Perovskaya S. L. Russian history in faces

Introduction

“I consider it undeniable that true revolutionaries, the initiators of great scientific and political revolutions, who bring real progress to humanity, are almost always people of genius or saints and have an amazingly harmonious physiognomy. What noble faces... Mazzini, Garibaldi... Perovskaya and Vera Zasulich."

C. Lombroso

Perovskaya Sofya Lvovna - Russian figure revolutionary movement, populist. Member of the “Chaikovsky” circle, participant in the “walking among the people”, member of the “Land and Freedom”, Executive Committee “ People's Will", organizer and participant in the assassination attempts on Alexander II. Sofia Perovskaya in her own way revolutionary activities and fate, as the first Russian woman executed for a political cause, represents one of the few people who have gone down in history.

The purpose of the abstract is to study the activities of S.L. Perovskaya.

Biography of S.L. Perovskaya

Perovskaya Sofya Lvovna, Russian revolutionary populist, member of the Executive Committee of the People's Will, direct leader of the assassination of Alexander II.

From a noble family; her father was the governor of St. Petersburg. At the age of 18 she left home. In 1869 she entered the Alarcha women's courses, where she founded a self-education circle. In 1871-72 she was among the organizers of the Tchaikovsky circle.

Her extraordinary organizational skills and strong-willed qualities invariably helped her occupy a leading position in various revolutionary communities. To prepare for “going among the people,” she passed the exam to become a public teacher and completed paramedic courses. In January 1874 she was arrested and spent several months in the Peter and Paul Fortress. She was tried in the “trial of the 193s” (1877-78), but was acquitted. Participated in an armed attempt to free I.N., convicted in this trial. Myshkin, which ended in failure. In the summer of 1878, she was arrested again and sent into exile in the Olonets province, but escaped along the way and went into hiding.

In 1879 she participated in the Voronezh Congress of Land and Freedom, soon after which the organization split into People's Will and Black Redistribution. Since the fall of 1879 - member of the Executive Committee, and then the Administrative Commission of Narodnaya Volya. In November 1879, she participated in the preparation of the explosion of the Tsar's train near Moscow. She played the role of the wife of the trackman Sukhorukov (Narodnaya Volya member L.N. Hartman); from the house in which they settled, a tunnel was dug under the canvas railway and a mine was laid. In the spring of 1880, she participated in the preparation of the assassination attempt on the Tsar in Odessa. In preparing the next attempt on the life of the emperor, which ended in regicide on March 1, 1881, she led an observation detachment, and after the arrest of the party leader A.I. Zhelyabov (Perovskaya’s common-law husband), she headed the matter and brought it to the end, personally drawing a plan for the placement of the throwers and giving a sign to action at the scene of the assassination attempt. Hoping to free her arrested comrades after the regicide, she did not leave St. Petersburg and was arrested. In the trial of the “Pervomartovtsy” Perovskaya was sentenced to death penalty and hanged.

Perovskaya about herself:

From birth I have - 27, religion- Orthodox.

Rank- daughter of an actual state councilor, unmarried.

Place of birth and place of permanent residence- was born in St. Petersburg, where she lived almost continuously since the end of November 1879.

Marital status- I have two brothers living in Crimea, and a sister who is married to Doctor Zagorsky, who, it seems, serves in the Saratov province.

Economical positive parents- my father Lev Nikolaevich serves on the council at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, my mother Varvara Stepanovna lives in Crimea.

Have you been abroad, where and when exactly?- I was abroad only in childhood in 1865.

Have you previously been involved in inquiries, what kind and how did they end?- was involved in the trial of 193 people, was acquitted, after the trial she was administratively expelled to Olonets province, but along the way she disappeared from the Volkhov or Chudovo station of the Nikolaev railway.

I answer the questions asked of me:

In the fall of 1869, I came to St. Petersburg with my parents, where I entered women's courses at the 5th men's gymnasium. In the fall of 1870, due to family circumstances, I left my parents’ home and began to live independently, preparing to become a public teacher, wanting to contribute to the development of the people. In 1872, I took the exam to become a national teacher in St. Petersburg; Despite the fact that I passed the exam, they still did not give me a diploma without explaining the reasons. Then for the winter I went to Tver province, in Korchevsky district, the village of Edimonovo, and lived there the whole winter from 72 to 73 as a teacher’s assistant at a public school. In the spring of 1973, I passed the exam in Tver and received a diploma there. She returned to St. Petersburg for the summer and began teaching classes here in the fall. On January 5, 1874, I was arrested; In the summer I was released on bail and went to my mother in Crimea. Having lost the opportunity to continue to be a public teacher, I began to study paramedics. In 1874 I entered the Simferopol Zemstvo Hospital, where I served until I was summoned to trial in 1877 in August. I was acquitted by the court, and in May 1878 I went back to my mother, where I was arrested in August for administrative deportation to Olonets province. I ran away from the road and have been living illegally ever since. I joined the revolutionary movement in 1872.

