Ignacy Hryniewiecki
Encyclopedia
Ignaty Gryniewietsky 1856 – 13 March 1881) was a member of the People's Will
and the assassin of Tsar Alexander II of Russia
.
into an impoverished Polish
szlachta
family at a small manor.
, where he enrolled in mathematics at the Polytechnic. Under the influence of his teachers and fellow students, he quickly became Russified. This was probably why he was invited to meetings of the Russian revolutionary Narodnaya Volya (People's Will) movement.
In 1880 Hryniewiecki, Andrei Zhelyabov
, Sophia Perovskaya and others were in charge of revolutionary propaganda
among students and workers. Hryniewiecki was an organizer of the Workers' Gazette and a typesetter at a clandestine printing establishment.
Alexander II
.
One evening in mid-February the four bomb-throwers (Timofei Mikhailov, Ivan Emelyanov
, Nikolai Rysakov
and Hryniewiecki) gathered in a newly rented apartment on Telezhnaya Street, tenanted by Sablin and Gesya Gelfman
. Andrei Zhelyabov
outlined the plan of attack, and Kibalchich
lectured on the bomb. He demonstrated parts of the mechanism for the class, drew diagrams, described how the bomb worked and how it should be handled. The missile was a cylinder weighing five to six pounds, the outer shell fashioned out of an empty kerosene can, and the explosive a combination of nitroglycerin and pyroxylin. Shortly after the meeting the bombs were tested in a suburban park. Two missiles were pitched, and one of them exploded.
Prior to the assassination
, Hryniewiecki set down what was in effect a letter to posterity. Only a fragment of it has been preserved:
"Alexander II must die," he wrote. . . ." He will die, and with him, we, his enemies, his executioners, shall die too. . . . How many more sacrifices will our unhappy country ask of its sons before it is liberated? . . . It is my lot to die young, I shall not see our victory, I shall not live one day, one hour in the bright season of our triumph, but I believe that with my death I shall do all that it is my duty to do, and no one in the world can demand more of me. . . ."
On March 13, 1881 (March 1 O.S.),
Hryniewiecki was a part of the "fighting squad" who attacked Tsar
Alexander II
, who was passing down Nevsky Prospekt
near the Winter Palace
.
When the first bomb went off, Alexander reflected a moment and said he wanted to have a look at the spot where the explosion had occurred. He walked over to the funnel-shaped pit formed by the bomb. The Cossack and the boy were still lying where they had fallen. He expressed solicitude for them.
Many of the guards, rushed up to see and asked him if he was hurt, "Thank God! no," said the Tsar
. "Come, let us look after the wounded."
When his curiosity was satisfied, he was ready to drive away, Hryniewiecki who was leaning against the railing with a parcel in his hands, turned to face the Emperor and before any one could stop him, he shouted: "It is too soon to thank God yet, Alexander Nikolaevich
," and raised both arms and made a sudden movement. There was a second deafening explosion.
On the shattered flagstones of the sidewalk near the railing the Tsar
was lying in a pool of blood. He was fatally wounded in the explosion and died a few hours later.
Beside him lay his attacker, Hryniewiecki, who was also gravely wounded and unconscious.
Because people had crowded close to the Tsar, the second bomb claimed many more victims than the first.
The attack may have been a suicide bombing. Hryniewiecki had attempted to assassinate the Tsar before but had not used a bomb, as he did not want to injure other people. In his first attempt, he had not wanted to kill pedestrians; in the second attempt, he had not wanted to kill the Tsar's wife.
Later it was learned there was a third bomber in the crowd. Ivan Emelyanov
. The moment the second bomb went off, Emelyanov
, who was stationed some twenty paces down the quay, rushed to the scene of the explosion to see if Hryniewiecki was alive and could be spirited away in the confusion. He realized at once that nothing could be done.
At nine o'clock that day, Hryniewiecki, who had been carried to the infirmary attached to the Palace, regained consciousness. Determined to give no information to the police, he refused to disclose his name. An hour and a half later he was dead.
The assassination had been meant to ignite revolution. Hryniewiecki's fellow-conspirators — Nikolai Kibalchich
, Sophia Perovskaya, Nikolai Rysakov
, Timofei Mikhailov, Andrei Zhelyabov
— were sentenced to death and were hanged on April 3, 1881. They were buried in an anonymous common grave.
