Pavlik Morozov

Pavel Trofimovich Morozov, better known by the diminutive Pavlik, was a Soviet youth praised by the Soviet press as a martyr. His story, dated to 1932, is that of a 13-year-old boy who denounced his father to the authorities and was in turn killed by his family. His story was a subject of reading, songs, plays, a symphonic poem, a full-length opera, and six biographies. The apotheotic cult had a huge impact on the moral norms of generations of children, who were encouraged to inform on their parents.