Regarding the motives under the influence of which the party and I, as a party member, began terrorist activities, I can explain the following. Striving to raise the economic well-being of the people and the level of their moral and mental development, we saw the first step towards this in the awakening among the people public life and their consciousness civil rights. For this reason, we began to settle among the people for propaganda, to stimulate their mental consciousness. The government responded to this with terrible repressions and a number of measures that made activity among the people almost impossible. Thus, the government itself forced the party to pay primary attention to our political forms as the main obstacle people's development. The party, adhering to the socialist doctrine, hesitated for a long time to move towards political struggle, and the first steps along this path met with strong censure from the majority of the party, as a retreat from socialism. But a series of gallows and other measures, showing the need for a strong resistance to the government, forced the party to decisively take the path of struggle with the government, in which terrorist facts were one of the important means. The persistence in encroaching on the life of the late Sovereign was caused and supported by the conviction that he would never fundamentally change his policy, but there would only be hesitations: whether there was one more or less gallows, the people and society would remain in the same completely powerless position. It is not possible to accurately determine the time of origin of the idea of regicide; at the time of Solovyov’s assassination attempt, a single all-Russian organization, strictly speaking, did not exist, and the idea of an assassination attempt independently existed in several separate groups, but not among all revolutionary figures.

Biography

Passes the exam to become a national teacher and completes paramedic courses.

Since 1872 he has been involved in “going to the people”, working in schools.
1873 - organizes a safe house in St. Petersburg and at the same time teaches workers in St. Petersburg (including Pyotr Alekseev).
January 1874 - arrest, several months in the Peter and Paul Fortress.
1877-78 - tried in the “trial of 193”, but acquitted. Participates in an unsuccessful armed attempt to free a convicted circle comrade, I. N. Myshkin.
In the summer of 1878, she was arrested again and sent into exile in the Olonets province, but on the way, taking advantage of the fact that the gendarmes guarding her had fallen asleep, she escaped and went into hiding.
1879 - participates in the Voronezh Congress of Land and Freedom, trying to prevent an impending split.
Since the fall of 1879 - a member of the Executive Committee, and then the Administrative Commission of Narodnaya Volya, an active participant in the creation of the Workers' Newspaper.
In November 1879, he participated in the preparation of the explosion of the Tsar's train near Moscow. She played the role of the wife of the trackman Sukhorukov (Narodnaya Volya member L.N. Hartman); from the house in which they settled, a tunnel was dug under the railroad bed and a mine was laid (however, the explosion occurred after the king had passed the dangerous place).
In the spring of 1880, he participated in the preparation of the assassination attempt on Alexander II in Odessa.
1881 - leads the observation detachment, and after the arrest of the party leader A.I. Zhelyabov (Perovskaya’s common-law husband), he leads the case and brings it to the end, personally drawing a plan for the placement of the throwers and with a wave of a white handkerchief, giving the signal to I.I. Grinevitsky to throw a bomb.

When I looked up, I saw that she was shaking all over. Then she grabbed my hands, began to bend lower and lower and fell face down, burying her face in my knees. She remained like that for several minutes. She didn’t cry, but was all in a fever. Then she got up and sat down, trying to recover, but again with a convulsive movement she grabbed my hands and began to squeeze them until it hurt...

A. M. Epshtein

Hoping to free her arrested comrades after the regicide, she did not leave St. Petersburg.

On March 10, 1881, she was identified, arrested and put on trial. Her childhood friend N.V. Muravyov acted as the prosecutor.
On April 3, 1881, together with Zhelyabov, N.I. Kibalchich, T.M. Mikhailov and N.I. Rysakov, she was hanged on the parade ground of the Semenovsky regiment.

