Boris Savinkov
Encyclopedia
Boris Viktorovich Savinkov (Russian:Борис Викторович Савинков) (19 January 1879 – 7 May 1925) was a Russia
n writer and revolutionary
terrorist
. As one of the leaders of the Fighting Organisation of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party
, he was responsible for the most spectacular assassinations of imperial officials in 1904 and 1905.
Later, he became Assistant War Minister in the Provisional Government
. Savinkov emigrated in 1920, but in 1924 he made an endeavour to return to Russia, was arrested and either was killed in prison or committed suicide.
), the son of a judge in Warsaw
. In 1897 he entered the law department of St. Petersburg University but was expelled in 1899 because of participation in students' riots. Later he studied in Berlin
and Heidelberg. Since 1898 he was a member of various socialist organizations. In 1901 he was arrested and sent to exile to Vologda
. He served the exile with some prominent Russian intellectuals including Nikolai Berdyaev
and Anatoly Lunacharsky. However he became disappointed with Marxism and shifted to terrorism. In 1903 Savinkov escaped abroad and joined the Socialist-Revolutionary Party
, where he soon became Deputy Head of its Combat Organization under Yevno Azef.
and participation in the assassination of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia
, he was arrested in 1906 and sentenced to death. However, he managed to escape from his prison cell in Odessa
and found refuge in exile. When Azef was revealed as an agent of the Okhrana in 1908, Savinkov became the head of the Fighting Organization, but it was too weak to conduct any serious operations. While in France
Savinkov participated in World War I
as a volunteer in the French Army. He returned to Russia in April 1917, several months after the February Revolution
, and in July became Deputy War Minister under Alexander Kerensky
. However, on August 30 he resigned from the government and was expelled from the Socialist-Revolutionary Party
due to his role in the uprising of General Lavr Kornilov
in September 1917. He remained in Russia as a counter-revolutionary during the period after the October revolution
.
, Rybinsk
and Murom
. After these were crushed by the Red Army
, Savinkov returned to France. There, he held various posts in the Russian emigre
societies and was the main diplomatic representative of admiral Aleksandr Kolchak
in Paris
. During the Polish-Bolshevik War of 1919-1920 he moved to Poland
, where he formed a Russian political organisation responsible for the formation of several infantry and cavalry units out of former Red Army POWs
. Together with Merezhkovsky, he published in Warsaw
a newspaper entitled «За свободу!» ('For Freedom!). In October 1921, when the Polish-Bolshevik War was over, Polish authorities sent Savinkov out of the country in order not to spoil relations with the Soviets.
, the legendary renegade British
agent, and was involved in a number of "counter-revolutionary" plots against the Bolsheviks, sometimes collaborating with the British Secret Intelligence Service
(SIS). These efforts were effectively undermined by the Trust Operation
implemented by OGPU
. Savinkov was lured into the USSR to meet with false conspirators and consequently arrested. The USSR Supreme Court sentenced him to death but the Presidium of VTsIK converted the sentence into 10 years imprisonment. During his trial Savinkov declared that he recognized the Bolsheviks and assumed his defeat. While imprisoned he wrote satirical stories about white émigrés, and was allowed to see them published in Moscow. According to the NKVD he committed suicide by jumping from a window in the Lubyanka
prison, in Moscow
. However, according to modern publications by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
and others, Savinkov had been killed in prison by OGPU officers.
directed a movie The Rider Named Death, based on Savinkov's book.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n writer and revolutionary
Revolutionary
A revolutionary is a person who either actively participates in, or advocates revolution. Also, when used as an adjective, the term revolutionary refers to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor.-Definition:...
terrorist
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
. As one of the leaders of the Fighting Organisation of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party
Socialist-Revolutionary Party
thumb|right|200px|Socialist-Revolutionary election poster, 1917. The caption in red reads "партия соц-рев" , short for Party of the Socialist Revolutionaries...
, he was responsible for the most spectacular assassinations of imperial officials in 1904 and 1905.
Later, he became Assistant War Minister in the Provisional Government
Russian Provisional Government
The Russian Provisional Government was the short-lived administrative body which sought to govern Russia immediately following the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II . On September 14, the State Duma of the Russian Empire was officially dissolved by the newly created Directorate, and the country was...
