Editing Damnatio memoriae (section)

== Similar practices in modern times ==
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| footer = Alexander Malchenko, an [[League of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class|early socialist]] revolutionary, removed due to his support of [[Julius Martov|J. Martov]]
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| image1 = Nikolai Yezhov with Stalin and Molotov along the Volga–Don Canal, orignal.jpg
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{{Main article|Censorship of images in the Soviet Union}}

While complete {{lang|la|damnatio memoriae}} has not been attempted in modern times—naming or writing about a person fallen from favour has never been made subject to formal punishment—less total instances of {{lang|la|damnatio memoriae}} in modern times include numerous examples from the [[Soviet Union]], retouching photos to remove individuals such as [[Leon Trotsky]],<ref name="Kohonen2017">{{Cite book |last=Kohonen |first=Iina |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fbirDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA135 |title=Picturing the Cosmos: A Visual History of Early Soviet Space Endeavor |date=1 July 2017 |publisher=Intellect Books |isbn=978-1-78320-744-2 |pages=135–137}}</ref> [[Nikolay Yezhov]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 September 1999 |title="The Commissar Vanishes" in ''The Vanishing Commissar'' |url=http://www.newseum.org/berlinwall/commissar_vanishes/vanishes.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208193919/http://www.newseum.org/berlinwall/commissar_vanishes/vanishes.htm |archive-date=8 February 2007 |access-date=30 September 2012 |website=The Newseum}}</ref> and even [[Stalin]].<ref name="HydenSheckels2016">{{Cite book |last=Hyden |first=Carl T. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UYpCCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA14 |title=Public Places: Sites of Political Communication |last2=Sheckels |first2=Theodore F. |date=14 January 2016 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4985-0726-4 |page=14}}</ref> After Stalin ordered the murder of [[Grigory Kulik]]'s wife Kira Kulik-Simonich, all photographic records of her were destroyed; although she was described as very pretty, no photographs or other images of her survive.<ref>Joseph Abraham, (2020) ''Kings, Conquerors, Psychopaths: From Alexander to Hitler to the Corporation'', Hidden Hills Press, p. 147 {{ISBN|9780578680590}}.</ref> Following their fall from favour, [[Lavrentiy Beria]] and others were removed from articles in the ''[[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hIN1DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA2 |title=The Materiality of Text – Placement, Perception, and Presence of Inscribed Texts in Classical Antiquity: Placement, perception, and presence of inscribed texts in classical antiquity |date=22 October 2018 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-37943-5 |editor-last=Petrovic |editor-first=Andrej |pages=2–3 |editor-last2=Petrovic |editor-first2=Ivana |editor-last3=Thomas |editor-first3=Edmund}}</ref> Following the [[Revolutions of 1989|fall of communism]] in Eastern Europe, many communist statues, particularly of Lenin and Stalin, were removed from former Soviet satellite states.<ref name="Nead1999">{{Cite book |last=Nead |first=Lynda |author-link=Lynda Nead |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XxqsdMaCpHkC&pg=PA47 |title=Law and the Image: The Authority of Art and the Aesthetics of Law |date=August 1999 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-56953-6 |pages=47–}}</ref> Following a 2015 decision, a process of [[decommunization in Ukraine]] successfully dismantled all 1,320 statues of [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]] after its independence, as well as renaming roads and structures named under Soviet authority.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wilford |first=Greg |date=20 August 2017 |title=Ukraine has removed all 1,320 statues of Lenin |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/lenin-statues-removed-soviet-union-russia-crimea-ukraine-bolshevik-communist-petro-poroshenko-volodymyr-viatrovych-viktor-yanukovych-a7903611.html |access-date=8 October 2020 |work=The Independent}}</ref>

The graphic designer [[David King (graphic designer)|David King]] had a strong interest in Soviet art and design, and amassed a collection of over 250,000 images. His most striking examples of before-and-after alterations were published as ''[[The Commissar Vanishes]]''.

=== Poland ===
19th century Polish writers often omitted mentioning two kings from the list of Polish monarchs, [[Bezprym]] and [[Wenceslaus III of Bohemia]], which has resulted in their being omitted from many later works as well.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mroziewicz |first=Karolina |date=2020 |title=Same Kings, Different Narratives: Illustrated Catalogues of Rulers of Poland, Bohemia and Hungary in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries |url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=856864 |journal=Zeitschrift für Ostmitteleuropa-Forschung |language=English |volume=69 |issue=1 |pages=27–67 |issn=0948-8294}}</ref>

=== China ===
The treatment of Chinese politician [[Zhao Ziyang]] following his fall from grace inside the [[Chinese Communist Party]] is regarded as another modern case of {{lang|la|damnatio memoriae}}.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gerard |first=Bonnie |title=Damnatio Memoriae in China: Zhao Ziyang Is Laid to Rest |url=https://thediplomat.com/2019/11/damnatio-memoriae-in-china-zhao-ziyang-is-laid-to-rest/ |access-date=15 November 2019 |website=thediplomat.com |publisher=The Diplomat}}</ref>