Quotes

Despite all her stoicism, despite her apparent coldness, deep down she remains an inspired priestess, because under her sparkling steel armor a woman’s heart still beat. And women, we must admit this, are much, much richer than men in this divine gift. That is why the Russian revolutionary movement primarily owes its almost religious fervor to them; that is why, as long as women remain in it, it will be invincible.

We've started a big deal. Perhaps two generations will have to lie on it, but it must be done

Addresses in St. Petersburg

July 1880 - February 28, 1881 - apartment building - 2nd Rota, 15, apt. 4.

Notes

Literature

Tikhomirov L. A. I. Zhelyabov and S. L. Perovskaya. Publishing house "Donskaya Speech", 1906.
Dolgiy V.G. Threshold: The Tale of Sofya Perovskaya. - M.: Politizdat, 1974. (Fiery revolutionaries) - 439 p., ill.

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Sofya Lvovna (1853 1881), participant in the revolutionary movement of the 1870-80s. Member of the Tchaikovsky populist circle, in the 1st half of the 1870s. participant in the walk among the people, member of the revolutionary society Earth and Freedom, the Executive Committee of the People's Will, ... ... Russian history

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PEROVSKAYA, SOFIA LVOVNA(1853–1881) - Russian revolutionary, public figure, member of the Executive Committee of the revolutionary terrorist organization "People's Will", the first woman in Russian history to be executed for a political cause.

The granddaughter of the last Ukrainian hetman K.G. Razumovsky, daughter of General L.V. Perovsky (St. Petersburg governor who served under the Ministry of Internal Affairs), Sofia Perovskaya was born on September 1 (13), 1853 in St. Petersburg. She received a good education at home, but not being satisfied with it, in 1869 she entered the Alarchin women's courses at the 5th men's gymnasium in St. Petersburg. During the course she became close to A.I.’s sisters. and V.I. Kornilov, who created a self-education circle there, became involved with the ideas of populism. Rejecting her father’s demand to stop acquaintance with “dubious personalities,” she left home in 1870 and lived in the house of one of her sisters, Vera Kornilova, from there (when her father began looking for her through the police) she left for Kyiv. She returned to the capital only after her father promised to issue her a passport, and in 1871 she achieved a certificate of acquisition of knowledge in the scope of a men's gymnasium.

In the same year, she created a small populist circle, which merged with the circle of M.A. Nathanson; in 1872, members of both circles joined the circle of N.V. Tchaikovsky. Despite successfully passing the exams at the pedagogical courses, which she completed at the same time, Perovskaya was not given a diploma as “politically unreliable.” Fascinated by the ideas of populism, from 1872 she participated in “going to the people” and worked as a teacher’s assistant in the village of Edimenovo, Korchevsky district, Tver province. In the spring of 1873, having received the coveted diploma of a people's teacher in Tver, she went to work in schools - first in Samara, then in Simbirsk provinces.

Returning to St. Petersburg in mid-1873, she organized a safe house and at the same time taught workers in St. Petersburg. Among them was the later famous revolutionary worker Pyotr Alekseev, who during the trial of him and other populists said prophetic words about the inevitability of the fall of the autocracy.

On January 5, 1874, during the defeat of the Nathanson and Tchaikovsky circles, Perovskaya was arrested and served several months in the Peter and Paul Fortress. Released on bail, she lost her right to teach at school, so she completed a paramedic course to continue working. In 1874 she served as a paramedic in the Simferopol zemstvo hospital.

Finding herself on trial in October 1877 - January 1878 (“trial of the 193s”), she was acquitted and sent into administrative exile in Olonetsk province. On the way I was able to run to the station. Volkhov (Chudovo), taking advantage of the fact that the gendarmes guarding her fell asleep. Having gone illegal, she participated in the failed release of a convicted circle comrade, I.N. Myshkin. Her comrades in the organization who remembered her at that time described Perovskaya as “a young girl with a blond braid and light gray eyes.” Nothing spoke of a strong spirit and strong character, argued her colleague and like-minded person V.N. Figner, but she “was demanding and strict towards her comrades, and could be merciless towards her enemies.”

Having joined the newly created organization “Land and Freedom” in 1878, Perovskaya, on her instructions, went to Kharkov to organize the escape of political prisoners from the Kharkov Central (it failed).