. Savinkov emigrated in 1920, but in 1924 he made an endeavour to return to Russia, was arrested and either was killed in prison or committed suicide.
Young years
Savinkov was born in Kharkov (KharkivKharkiv
Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second-largest city in Ukraine.The city was founded in 1654 and was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in the Russian Empire. Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine where the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in December 1917 and Soviet government was...
), the son of a judge in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. In 1897 he entered the law department of St. Petersburg University but was expelled in 1899 because of participation in students' riots. Later he studied in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and Heidelberg. Since 1898 he was a member of various socialist organizations. In 1901 he was arrested and sent to exile to Vologda
Vologda
Vologda is a city and the administrative, cultural, and scientific center of Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the Vologda River. The city is a major transport knot of the Northwest of Russia. Vologda is among the Russian cities possessing an especially valuable historical heritage...
. He served the exile with some prominent Russian intellectuals including Nikolai Berdyaev
Nikolai Berdyaev
Nikolai Alexandrovich Berdyaev was a Russian religious and political philosopher.-Early life and education:Berdyaev was born in Kiev into an aristocratic military family. He spent a solitary childhood at home, where his father's library allowed him to read widely...
and Anatoly Lunacharsky. However he became disappointed with Marxism and shifted to terrorism. In 1903 Savinkov escaped abroad and joined the Socialist-Revolutionary Party
Socialist-Revolutionary Party
thumb|right|200px|Socialist-Revolutionary election poster, 1917. The caption in red reads "партия соц-рев" , short for Party of the Socialist Revolutionaries...
, where he soon became Deputy Head of its Combat Organization under Yevno Azef.
Socialist-Revolutionary Party
For his assassination of Russian Minister of Interior Vyacheslav von PlehveVyacheslav von Plehve
Vyacheslav Konstantinovich von Plehve , also Pléhve, or Pleve was the director of Imperial Russia's police and later Minister of the Interior.- Biography :...
and participation in the assassination of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia
Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia
Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia was a son of Emperor Alexander II of Russia...
, he was arrested in 1906 and sentenced to death. However, he managed to escape from his prison cell in Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
and found refuge in exile. When Azef was revealed as an agent of the Okhrana in 1908, Savinkov became the head of the Fighting Organization, but it was too weak to conduct any serious operations. While in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Savinkov participated in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
as a volunteer in the French Army. He returned to Russia in April 1917, several months after the February Revolution
February Revolution
The February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. Centered around the then capital Petrograd in March . Its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire...
, and in July became Deputy War Minister under Alexander Kerensky
Alexander Kerensky
Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky was a major political leader before and during the Russian Revolutions of 1917.Kerensky served as the second Prime Minister of the Russian Provisional Government until Vladimir Lenin was elected by the All-Russian Congress of Soviets following the October Revolution...
. However, on August 30 he resigned from the government and was expelled from the Socialist-Revolutionary Party
Socialist-Revolutionary Party
thumb|right|200px|Socialist-Revolutionary election poster, 1917. The caption in red reads "партия соц-рев" , short for Party of the Socialist Revolutionaries...
due to his role in the uprising of General Lavr Kornilov
Lavr Kornilov
Lavr Georgiyevich Kornilov was a military intelligence officer, explorer, and general in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I and the ensuing Russian Civil War...
in September 1917. He remained in Russia as a counter-revolutionary during the period after the October revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
.
Civil war
As a leader of the Society for Defence of Motherland and Freedom, Savinkov inspired several armed uprisings against the Bolsheviks, most notably in YaroslavlYaroslavl
Yaroslavl is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historical part of the city, a World Heritage Site, is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Kotorosl Rivers. It is one of the Golden Ring cities, a group of historic cities...
, Rybinsk
Rybinsk
Rybinsk is the second largest city of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, which lies at the confluence of the Volga and Sheksna Rivers. Population: It is served by Rybinsk Staroselye airport.-Early history:...
and Murom
Murom
Murom is a historic city in Vladimir Oblast, Russia, which sprawls along the left bank of Oka River. Population: -History:In the 9th century CE, the city marked the easternmost settlement of the Eastern Slavs in the land of the Finno-Ugric people called Muromians. The Russian Primary Chronicle...
