм положении): Showing Nazi leadership on a train car rolling toward an abyss.
• Almost After Krylov (Почти по Крылову): A multi-part series of fable-inspired caricatures with poetry.
• What 1944 Was Remembered for by Hitler & Co, (Чем был памятен 1944 год для Гитлера и компании): A chronological series illustrated for Turkmenskaya Iskra.

References

Viktorov, P. (5 May 1945). "Штыком и рисунком" [With Bayonet and Drawing]. Na Relsakh (in Russian).

Kandalov, V. (14 August 1973). "Всерьез и в шутку" [Seriously and in Jest]. Frunzevets (in Russian).

"Штыком и Рисунком" [With Bayonet and Drawing]. Znamya Oktyabrya (in Russian). No. 56 (227). 20 March 1975.

Glebov, Yu. (2 May 1975). "Двн выставки" [two Exhibitions]. Tashkentskaya Pravda (in Russian). No. 87 (5435).

Zimon, V. (8 May 1975). "Боец армии сатиры" [Fighter of the Army of Satire]. Selskaya Pravda (in Russian). No. 107 (410).

Glushkova, G. (11 May 1975). "Оружием смеха" [With the Weapon of Laughter]. Frinzevets (in Russian). No. 110 (16383).

Sergeyev, V. (20 May 1975). "Подарок бывшего воина" [A former Soldier's Gift]. Pravda Vostoka (in Russian). No. 116 (17784).