General Boleslar Kazimirovich Kukel (1829–1869) was a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

general, the Governor of

Transbaikalia Transbaikal, Trans-Baikal, Transbaikalia ( rus, Забайка́лье, r=Zabaykalye, p=zəbɐjˈkalʲjɪ), or Dauria (, ''Dauriya'') is a mountainous region to the east of or "beyond" (trans-) Lake Baikal in Far Eastern Russia. The steppe and ...

, officially "the chief of General Staff of East Siberia," a geologist and geographer, and a Lithuanian strongly inspired with the modern ideas of the epoch, who maintained personal connections to various Russian radical political figures exiled to Siberia.

History

As Officer

He was known have kept personal copies of the works of

Alexander Herzen Alexander Ivanovich Herzen (russian: Алекса́ндр Ива́нович Ге́рцен, translit=Alexándr Ivánovich Gértsen; ) was a Russian writer and thinker known as the "father of Russian socialism" and one of the main fathers of agra ...

, published in London, in his own officer's library.

With the Anarchists

Kukel's aide-de-camp was the famous

Anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

, a young

Peter Kropotkin Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (; russian: link=no, Пётр Алексе́евич Кропо́ткин ; 9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist, socialist, revolutionary, historian, scientist, philosopher, and activis ...

, with whom Kukel had shared an interest in geography. In this connection Kropotkin had applauded Kukel's efforts at reforming the prison system, while at the same time criticizing Kukel for not going far enough in the direction of progress, liberty, and human dignity. Kropotkin would eventually inspire Kukel with higher standards of living for Russian prisoners. Kukel would eventually be fondly remembered by the anarchist in his memoirs, ''Memoirs of a Revolutionist''. Kropotkin would say that when Kukel, the reader of

, was finally recalled from his post, he decided that it was time to become an explorer. While on assignment in

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

, Kukel introduced Alexander II to the poet,

Mikhail Larionovitch Mikhailov Mikhail Larionovitch Mikhailov (russian: Михаил Ларионович Михайлов) (16 January 1829 – 15 August 1865) was a Russian author. Biography He was educated at Saint Petersburg and engaged in literary pursuits as a translator, ...

, and he suggested to Peter Kropotkin that he should meet

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (, , ; 15 January 1809, Besançon – 19 January 1865, Paris) was a French socialist,Landauer, Carl; Landauer, Hilde Stein; Valkenier, Elizabeth Kridl (1979) 959 "The Three Anticapitalistic Movements". ''European Socia ...

, the Mutualist-Anarchist from whom many more modern currents of Anarchism sprung. Mikhail Bakunin's escape from Russian authority has been connected with the feud between Kukel and Governor-General Korsakov. Between his connections with Bakunin and with those of Kropotkin, Kukel is probably the most Anarchist-inspired of all Russian generals. There are some who suggest that his cooperation with anarchist Bakunin and poet Mikhail Larionovitch Mikhailov were responsible for his fate of being replaced. Without Kukel, it's quite possible that modern Anarchism would never have assumed the libertarian, collectivist aspect that Kropotkin and Bakunin had so much preached for.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kukel, Boleslar Kazimirovich 1829 births 1869 deaths Imperial Russian Army generals