Lunacharsky was associated with the establishment of the Bolshoi Drama Theater in 1919, working with Maxim Gorky, Alexander Blok and Maria Andreyeva. He was also in charge of the Soviet state's first censorship system. Lunacharsky helped his former colleague Alexander Bogdanov start a semi-independent proletarian art movement called Proletkult. Lunacharsky also oversaw improvements in Russia's literacy rate. By arguing for their architectural importance, he argued for the protection of historic buildings against elements in the Bolshevik Party who wanted to destroy them.