The Church of the Savior on Blood
was erected on the site of the assassination.
People's Will
Will of the People is a political party that aimed for representation in the Parliament of Sweden, but only got 881 votes nation-wide in the Swedish general election, 2006, of a national turnout of 5,650,416...
and the assassin of Tsar Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
.
Early life
Hryniewiecki was born in Kalinovka, a village in Klichev district, nowaday BelarusBelarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
into an impoverished Polish
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...
szlachta
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
family at a small manor.
Revolutionary life
In 1875 Hryniewiecki left for Saint PetersburgSaint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, where he enrolled in mathematics at the Polytechnic. Under the influence of his teachers and fellow students, he quickly became Russified. This was probably why he was invited to meetings of the Russian revolutionary Narodnaya Volya (People's Will) movement.
In 1880 Hryniewiecki, Andrei Zhelyabov
Andrei Zhelyabov
Andrey Ivanovich Zhelyabov , Russian revolutionary, member of the Executive Committee of Narodnaya Volya....
, Sophia Perovskaya and others were in charge of revolutionary propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
among students and workers. Hryniewiecki was an organizer of the Workers' Gazette and a typesetter at a clandestine printing establishment.
Assassination of Tsar
In February 1881 Hryniewiecki joined as a part of the bombthrower unit, created for the purpose of assassinating the TsarTsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
Alexander II
Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
.
One evening in mid-February the four bomb-throwers (Timofei Mikhailov, Ivan Emelyanov
Ivan Emelyanov
Ivan Panteleymonovich Yemelyanov , a boy of twenty, who after graduating from a trade school, had studied abroad on a grant from Baron Ginzburg, and became a cabinetmaker....
, Nikolai Rysakov
Nikolai Rysakov
Nikolai Rysakov was a Russian revolutionary and a member of Narodnaya Volya. He personally took part in the assassination of Tsar Alexander II, throwing a bomb that disabled the Tsar's carriage. A second bomb by an accomplice, Ignacy Hryniewiecki, was fatal to the Tsar...
and Hryniewiecki) gathered in a newly rented apartment on Telezhnaya Street, tenanted by Sablin and Gesya Gelfman
Gesya Gelfman
Gesya Mirokhovna Gelfman ; , Russian revolutionary, member of Narodnaya Volya,...
. Andrei Zhelyabov
Andrei Zhelyabov
Andrey Ivanovich Zhelyabov , Russian revolutionary, member of the Executive Committee of Narodnaya Volya....
outlined the plan of attack, and Kibalchich
Nikolai Kibalchich
Nikolai Ivanovich Kibalchich was a Russian revolutionary, taking part in the assassination of Tsar Alexander II as the main explosive expert for Narodnaya Volya , and also a rocket pioneer...
lectured on the bomb. He demonstrated parts of the mechanism for the class, drew diagrams, described how the bomb worked and how it should be handled. The missile was a cylinder weighing five to six pounds, the outer shell fashioned out of an empty kerosene can, and the explosive a combination of nitroglycerin and pyroxylin. Shortly after the meeting the bombs were tested in a suburban park. Two missiles were pitched, and one of them exploded.
Prior to the assassination
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
, Hryniewiecki set down what was in effect a letter to posterity. Only a fragment of it has been preserved:
"Alexander II must die," he wrote. . . ." He will die, and with him, we, his enemies, his executioners, shall die too. . . . How many more sacrifices will our unhappy country ask of its sons before it is liberated? . . . It is my lot to die young, I shall not see our victory, I shall not live one day, one hour in the bright season of our triumph, but I believe that with my death I shall do all that it is my duty to do, and no one in the world can demand more of me. . . ."
On March 13, 1881 (March 1 O.S.),
Hryniewiecki was a part of the "fighting squad" who attacked Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
Alexander II
Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
, who was passing down Nevsky Prospekt
Nevsky Prospekt
Nevsky Avenue |Prospekt]]) is the main street in the city of St. Petersburg, Russia. Planned by Peter the Great as beginning of the road to Novgorod and Moscow, the avenue runs from the Admiralty to the Moscow Railway Station and, after making a turn at Vosstaniya Square, to the Alexander...
near the Winter Palace
Winter Palace
The Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia, was, from 1732 to 1917, the official residence of the Russian monarchs. Situated between the Palace Embankment and the Palace Square, adjacent to the site of Peter the Great's original Winter Palace, the present and fourth Winter Palace was built and...