In 1879, she participated in the Voronezh congress of “Land and Freedom” and tried to prevent a split that was brewing in the organization. After its collapse into “Narodnaya Volya” and “Black Redistribution”, she devoted herself entirely to revolutionary terrorist work. She was elected a member of the Executive Committee and the so-called “administrative commission of the People's Will”, and was involved in organizational matters. She conducted propaganda among workers, students and military personnel of St. Petersburg, participated together with A.I. Zhelyabov, who became her common-law husband, in the creation of the first “Workers' Newspaper,” and organized assistance to prisoners in prisons.

In November 1879, Perovskaya, along with other conspirators, prepared an assassination attempt on Alexander II. She was with S.G. Shiryaev in the house where, when the royal train approached, “there had to be a close electric current"(However, the explosion occurred after the king had passed the dangerous place).

Fleeing from the police, she left for Vesyegonsk, where she lived under the name E.V. Borshchevskaya. In the spring of 1880, she again attempted to assassinate the Tsar in Odessa, as she later admitted, “consciously embarking on a great act of terror.”

In 1881, she led a detachment that monitored the tsar’s movements around the city, when the Narodnaya Volya members were preparing new series assassination attempts. After the sudden and accidental arrest of the detachment leader, Zhelyabova personally led the regicide: with a wave of a white handkerchief, she gave the signal to I.I. Grinevitsky to throw a bomb at the passing Alexander II. The explosion turned out to be fatal for both the king and the terrorist.

After the terrorist attack, she refused to leave St. Petersburg, hoping to free Zhelyabov. On March 10, 1881 she was identified on Nevsky Prospekt, arrested and put on trial. The accuser was N.V. Muravyov, a friend of her childhood games.

On April 3, 1881, together with Zhelyabov, N.I. Kibalchich, T.M. Mikhailov and N.I. Rusakov, she was executed “by hanging” on the Semenovsky parade ground in St. Petersburg. Before her death she behaved steadfastly and courageously. She became the first woman publicly executed in Russia for a political cause. L.N. Tolstoy called her “the ideological Joan of Arc.” Her high moral qualities were highly valued by her comrades. L.G. Deychu asserted that “she personified the indignant feeling of a Russian progressive person and always repeated that persecution cannot be left unanswered government.” The well-known ideologist of anarchism P.A. Kropotkin believed that she was “an open, generous nature to whom everything human was not alien.” history."

In 1918–1991, Malaya Konyushennaya Street in St. Petersburg was named after S.L. Perovskaya.

Natalia Pushkareva

Personality and destiny Sofia Lvovna Perovskaya I became interested a long time ago, back in childhood, after watching the film “Sofya Perovskaya”. Her life is amazing! Actions even more so. But how could it be possible to dispose of your only life and not only yours in such an unusual and ruthless manner!

Sophia interested me not in the facts of her biography, which are generally known to everyone, but more from a psychological point of view. What made a very young woman make such a sacrifice? And who did this sacrifice benefit, who did it make happy? I think: it was an absolutely senseless sacrifice. And even harmful for Russia.

There is a version that a passionate, manic desire kill Emperor Alexander 2nd has deep roots in her hatred of her father, and in Alexander Romanov she saw male omnipotence, the embodied despotism of her father. It's kind of an unhealthy association. Sofia Perovskaya Maybe she would have killed her father if her mother had not felt sorry for her.

Love also played a certain role in Sophia’s life. As someone said: love built on blood. ANDREY ZHELYABOV was a handsome and prominent man with leadership qualities. Like-minded person. And Sonya loved him with all her heart. By the way, when Zhelyabov met Perovskaya, he was already married. But the emancipated Sophia did not recognize marriage; she considered it a bourgeois prejudice.

One might say that Zhelyabov brought his beloved woman to the chopping block, but he himself climbed onto it of his own free will, wanting to die with Sophia.

All this would not be so surprising and strange if you did not take into account the family she was born into. Sofia Perovskaya. And she was the daughter of the governor of St. Petersburg. You could say someone like a modern Ksenia Sobchak by origin. But at that time it was impossible to make a career as a TV presenter or shocking journalist. And Sophia thought about how she could change the world in better side. Her ambitions were still great. In addition, by that time this had leaked to Russia French word"emancipation". And new Marxist ideas began to penetrate. And the emancipated Sofya Perovskaya easily absorbed new ideas. And I simply could not help but get acquainted with Marxism.

Contemporaries recalled that Sonya had a philosophical mindset, was independent in her judgment, and was accustomed to achieving all her desires.

