Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Kvyatkovsky (russian: Александр Александрович Квятковский; January 1852 – ) was a Russian

revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...

and member of the Executive Committee of

Narodnaya Volya Narodnaya Volya ( rus, Наро́дная во́ля, p=nɐˈrodnəjə ˈvolʲə, t=People's Will) was a late 19th-century revolutionary political organization in the Russian Empire which conducted assassinations of government officials in an att ...

Life

Kvyatkovsky was born in

Tomsk Tomsk ( rus, Томск, p=tomsk, sty, Түң-тора) is a city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast in Russia, located on the Tom River. Population: Founded in 1604, Tomsk is one of the oldest cities in Siberia. The city is a not ...

. His family were minor nobility. His father was a gold miner. He studied at St. Petersburg Institute of Technology, but left in 1874 to take part in the Going into the people movement. He and his brother set up a locksmith business in a village in the

Tula Tula may refer to: Geography Antarctica *Tula Mountains *Tula Point India *Tulā, a solar month in the traditional Indian calendar Iran * Tula, Iran, a village in Hormozgan Province Italy * Tula, Sardinia, municipality (''comune'') in the pr ...

region, south of Moscow, with the intention of spread in political ideas among the peasants. His brother was arrested, and was sentenced to hard labour at the

Trial of the 193 The Trial of the 193 was a series of criminal trials held in Russia in 1877-1878 under the rule of Tsar Alexander II. The defendants were 193 socialist students and other “revolutionaries” charged with populist “unrest” and propaganda again ...

. Aleksandr returned to St Petersburg, where he was arrested in November 1874, but released in April, after which he worked in a factory in the

Kostroma Kostroma ( rus, Кострома́, p=kəstrɐˈma) is a historic city and the administrative center of Kostroma Oblast, Russia. A part of the Golden Ring of Russian cities, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Volga and Kostroma. Popu ...

region. In July 1876, he joined an agricultural colony in

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...

, but had to leave after a police raid in June 1877. He was involved in an unsuccessful attempt to free Porfiry Voynaralsy, one of the leading defendants at the Trial of the 193. During 1878, he and a fellow socialist, Mikhail Popov, toured markets in the

Voronezh Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the ...

region, making contact with peasants. According to Popov, they encouraged by the responses they got, but in autumn 1878, he was called back to St Petersburg by Alexander Mikhailov, who persuaded him to join the ''Liberty or Death'' (Свобода или смерть) group, dedicated to assassinating the Tsar Alexander II. Kvyatkovsky participated in the

Lipetsk Lipetsk ( rus, links=no, Липецк, p=ˈlʲipʲɪtsk), also romanized as Lipeck, is a city and the administrative center of Lipetsk Oblast, Russia, located on the banks of the Voronezh River in the Don basin, southeast of Moscow. Populatio ...

and

Congresses of Zemlya i volya or ''Land and Liberty''. When ''Land And Liberty'' broke into two factions as the result of an internal dispute over tactics in August 1879, Kvyatkovsky opted to side with the stance taken by the more adventurous ''

People's Will Narodnaya Volya ( rus, Наро́дная во́ля, p=nɐˈrodnəjə ˈvolʲə, t=People's Will) was a late 19th-century revolutionary political organization in the Russian Empire which conducted assassinations of government officials in an att ...

'' or

group. He was also one of the organizers of Narodnaya Volya. In September–November 1879, Kvyatkovsky was in charge of a clandestine print shop and acted as a liaison between the Executive Committee and

Stepan Khalturin Stepan Nikolayevich Khalturin (russian: Степан Николаевич Халтурин; 2 January Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._21_December.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/> O.S._21_December">Old_St ...

during the planning stages of a terrorist act in the

Winter Palace The Winter Palace ( rus, Зимний дворец, Zimnij dvorets, p=ˈzʲimnʲɪj dvɐˈrʲɛts) is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the Emperor of all the Russias, Russian Emperor from 1732 to 1917. The p ...

Death

Kvyatkovsky shared lodgings in St Petersburg with

Vera Figner Vera Nikolayevna Figner Filippova (Russian: Ве́ра Никола́евна Фи́гнер Фили́ппова; 7 July ld Style and New Style dates, O.S. 25 June1852 – 25 June 1942) was a prominent Russian revolutionary political activis ...

. When she was sent by the organisation to

Odesa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrative ...

, she suggested that her younger sister, Yevgenia, should take her room. Yevgenia Figner volunteered to distribute revolutionary literature among students, but out of inexperience, she used the same false name under which she was registered at her address. This brought police to their lodgings, where they were both arrested, on November 24, 1879. The police found dynamite in Kvyatkovsky's room, and a piece of paper containing a diagram. After an explosion at the Winter Palace, three months later, the police realised that the diagram was a plan of the palace, which marked the spot where the bomb was set off. Kvyatkovsky was sentenced to death at the

Trial of the Sixteen The Trial of the Sixteen ( pl, Proces szesnastu) was a staged trial of 16 leaders of the Polish Underground State held by the Soviet authorities in Moscow in 1945. All captives were kidnapped by the NKVD secret service and falsely accused of var ...

in 1880. He was executed at the age of 28 in the

Peter and Paul Fortress The Peter and Paul Fortress is the original citadel of St. Petersburg, Russia, founded by Peter the Great in 1703 and built to Domenico Trezzini's designs from 1706 to 1740 as a star fortress. Between the first half of the 1700s and early 1920s i ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kvyatkovsky, Alexander 1852 births 1880 deaths People from Tomsk People from Tomsk Governorate Narodnaya Volya Russian revolutionaries Executed revolutionaries People from Tomsk Oblast 19th-century executions by the Russian Empire