He fought against the autocracy, was preparing an assassination attempt on the tsar and was ready to ascend the scaffold. He was sentenced to hard labor. There the revolutionary turned into a decent bourgeois.
If a decent philistine, faced with injustice, embarks on the warpath, his fame goes through the centuries. But the rebels, who leave the fight for the sake of a warm place, are trying to quickly forget. Their comrades curse them, considering them traitors, and the authorities do not want to talk about those who, instead of a harsh punishment, have found peace and prosperity. The biography of such a person was inconvenient for everyone. Among the "forgotten heroes" is the name of Ivan Emelyanov.
Childhood
Vanya was born in September 1860 and fate did not prepare any gifts for him. The Emelyanov family lived in Bessarabia and were famous for their poverty. The boy's father Panteleimon was a psalmist in the village church, but the inability to manage finances brought him to a beggarly existence. Once his brother, who served in Turkey, dropped in to visit the poor fellow. He noticed a hungry and undressed baby and took him away from careless parents.
Since 1870, everything in the boy's life has changed dramatically. First, he visited Constantinople, where his uncle tried to educate the child at home. Noticing that Ivan is making progress and will be able to study on a par with his peers, the important gentleman took the boy to St. Petersburg. He had a friend in the capital of the Russian Empire, Nikolai Annensky. The famous journalist and social activist gladly took part in the fate of orphans.
Study
The benefactors understood that Ivan needed a working specialty that would allow him to earn a piece of bread in the future, so in 1872 he was sent to study at the 1st Petersburg Real School. A guest from the south in the city on the Neva fell ill, and his literacy level left much to be desired. A year later, Emelyanov was expelled. The boy had to improve his level of knowledge at home. In addition to textbooks, he also got his hands on literature, where social issues were raised.
In 1875, the young man entered the vocational school of Tsarevich Nicholas. He did his homework perfectly well, the mentors were only surprised at his success. After 4 years, the young man received the specialty of a carpenter-carver. The excellent student was sent to internship abroad. In France, Austria, Germany and Switzerland, he worked as an apprentice and got acquainted with the work of recognized masters of their craft. In his free hours, a guest from Russia wandered through the most uncomfortable corners - he visited poor workers' quarters and villages, where the peasants could hardly make ends meet.
Revolutionary
Ivan Ermolaev's passion for revolutionary ideas began in Russia. In the house of Annensky a society gathered, which condemned the autocracy. Vanya listened attentively to the conversations of adults. He remembered how poor his parents were, and condemned the regime for their miserable existence. A trip to Europe made an even stronger impression on the young man - there a literate person could always find a place for himself and not need anything.
Shocking news awaited our hero in the homeland - a year before his arrival in 1879 Nikolai Annensky was arrested. This happened after a certain Alexander Soloviev shot at the emperor. The secret police suspected the educated freethinker of participation in a conspiracy. He was kept in prison, interrogated, but, not discovering his contribution to what he had done, he was released. Vanya could not forgive the tsar for insulting his guardian, who was a humanist and a principled opponent of any violence. In 1880, the guy joined the ranks of the "People's Will" organization.
Bomb for the sovereign
Anna Korba often visited Annenskys, who selected people for the assassination attempt on Alexander II. She noticed the ardent young man and introduced him to Andrei Zhelyabov. In 1881, the Narodnaya Volya members began the final stage of preparation for the regicide. Ivan Emelyanov was one of the main contenders for the role of the bomb thrower. He took part in the creation of hellish cars and tested them at the test site. The arrest of Zhelyabov did not disrupt the plans of the terrorists.
On March 1, 1881, our hero armed himself with explosives and went to the agreed place to await the monarch's motorcade. He did not have to get involved, since Ignatius Grinevetsky, whom he insured, completed the task perfectly. Ivan witnessed a terrible explosion, he rushed to his dying comrade and, when he gave up his ghost, began to provide first aid to the seriously wounded emperor. After that, the failed bomber came to the secret apartment of the revolutionaries and told about everything.
From hard labor to a new life
The comrades tried to find documents for Yemelyanov with which he could leave St. Petersburg, but did not have time. Arrests began 2 weeks after the death of the tsar. Ivan was also detained. He was arrested at the moment when the organizers of the murder had already been brought to justice. The statesmen were afraid that the cascade of death sentences would cause popular unrest, so the gallows was replaced with life-long penal servitude for the accomplice of the criminals.
From the Peter and Paul Fortress, the prisoners were sent to Nerchinsk. There Ivan behaved approximately, for which in 1895 he was released to Khabarovsk for a settlement. Within a year, the former rebel was able to improve his personal life. He met the exiled merchants Pyankovs, who helped him start a career in trade. In 1896, Yemelyanov married a local merchant, pooling capital and expanding the business. He got rich. The gentleman respected by all passed away in 1916.