Sofia Perovskaya Having received an excellent education at home, she entered courses that provided knowledge at the level of a men's gymnasium. This is where her journey into the revolution began, I would say - TO NOWHERE, TO A DEAD END. She met similar friends who were emancipated and thinking about how to change the world. I met other people and, of course, ideas. I attended clubs. In particular, the Tchaikovsky circle.

Her father, Lev Nikolaevich, tried to protect his daughter from “bad influences.” As a result, Sophia leaves home at the age of 17 and lives with her friends. And she only had 10 more years to live.

True, there is other information about the reasons for Sonya’s flight from home. Allegedly, she was very interested in becoming the mistress of a student who worked in their home and who was hired as a teacher for Sophia’s younger brother. The student fought back, afraid of losing his place. But Sonya was persistent and sexual intercourse still took place. Having learned about this, Lev Nikolaevich flogged both the student and his daughter. From then on the hatred began Sofia Perovskaya to my father.

But, be that as it may, she ran away. Her father tried to find her. But Sophia leaves for Kyiv. Returns only when Lev Nikolaevich fulfills some of Sonya's demands.

From this moment it begins political activity. Sophia becomes a populist. The populists went to the villages under the guise of teachers or doctors and engaged in revolutionary propaganda there. This was called "going to the people." But the people did not understand Sophia’s speeches, and they did not need them. Soon the populists became disillusioned with the peasantry and returned to the city. Here they are already agitating the workers.

After the split of “Land and Freedom”, Sofya Perovskaya chose to be precisely in that part of it that considered terrorism, as the most effective way struggle. This was already the organization “People and Freedom”.

Perovskaya was arrested, released, arrested again, and once exiled. But she ran away along the way. She went illegal. We rented a safe house with Zhelyabov.

Together with her comrades in Narodnaya Volya, Perovskaya sentenced Tsar Alexander II to death.

First they decided to plant a mine under by rail to blow up the train on which the emperor and his family will travel. The fact that other people would die did not bother them. To implement our plans, Sofia Perovskaya I rented a house not far from the tracks and with one of the members of their organization they put on a performance, pretending to be a married couple, where the “husband works” as a lineman. It’s simply amazing when you read about how they dug under the railroad tracks. And you think: Well, people wanted it! They dug a tunnel where it was impossible to breathe, you couldn’t see anything, but you had to dig further. The men could not stand underground for more than five minutes, and Perovskaya worked for three hours. Their energy would be channeled peacefully!

But it was the wrong train that was blown up. It so happened that the train in which the king was traveling passed first. And they blew up the second one, where the servants and retinue were traveling - the 4th carriage. At first it was planned that the royal train would go second. Other people were hurt, as always happens when terrorist acts. But terrorists of all times are not worried about this. The main thing is the goal, and the means are not important.

Then there was an attempted explosion right in the Winter Palace. And again innocent people suffered. 10 people were killed, 80 guards and servants were wounded.

These fanatics are hatching a new plan. Knowing where the emperor is passing through St. Petersburg, they decide to plant a mine on the crew's route. One gets the impression that failures gave the Narodnaya Volya members excitement. In case the mine did not explode, they decided to prepare bomb throwers. If this does not work, then Zhelyabov must jump into the carriage and stab the Tsar with a dagger.

But then suddenly Zhelyabov is arrested. Contemporaries said that Perovskaya, having learned about the arrest of her lover, could not even cry, she was trembling all over.

After Zhelyabov's arrest Sophia Perovskaya took upon herself all the leadership of the murder of Alexander 2nd. And she succeeded. True, unforeseen circumstances occurred: the king went a slightly different route. Sophia quickly moved the bomb throwers to another place. She had to give a signal when to explode: wave her handkerchief.

The first bomb damaged the carriage, but the emperor remained unharmed and got out of the carriage. Here another bomb was detonated by the Narodnaya Volya member Grinevitsky. Moreover, Grinevitsky himself died from the explosion. How similar is this to modern ones? suicide bombers.

The king asked to be taken to Zimny to die there. There he died. This happened on March 1, 1881.

The murder of the Tsar at this time, when he was consistently carrying out reforms in Russia, was extremely harmful for the country. And Alexander was on his way just to sign some more necessary reform decrees. Let me remind you that Alexander II abolished serfdom in 1861.

Perovskaya was soon arrested and sentenced to death by hanging. She was 27 years old.

