Boris Savinkov is known as one of the leaders of the Socialist Revolutionary Party, terrorist, publicist and poet. Such versatile "talents" pushed him to the forefront of the revolutionary movement, the waves of which one after another rolled over Russia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
From the biography of Boris Savinkov
The future leader of the Socialist Revolutionary Party was born in Kharkov on January 19 (according to the new style - 31st) January 1879. Boris Viktorovich's father served as assistant prosecutor of the military court in the Polish capital. For his liberal views, he was dismissed and ended his days in a mental hospital. Savinkov's mother was a playwright and journalist.
The elder brother of the future Socialist-Revolutionary, Alexander, also chose the path of revolutionary struggle for himself; he committed suicide in a distant exile. The younger brother, Victor, chose military service, and later became a journalist and artist. Boris also had two sisters - Vera and Sophia.
Boris Savinkov began to receive education in one of the Warsaw grammar schools. Then he entered St. Petersburg University, but was soon expelled from the number of students for participating in the unrest. For a short time Savinkov studied in Germany.
Revolutionary activity
Savinkov's political career was eventful. In 1897, Boris was arrested in Warsaw and charged with revolutionary activities. In 1899 he was released. In the same year, Savinkov married the daughter of the writer Gleb Uspensky, Vera. In this marriage, the couple had two children.
In 1901, Savinkov led an active propaganda in the capital's Union of the struggle for the liberation of the working class. A number of Savinkov's works were published in the Rabochaya Mysl newspaper. However, he was soon arrested and sent to Vologda. Here he worked as a clerk at the local district court.
In the summer of 1903, Boris illegally left for Geneva. Here he joined the ranks of the Socialist Revolutionary Party (Socialist Revolutionaries). Savinkov took an active part in the Fighting Organization of this party, took part in the preparation of several very high-profile terrorist acts on the territory of Russia. In particular, Boris Viktorovich proposed to eliminate the priest Gapon, whom the SRs suspected of having close ties with the police.
For participation in the preparation of the assassination of Admiral Chukhnin, Savinkov was sentenced to death. However, he managed to hide in Romania, from where he moved to Germany.
In 1911, the Fighting Organization of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party was disbanded. Savinkov left for France and plunged into literary work. By this time, he was already in a second marriage. In 1912, his wife Eugenia Zilberberg had a son, Leo, who in the 30s actively fought on the side of the international brigades in Spain.
Savinkov spent the years of the imperialist war in Paris, acutely aware of his political inaction.
Savinkov after the February Revolution
After the collapse of tsarism, Savinkov returned to Russia and resumed his political activities. He was appointed commissar of the bourgeois Provisional Government, first to the 7th Army, and then to the Southwestern Front. Boris Viktorovich was an ardent supporter of continuing the war with the Germans to a victorious end.
At the end of August 1917, Kornilov's troops attacked Petrograd. Savinkov becomes the military governor of the capital and at the same time acts as the commander of the district troops. However, a few days after his appointment, he resigned.
Savinkov did not appear at a meeting of the Central Committee of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party, where they wanted to hear him on the case of Kornilov's mutiny. For this he was expelled from the ranks of the party.
Savinkov met the October Revolution extremely hostilely and tried to render assistance to the Provisional Government. After that, he went to the Don, where he helped to form the Volunteer Army.
In 1918, Savinkov created an underground organization in Moscow to overthrow Soviet power. However, the Chekists uncovered a conspiracy. Savinkov managed to escape.
Subsequently, Savinkov settled in Poland, where he tried to present himself to the public as the leader of the anti-Bolshevik movement. In 1921 he was expelled from Poland.
In the summer of 1924, Savinkov illegally moved to Moscow, where he was arrested during an operation masterfully carried out by the Soviet special services. At the trial, the former Socialist Revolutionary fully admitted his guilt and was sentenced to death. Then the sentence was mitigated, having determined the punishment in the form of 10 years in prison.
In conclusion, Boris Viktorovich was engaged in literary activity in very comfortable conditions.
Savinkov died on May 7, 1925 in the building of the Cheka, located on Lubyanka. It is believed that he committed suicide by throwing himself out of a window on the fifth floor after a walk.