.
When the first bomb went off, Alexander reflected a moment and said he wanted to have a look at the spot where the explosion had occurred. He walked over to the funnel-shaped pit formed by the bomb. The Cossack and the boy were still lying where they had fallen. He expressed solicitude for them.
Many of the guards, rushed up to see and asked him if he was hurt, "Thank God! no," said the Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...
. "Come, let us look after the wounded."
When his curiosity was satisfied, he was ready to drive away, Hryniewiecki who was leaning against the railing with a parcel in his hands, turned to face the Emperor and before any one could stop him, he shouted: "It is too soon to thank God yet, Alexander Nikolaevich
Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
," and raised both arms and made a sudden movement. There was a second deafening explosion.
On the shattered flagstones of the sidewalk near the railing the Tsar
Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
was lying in a pool of blood. He was fatally wounded in the explosion and died a few hours later.
Beside him lay his attacker, Hryniewiecki, who was also gravely wounded and unconscious.
Because people had crowded close to the Tsar, the second bomb claimed many more victims than the first.
The attack may have been a suicide bombing. Hryniewiecki had attempted to assassinate the Tsar before but had not used a bomb, as he did not want to injure other people. In his first attempt, he had not wanted to kill pedestrians; in the second attempt, he had not wanted to kill the Tsar's wife.
Later it was learned there was a third bomber in the crowd. Ivan Emelyanov
Ivan Emelyanov
Ivan Panteleymonovich Yemelyanov , a boy of twenty, who after graduating from a trade school, had studied abroad on a grant from Baron Ginzburg, and became a cabinetmaker....
. The moment the second bomb went off, Emelyanov
Ivan Emelyanov
Ivan Panteleymonovich Yemelyanov , a boy of twenty, who after graduating from a trade school, had studied abroad on a grant from Baron Ginzburg, and became a cabinetmaker....
, who was stationed some twenty paces down the quay, rushed to the scene of the explosion to see if Hryniewiecki was alive and could be spirited away in the confusion. He realized at once that nothing could be done.
At nine o'clock that day, Hryniewiecki, who had been carried to the infirmary attached to the Palace, regained consciousness. Determined to give no information to the police, he refused to disclose his name. An hour and a half later he was dead.
The assassination had been meant to ignite revolution. Hryniewiecki's fellow-conspirators — Nikolai Kibalchich
Nikolai Kibalchich
Nikolai Ivanovich Kibalchich was a Russian revolutionary, taking part in the assassination of Tsar Alexander II as the main explosive expert for Narodnaya Volya , and also a rocket pioneer...
, Sophia Perovskaya, Nikolai Rysakov
Nikolai Rysakov
Nikolai Rysakov was a Russian revolutionary and a member of Narodnaya Volya. He personally took part in the assassination of Tsar Alexander II, throwing a bomb that disabled the Tsar's carriage. A second bomb by an accomplice, Ignacy Hryniewiecki, was fatal to the Tsar...
, Timofei Mikhailov, Andrei Zhelyabov
Andrei Zhelyabov
Andrey Ivanovich Zhelyabov , Russian revolutionary, member of the Executive Committee of Narodnaya Volya....
— were sentenced to death and were hanged on April 3, 1881. They were buried in an anonymous common grave.
The Church of the Savior on Blood
Church of the Savior on Blood
The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood Khram Spasa na Krovi is one of the main sights of St. Petersburg, Russia. It is also variously called the Church on Spilt Blood and the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ , its official name....
was erected on the site of the assassination.
See also
- PervomartovtsiPervomartovtsiPervomartovtsy were the Russian revolutionaries, members of Narodnaya Volya, planners and executors of the assassination of Alexander II of Russia and attempted murder of Alexander III of Russia .The assassination in 1881 was planned by Narodnaya Volya's Executive Committee...
- Aleksandr UlyanovAleksandr UlyanovAleksandr Ilyich Ulyanov was a Russian revolutionary and a terrorist, convicted of attempted assassination of Alexander III. He was an older brother of Vladimir Lenin.- Life :...