The people perceived the assassination of the emperor as evil. He believed that it was the nobles who dealt with the Tsar-Liberator in order to take revenge on him for the abolition of serfdom.

And one more thing. Interrogation protocols remain Sofia Perovskaya. One of questions asked was: on what means do you live? Answer: at party funds. The question is where do these party funds come from?

I believe that the Narodnaya Volya were the first real opposition to power.

Naum Korzhavin

IN MEMORY OF HERZEN

A ballad about historical sleep deprivation

(Cruel romance based on the work of the same name by V. I. Lenin)

Love for Good stirred their hearts.
And Herzen slept, not knowing about the evil...
But the Decembrists woke Herzen.
He didn't get enough sleep. It all went from there.

And, stunned by their daring act,
He raised a terrible ringing bell throughout the world.
What accidentally woke up Chernyshevsky,
Not knowing himself what he did.

And he, from sleep, having weak nerves,
He began to call Russia to the axe, -
What disturbed Zhelyabov’s sound sleep?
And he didn’t let Perovskaya get enough sleep.

And I immediately wanted to fight with someone,
Go among the people and not be afraid of the racks.
This is how the conspiracy began in Russia:
A big deal is a long lack of sleep.

The king was killed, but the world did not heal again.
Zhelyabov fell and fell into an unsweetened sleep.
But before that he prompted Plekhanov,
So that he goes a completely different way.

Everything could have worked out over time.
Russian life could be brought back into order...
What bitch woke up Lenin?
Who bothered that the child was sleeping?

There is no exact answer to that question.
We've been looking for him for years in vain...
Three components - three sources
They don't clarify anything for us here.

Yes, he himself probably didn’t know this,
At least his supply of revenge never ran out.
Even though he researched that question scientifically, -
I've been looking for the culprit for fifty years.

Either in the Bund, or in the cadets... Are there any
At least there are traces. And angry in failure
He immediately started a revolution for everyone,
So that no one escapes punishment.

And with a song they went to Golgotha under the banners
The fathers are behind him - like a sweet life...
May our half-asleep faces be forgiven,
We are the children of those who did not get enough sleep.

We want to sleep... And we can’t escape anywhere
From the thirst for sleep and the thirst to judge everyone...
Oh, Decembrists!.. Don’t wake up Herzen!..
You can't wake anyone up in Russia.

Perovskaya was a member of the populist organization Land and Freedom, and after its split she became a member of the Executive Committee of Narodnaya Volya. She took an active part in the terrorist activities of Narodnaya Volya.

“On March 1, 1881, on Sunday, at three o’clock in the afternoon in St. Petersburg, on the embankment of the Catherine Canal, opposite the garden of the Mikhailovsky Palace, the greatest atrocity was committed, the victim of which was the Emperor Alexander Nikolaevich.” So about the event that literally shocked Russian Empire, was written in the indictment, which was announced at the trial by prosecutor N. Muravyov.

During the trial, he indignantly accused Sofya Perovskaya, who organized the assassination attempt on the emperor, of immorality and unprecedented cruelty, demanding, contrary to the customs that existed at that time, to sentence her to death.

How right was he? Now in numerous publications dedicated to Sofya Perovskaya, she appears either as a fanatical revolutionary or as a weak woman who was subjugated to his will by Andrei Zhelyabov.

However, judging by the memories of people who knew her well, if you trace her entire short life, it turns out that the prevailing cliches do not correspond to reality.

Sofia Perovskaya was born in 1853 in St. Petersburg. Her father Lev Nikolaevich served in a state bank at that time, and, apparently, successfully, since three years later he was transferred to Pskov to the position of vice-governor. His house in Pskov was located next to the house of Governor Muravyov, and therefore little Sonya Perovskaya often played with her peer, the future prosecutor Kolya Muravyov. Once they were crossing a deep pond on a ferry, and Kolya fell into the water. Sonya was the first to rush to his aid and help him get out of the water. Her brother Vasily Perovsky wrote half a century later: “In general, no matter how much I remember, I could never remember that Sonya was ever afraid of anything or was even a coward.”

