Stepan Petrovich Beletsky ( rus, Белецкий Степан Петрович) (
Chernigov
Chernihiv ( uk, Черні́гів, , russian: Черни́гов, ; pl, Czernihów, ; la, Czernihovia), is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative ...
, around 1872-Moscow, 5 September 1918) was a Russian statesman in the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
and the Head of the Police Department and involved in scandals around
Grigori Rasputin
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (; rus, links=no, Григорий Ефимович Распутин ; – ) was a Russian mystic and self-proclaimed holy man who befriended the family of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, thus g ...
. In January 1914 he was appointed as senator in the
State Council State Council may refer to:
Government
* State Council of the Republic of Korea, the national cabinet of South Korea, headed by the President
* State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national cabinet and chief administrative auth ...
.
Life
In 1894 he graduated in law at the
University of Kyiv
Kyiv University or Shevchenko University or officially the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv ( uk, Київський національний університет імені Тараса Шевченка), colloquially known as KNU ...
, in the same year appointed as civil servant, responsible for art and printing. In 1899 he was appointed as governor of the
Kovno Governorate
Kovno Governorate ( rus, Ковенская губеpния, r=Kovenskaya guberniya; lt, Kauno gubernija) or Governorate of Kaunas was a governorate ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire. Its capital was Kaunas (Kovno in Russian). It was formed ...
in Lithuania; in 1904 he was transferred from
Kaunas
Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...
to
Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...
, in February 1907 in
Samara
Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə), known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev (; ), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with ...
, where he was appointed as vice-governor and applied the newly introduced
land reforms by Stolypin. When Stolypin became prime minister, he invited Beletsky to become assistant director of the
Department of Police (between August 1909 and March 1912). Beletsky became its director until 1915.
In this capacity, Beletsky was responsible for recruiting
moles Moles can refer to:
* Moles de Xert, a mountain range in the Baix Maestrat comarca, Valencian Community, Spain
* The Moles (Australian band)
*The Moles, alter ego of Scottish band Simon Dupree and the Big Sound
People
*Abraham Moles, French engin ...
inside revolutionary organisations, including senior
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
Roman Malinovsky
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
, his highest paid spy, who won
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...
's trust, and was elected as a deputy to the
Fourth Duma
The State Duma, also known as the Imperial Duma, was the lower house of the Governing Senate in the Russian Empire, while the upper house was the State Council. It held its meetings in the Taurida Palace in St. Petersburg. It convened four times ...
. Some of the drafts of speeches Malinovsky delivered were found, after the revolution, to have amendments in Beletsky's handwriting. Beletsky instructed Malinovsky and his other moles to prevent the reunification of the Bolsheviks and
Mensheviks
The Mensheviks (russian: меньшевики́, from меньшинство 'minority') were one of the three dominant factions in the Russian socialist movement, the others being the Bolsheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries.
The factions eme ...
.
From October 1914 Beletsky exercised 24-hour surveillance of Rasputin and his apartment. Two sets of detectives were attached to his person; one was to act undercover. From 1 January 1915 modified reports from
Okhrana
The Department for Protecting the Public Security and Order (russian: Отделение по охранению общественной безопасности и порядка), usually called Guard Department ( rus, Охранное отд ...
spies – the "staircase notes" – had to provide evidence about Rasputin's lifestyle. They were given to the Tsar in an unsuccessful attempt to discredit Rasputin.
On 25 March 1915 (O.S.) Rasputin left for Moscow by train, accompanied by both detectives. The following evening he is said, while inebriated, to have opened his trousers and waved his "reproductive organ" in front of a group of female gypsy singers in the
Yar restaurant
The Yar (russian: Яр, from French ''"yard"'') was a restaurant and theatre in 19th Century Moscow frequented by Pushkin, Tolstoy, Chekhov and Maxim Gorky. It was famous for its Sokolovsky gypsy choir. The Yar ran from 1826 to 1925 on the street ...
. Dzhunkovsky and Beletsky verified later that Rasputin never visited the Yar restaurant. Dzhunkovsky was fired in August and succeeded by Beletsky.
No entries exist after Beletsky lost his position as the Director of the Police. Also for
Bernard Pares
Sir Bernard Pares KBE (1 March 1867 – 17 April 1949) was an English historian and diplomat. During the First World War, he was seconded to the Foreign Ministry in Petrograd, Russia, where he reported political events back to London, and worke ...
, it was taken that the police were the enemies of Rasputin, and that the many stories which reached the public were simply their fabrications.
In September 1915 he became assistant minister of the Interior until February 1916.
Alexei Khvostov
Aleksey Nikolayevich Khvostov () (1 July 1872 – 23 August 1918) was a right-wing Russian politician and the leader of the Russian Assembly. He was a governor, a Privy Councillor (Russia), a chamberlain, a member of the Black Hundreds, and ant ...
,
Iliodor
Sergei Michailovich Trufanov (Russian: Серге́й Миха́йлович Труфа́нов; formerly Hieromonk Iliodor or Hieromonk Heliodorus, russian: Иеромонах Илиодор; October 19, 1880 – 28 January 1952) was a lapsed hi ...
and Beletsky concocted a plan to kill Rasputin. By
ukaz
In Imperial Russia, a ukase () or ukaz (russian: указ ) was a proclamation of the tsar, government, or a religious leader (patriarch) that had the force of law. "Edict" and "decree" are adequate translations using the terminology and concepts ...
Beletsky was to be reassigned to
Irkutsk
Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and mn, Эрхүү, ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 617,473 as of the 2010 Census, Irkutsk is ...
, but the appointment was cancelled after the story was revealed in a newspaper.
[ Moe, p. 386.] Early 1917 he was arrested by the
Russian Provisional Government
The Russian Provisional Government ( rus, Временное правительство России, Vremennoye pravitel'stvo Rossii) was a provisional government of the Russian Republic, announced two days before and established immediately ...
during the
February Revolution
The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...
and locked up 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 ...
. After
bail
Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required.
In some countries ...
the arrested were released, but Beletsky decided not to go abroad. He was rearrested during the
Red Terror
The Red Terror (russian: Красный террор, krasnyj terror) in Soviet Russia was a campaign of political repression and executions carried out by the Bolsheviks, chiefly through the Cheka, the Bolshevik secret police. It started in lat ...
. In 1918 he was transported to Moscow and executed at
Khodynka or in Petrovsky Park.
Notes
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
* Originally in London:
Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd (established 1949), often shortened to W&N or Weidenfeld, is a British publisher of fiction and reference books. It has been a division of the French-owned Orion Publishing Group since 1991.
History
George Weidenfeld a ...
.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beletsky, Stepan Petrovich
Senators of the Russian Empire
1870s births
1918 deaths
Assassinated Russian people
Deaths by firearm in Russia
Grigori Rasputin
People murdered in Russia
Russian murder victims