Grigory Vakulinchuk
Encyclopedia
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 Navy. He was born in Velki Koroventsi (now in Zhytomyr Oblast
Zhytomyr Oblast
Zhytomyr Oblast is an oblast of northern Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Zhytomyr.-History:The oblast was created as part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic on September 22, 1937....
). He served on the Russian battleship Potemkin
Russian battleship Potemkin
The Potemkin was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Russian Navy's Black Sea Fleet. The ship was made famous by the Battleship Potemkin uprising, a rebellion of the crew against their oppressive officers in June 1905...
.
He was one of nine children, he and his family worked in a sugar factory until the navy conscripted him. He learned to read in radical study circles. He became a member of a sailor patrol in Sebastopol
Sebastopol
Sebastopol is a former spelling and frequent variant of Sevastopol, the port on the Crimean peninsula.Sebastopol may refer to the following:Places:* Sebastopol, California, USA* Sebastopol, Mississippi, USA...
so he could protect radical meetings while pretending to hunt for them. Once he actually turned away two officers after saying he'd arrested a meeting of radicals the two men had found.
On the 10th/23rd June 1905, he had attended a meeting of Tsentralka (the revolutionary sailors' organisation) and had argued in favour of an uprising: "To delay means to fail the revolution. At this moment, everywhere, workers and peasants are striking out. We must join the common fight." His powerful voice and long black moustache added to the effect of his words.
On the 11th/24th he had convinced the Tsentralka leaders to let the Potemkin lead the Black Sea uprising.
After the crew discovered their meat was maggot-ridden, Vakulinchuk called for a boycott, rather than a full uprising.
Chief Officer Giliarovsky was using marines to threaten the sailors into eating the meat. Vakulinchuk retreated behind a gun turret, then handed out guns from the armoury when he saw 30 sailors were going to be executed. He aimed at Giliarovsky, but hit Lieutenant Neupokoyev instead. Giliarovsky shot him in the chest. He managed to disarm Giliarovsky when a petty officer shot him from behind. After the fight, he tried to stand but fell into the sea, he was rescued and sent to the infirmary.
His friend Afanasi Matushenko led the mutiny. The red flag the sailors hoisted had been hidden on board by Vakulinchuk. Vakulinchuk had thought the mutiny premature, he wanted to wait till they were with the fleet. His funeral 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,...
two days later turned into a political demonstration.
On his deathbed he asked for his savings (80 roubles) to be split between the sailors and his father. His last words were: "Don't throw it away Afanasy."
His death and funeral are important incidents in Sergei Eisenstein
Sergei Eisenstein
Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein , né Eizenshtein, was a pioneering Soviet Russian film director and film theorist, often considered to be the "Father of Montage"...
's film Battleship Potemkin, where he was played by Aleksandr Pavlovich Antonov.