In 1858, the former Tauride governor and mayor of Feodosia, Nikolai Ivanovich Perovsky, who was Sophia’s grandfather, died. Soon, her father, having entered into an inheritance, secured a transfer to Simferopol to the post of vice-governor. The move to Crimea had a detrimental effect on relationships in the Perovsky family. According to contemporaries, Lev Nikolaevich was honest and kind person, but with a weak character. Having retired after serving in the army, he married a sweet and modest girl, Varvara Veselovskaya, who came from an impoverished noble family. He could not even think of a more profitable match. Of course, the Perovsky family was considered noble - Lev Nikolaevich’s grandfather was the nephew of Empress Elizabeth’s morganatic husband, Count Alexei Grigorievich Razumovsky. However, it was well known in high society that, before making a dizzying career and becoming the empress’s husband, Alexei Grigorievich was just a choirboy in the court church, and even earlier, a shepherd. Therefore, among the Russian nobility the attitude towards the Perovskys was very dismissive. However, in Crimea, Vice-Governor Lev Perovsky, due to his position, had to participate in high-society receptions that the St. Petersburg nobility hosted on their estates. Proximity to the then cream of society turned his head, he began to live in grand style, and take out his anger on his wife and children because of the wasted years.

In 1861, thanks to new acquaintances, Lev Nikolaevich received the rank of full state councilor and was appointed governor of the St. Petersburg province, but five years later he was removed from this position in connection with the attempt by Dmitry Karakozov on Emperor Alexander II. Family relationships became even more tense. Those who knew Sofya Perovskaya at this time noted her glance from under her brows, similar to the look of a hunted animal. Sophia's relationship with her father became even more complicated after she refused to study at the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens and entered the higher women's courses organized to prepare for university studies. Her friend recalled how Perovskaya once told her: “I would like to study psychiatry and be a psychiatrist, and I hope that I will succeed.” But these dreams were not destined to come true. After another scandal in the family, Sophia was forced to leave her father's house.

Usually this moment in the life of Sophia Perovskaya is considered the beginning of her revolutionary activity, but this is not so. Left without a livelihood, Sophia decided to take the exam and qualify as a zemstvo teacher. She passed the test successfully, but did not receive a diploma. Apparently, her father prevented this. However, Sophia went to the village of Edimonovo, Tver province, where she worked for a year as a teacher’s assistant at a public school. In Tver she received a diploma and returned to St. Petersburg, where she began teaching literacy to workers. In January 1874 she was arrested.

The “Criminal and Correctional Punishment Code” in force at that time stated: “For making public speeches in which one attempts to challenge or question the inviolability of the rights of the supreme power, those guilty of this are subject to deprivation of all rights of state and exile to hard labor in factories for a period of time from four to six years old." Fortunately, she was released on her father’s bail and, promising him to forget about the teaching profession forever, she left for Crimea, where her mother had settled by that time.

Sophia didn’t want to sit idle, and therefore, after completing N.P. Arendta’s paramedic courses, she got a job at the Simferopol zemstvo hospital. She lived in the house of her brother Nikolai, who worked as a lawyer in Simferopol. Apparently, Sofya Perovskaya really liked working at the hospital and Crimea itself. She even changed in appearance. Her friend noted with surprise: “The previous incredulous look from under her brows completely disappeared somewhere, her eyes looked openly, good-naturedly. The face became softer, more feminine, and lost its severity.”

So three years passed, and Sophia had already begun to think about making her dream come true and getting a medical education, but in August 1877 she was arrested and taken to St. Petersburg for a show trial “on propaganda in the empire.” 193 participants in the famous “walking among the people” were brought to trial. During the judicial investigation, Sofya Perovskaya was acquitted and returned to Crimea in May 1878. However, a few days later, in front of the eyes of her mother, whom Sophia dearly loved, she was arrested again and sent into administrative exile in the Olonets province (present-day Karelia). All the hopes of Sofia Perovskaya for peaceful and happy life collapsed.

On the way to exile, she escaped from the gendarmes accompanying her and soon joined the ranks of the revolutionaries. In the fall of 1879, Sophia was elected a member of the executive committee of the People's Will organization. When you mention this, you immediately imagine a kind of fiery revolutionary, whose, as Alexander Blok wrote, “sweet, gentle gaze burns with courage and sadness.” However, Perovskaya was not like that at all. Peter Kropotkin recalled: “We had excellent camaraderie with all the women in the circle. But we all loved Sonya Perovskaya. When we saw her, each of our faces blossomed into a wide smile.” One of her revolutionary friends said: “The sense of duty was very strongly developed in Perovskaya, but she was never a pedant; on the contrary, in free time she loved to chat, and she laughed so loudly and contagiously, like a child, that everyone around her felt happy.”