. After these were crushed by the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
, Savinkov returned to France. There, he held various posts in the Russian emigre
White Emigre
A white émigré was a Russian who emigrated from Russia in the wake of the Russian Revolution and Russian Civil War, and who was in opposition to the contemporary Russian political climate....
societies and was the main diplomatic representative of admiral Aleksandr Kolchak
Aleksandr Kolchak
Aleksandr Vasiliyevich Kolchak was a Russian naval commander, polar explorer and later - Supreme ruler . Supreme ruler of Russia , was recognized in this position by all the heads of the White movement, "De jure" - Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, "De facto" - Entente States...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. During the Polish-Bolshevik War of 1919-1920 he moved to Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, where he formed a Russian political organisation responsible for the formation of several infantry and cavalry units out of former Red Army POWs
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
. Together with Merezhkovsky, he published in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
a newspaper entitled «За свободу!» ('For Freedom!). In October 1921, when the Polish-Bolshevik War was over, Polish authorities sent Savinkov out of the country in order not to spoil relations with the Soviets.
Trust Operation and death
He was an acquaintance of Sidney ReillySidney Reilly
Lieutenant Sidney George Reilly, MC , famously known as the Ace of Spies, was a Jewish Russian-born adventurer and secret agent employed by Scotland Yard, the British Secret Service Bureau and later the Secret Intelligence Service . He is alleged to have spied for at least four nations...
, the legendary renegade British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
agent, and was involved in a number of "counter-revolutionary" plots against the Bolsheviks, sometimes collaborating with the British Secret Intelligence Service
Secret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
(SIS). These efforts were effectively undermined by the Trust Operation
Trust Operation
Operation Trust was a counterintelligence operation of the State Political Directorate of the Soviet Union. The operation, which ran from 1921-1926, set up a fake anti-Bolshevik underground organization, "Monarchist Union of Central Russia", MUCR , in order to help the OGPU identify real...
implemented by OGPU
State Political Directorate
The State Political Directorate was the secret police of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1934...
. Savinkov was lured into the USSR to meet with false conspirators and consequently arrested. The USSR Supreme Court sentenced him to death but the Presidium of VTsIK converted the sentence into 10 years imprisonment. During his trial Savinkov declared that he recognized the Bolsheviks and assumed his defeat. While imprisoned he wrote satirical stories about white émigrés, and was allowed to see them published in Moscow. According to the NKVD he committed suicide by jumping from a window in the Lubyanka
Lubyanka (KGB)
The Lubyanka is the popular name for the headquarters of the KGB and affiliated prison on Lubyanka Square in Moscow. It is a large building with a facade of yellow brick, designed by Alexander V...
prison, in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
. However, according to modern publications by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn was aRussian and Soviet novelist, dramatist, and historian. Through his often-suppressed writings, he helped to raise global awareness of the Gulag, the Soviet Union's forced labor camp system – particularly in The Gulag Archipelago and One Day in the Life of...
and others, Savinkov had been killed in prison by OGPU officers.
Legacy
Boris Savinkov wrote several novels. His most famous are an autobiography "Memoirs of a Terrorist" and a loosely autobiographical novel called "Pale Steed". Savinkov's works raised huge controversy among SR's. Many of them disclaimed them as "spoofs" on terrorism.Movie
2004: Karen ShakhnazarovKaren Shakhnazarov
Karen Georgievich Shakhnazarov is a Soviet and Russian-Armenian filmmaker, producer and screenwriter. He became the Director General of the Mosfilm studios in 1998.Shakhnazarov is the son of a prominent politician of Armenian descent, Georgy Shakhnazarov....
directed a movie The Rider Named Death, based on Savinkov's book.
Works
- Pale steed, 1909,
- That which didn't happen, 1912
- Memoirs of a terrorist, 1917,
- Black steed (novel), 1923
See also
- SR Combat Organization
- Yevno Azef
- Sidney ReillySidney ReillyLieutenant Sidney George Reilly, MC , famously known as the Ace of Spies, was a Jewish Russian-born adventurer and secret agent employed by Scotland Yard, the British Secret Service Bureau and later the Secret Intelligence Service . He is alleged to have spied for at least four nations...