=== Germany ===
The destruction of all copies of ''[[The Victory of Faith]]'' in order to erase [[Ernst Röhm]] is considered an act of [[Nazi]] ''damnatio memoriae''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Álvarez |first=Jorge |date=19 November 2019 |title="La victoria de la fe", el documental propagandístico del nazismo que Hitler mandó destruir |url=https://www.labrujulaverde.com/2019/11/la-victoria-de-la-fe-el-documental-propagandistico-del-nazismo-que-hitler-mando-destruir |access-date=17 December 2021 |work=La Brújula Verde |language=es |quote=se aplicó una damnatio memoriae sobre el fallecido mandatario y, dado que salía en bastantes escenas de La victoria de la fe, se ordenó la destrucción de todas las copias existentes}}</ref> In the end, two copies survived: one preserved in London and one preserved by the Communist government of East Germany.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Trimborn |first=Jürgen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ql_FeGlS2oIC&q=%22Der%20Sieg%20des%20Glaubens%22&pg=PP142 |title=Leni Riefenstahl: A Life |date=2008 |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |isbn=978-1-4668-2164-4 |language=en |access-date=12 April 2020}}</ref>

=== North Korea ===
In December 2013, [[Jang Song-thaek]] was abruptly accused of being a [[counter-revolutionary]] and was stripped of all his posts, expelled from the [[Workers' Party of Korea]] (WPK), arrested and executed. His photos were removed from official media and his image [[Photo manipulation|digitally removed]] from photos with other North Korean leaders.<ref>{{Cite news |date=10 December 2013 |title=Der retuschierte Onkel |url=http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/wie-nordkorea-kims-onkel-chang-song-taek-wegretuschiert-a-938118.html |access-date=10 December 2013 |work=Der Spiegel |location=Hamburg}}</ref>
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=== United Kingdom ===
An instance of ''damnatio memoriae''-esque policy instituted without governmental decree occurred in the aftermath of the [[Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal]]. Following extensive accusations of sexually abusing underage, disabled, and dead individuals, various public institutions in the United Kingdom took extensive measures to remove posthumous relics of Savile's public presence.<ref name="Rohrer 2012">{{Cite news |last=Rohrer |first=Finlo |date=1 November 2012 |title=Jimmy Savile: Erasing the memory |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-20165466 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250117173805/https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-20165466 |archive-date=17 January 2025 |access-date=26 March 2025 |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |ref=Rohrer 2012}}</ref> This included taking down monuments and memorials to Savile<ref>{{Cite news |last=Davies |first=Katie |date=13 October 2012 |title=Jimmy Savile removed from Great North Run history |url=http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/communities/newcastle/2012/10/13/jimmy-savile-removed-from-great-north-run-history-72703-32025062/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023232826/http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/communities/newcastle/2012/10/13/jimmy-savile-removed-from-great-north-run-history-72703-32025062/ |archive-date=23 October 2012 |access-date=13 October 2012 |work=[[Evening Chronicle]] |location=Newcastle}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Jeeves |first=Paul |date=9 October 2012 |title=Council orders removal of Jimmy Savile tribute |url=http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/350965/Council-orders-removal-of-Sir-Jimmy-Savile-tribute |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202180109/http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/350965/Council-orders-removal-of-Sir-Jimmy-Savile-tribute |archive-date=2 February 2014 |access-date=10 November 2012 |work=Daily Express |location=London}}</ref> (including his headstone),<ref>{{Cite news |date=10 October 2012 |title=Jimmy Savile's headstone removed from Scarborough cemetery |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-19893373 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118060407/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-19893373 |archive-date=18 January 2023 |access-date=14 October 2012 |work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=10 October 2012 |title=Savile's headstone removed by family |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/1010/breaking3.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106054033/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/1010/breaking3.html |archive-date=6 November 2012 |access-date=14 October 2012 |work=The Irish Times |location=Dublin}}</ref> rechristening locations and awards previously named after him,<ref name="BBC17oct2012">{{Cite web |date=17 October 2012 |title=Jimmy Savile cafe renamed at Stoke Mandeville |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-19974841 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118060354/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-19974841 |archive-date=18 January 2023 |access-date=25 February 2018 |website=BBC News}}</ref> dissolving charity organizations named after him,<ref name="bbc-news-jimmy-savile-charities-have-no-future">{{Cite news |date=23 October 2012 |title=Jimmy Savile charities have no future, say trustees |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20001588 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326115408/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20001588 |archive-date=26 March 2022 |access-date=23 October 2012 |work=BBC News}}</ref> and suppressing episodes of television and radio shows which featured or explicitly referenced him.<ref name="Rohrer 2012" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=2 November 2012 |title=BBC axes Jimmy Savile 'Top of the Pops' reruns |url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a435261/bbc-axes-jimmy-savile-top-of-the-pops-reruns.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106114523/http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a435261/bbc-axes-jimmy-savile-top-of-the-pops-reruns.html |archive-date=6 November 2012 |access-date=13 September 2013 |work=Digital Spy}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=20 January 2013 |title=BBC receives 216 complaints for Tweenies Jimmy Savile spoof |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-21108337.amp |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407113233/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-21108337.amp |archive-date=7 April 2022 |access-date=16 October 2021 |work=BBC News}}</ref> In the immediate aftermath of the scandal, BBC News reporter Finlo Rohrer commented that {{qi|As bloggers have already noted, the Romans would have understood the Savile erasures as ''damnatio memoriae'' [...] people will be able to see the spot where a plaque to him once rested. They may know that a path was once named after him.}}<ref name="Rohrer 2012" />