It is believed that Sofya Perovskaya took part in several assassination attempts on Emperor Alexander II solely under the influence of Andrei Zhelyabov, who literally suppressed her will. The first to express this version was Lev Tikhomirov, a member of the executive committee of Narodnaya Volya: “I finally lived to see Perovskaya in complete enslavement - at Zhelyabov’s. It was a woman: she fell in love with Zhelyabov with all her soul and became his slave.” But Tikhomirov had personal scores to settle with Perovskaya - he tried to pursue her, but she rejected him, calling him a womanizer. The most offensive thing was that she preferred Zhelyabov, whom Tikhomirov, while studying at the Kerch real school, did not consider as a person, since he came from domestic peasants. Tikhomirov was generally a dishonest person - in 1888 he broke with the revolutionary movement and became a convinced monarchist, collaborated with the tsarist government, and after the revolution, citing his merits, he begged the Bolsheviks for additional rations.

As for Zhelyabov, for a long time he rejected the idea of terror against tsarist dignitaries, defending the need for widespread propaganda among the people. Back at the beginning of 1879, he said: “I will go to the Volga provinces and stand at the head peasant uprising, I feel strong enough for such a task.” However, Zhelyabov soon announced the need to create a military organization, which greatly surprised his comrades, who were at a loss as to what had happened to him. The answer to this question is obvious, given that it was at this time that Zhelyabov became close friends with Perovskaya.

Several attempts on the life of Alexander II were unsuccessful. In the winter of 1881, an observation group operating under the leadership of Perovskaya established that on Sundays the emperor regularly went to the Mikhailovsky Manege. It was decided to lay a mine on this route, and if Alexander II remained alive, to bombard him with bombs. With a high probability, this attempt would have been unsuccessful, since the preparations for it were carried out by Zhelyabov very poorly, but the unexpected happened - on February 27, Andrei Zhelyabov was arrested.

Perovskaya took up the matter, showing extraordinary organizational skills and rare composure. When it became clear that the tsar did not go along the usual route, all participants in the assassination attempt were about to fold, but Perovskaya again placed them in combat positions.

With a wave of her handkerchief, she signaled the approach of Alexander II's carriage. Nikolai Rysakov was the first to throw a bomb under the Tsar's carriage, but the explosion, which injured several people from among the Cossacks accompanying the Tsar and passers-by, did not hit the Emperor. Having got out of the broken carriage, the king approached the wounded. At this moment, the second terrorist, Ignatius Grinevitsky, threw a bomb at the feet of Alexander II. The emperor, as some witnesses claimed, died on the spot, and Grinevitsky died a few hours later.

There are rumors about whether Alexander II deserved such a fate. different opinions. It is alleged, for example, that he was on his way to sign the long-awaited constitution, but in reality the document prepared by Minister Loris-Melikov did not provide for the formation of a parliament. “We are not talking about the constitution here. There is not even a shadow of it,” General Milyutin wrote with regret. In addition, Alexander II entered Russian history not only as a liberator, but also as a hangman. In 1879 alone, 16 executions took place for “belonging to a criminal community,” hundreds of citizens were sent to hard labor just for “possessing” revolutionary proclamations. The fate of Perovskaya was also crippled. And, as we know, women should not be offended; this is fraught with unpredictable consequences.

Sofya Perovskaya could have left St. Petersburg, but she did not give up hope of freeing her comrades. Meanwhile, the tsarist investigators managed to split 19-year-old Rysakov and obtain from him the names of the revolutionaries who participated in the action. Soon Perovskaya was arrested. During the trial she behaved with restraint, but with such composure and dignity that Secretary of State E. Peretz, observing her during the days of the trial, concluded: “She must have remarkable willpower and influence on others.”

The execution took place on April 3, 1881. Together with Sofia Perovskaya, A. Zhelyabov, N. Kibalchich, T. Mikhailov and N. Rysakov ascended the scaffold.

Before her death, Perovskaya wrote a letter to her mother: “I lived as my convictions told me, but I was not able to act against them, so with a calm conscience I look forward to everything that lies ahead for me... You know that since childhood you have always been mine constant and high love. Worrying about you has always been my greatest grief. I hope, my dear, that you will calm down, forgive at least part of all the grief that I cause you, and will not scold me too much. Your reproach is the only one that is painful for me.”