German Alexandrovich Lopatin (russian: Ге́рман Алекса́ндрович Лопа́тин; 13 January 1845, 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 ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

– 26 December 1918, in Petrograd) was a Russian revolutionary, journalist, writer and poet. German Lopatin 3

Biography

Lopatin came from an aristocratic family. He studied physics and mathematics at the University of St. Petersburg, where he graduated in 1866 with a thesis ''On Spontaneous Formation''. This thesis reflected the materialist ideas of the philosophers

Vogt During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...

, Büchner and Moleschott, which were then extremely popular among Russian radicals.

Career

In the course of his studies, Lopatin had become involved in radical student politics. In 1867 he travelled to Italy, hoping to join the revolutionary army of Giuseppe Garibaldi. Nothing much came of this. On his return to Russia, Lopatin became involved in the populist (' narodnik') movement. He belonged to the Ishutin Circle. Together with F.V. Volkhovsky, he organised the "One Ruble Society", a group dedicated to educational work and revolutionary propaganda among the common people. Lopatin was soon arrested. Exiled to

Stavropol Stavropol (; rus, Ставрополь, p=ˈstavrəpəlʲ) is a city and the administrative centre of Stavropol Krai, Russia. As of the 2021 Census, its population was 547,820, making it one of Russia's fastest growing cities. It was known as ...

in 1868, he began to study the writings of

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

. He became one of the first Russian revolutionaries to be strongly influenced by Marxism. Marx and Engels thought highly of him. Under their influence he came to see revolution not so much as a coup to be carried out at will by a minority, but rather as a mass uprising requiring certain 'material preconditions'. In 1870 Lopatin secretly returned to St. Petersburg and there helped organise the escape of P.L. Lavrov from banishment. Lopatin escaped to Western Europe soon after. In France he joined the

First International The International Workingmen's Association (IWA), often called the First International (1864–1876), was an international organisation which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist, communist and anarchist groups and trad ...

and became a member of its General Council. In the summer of 1870 he visited London, England, where he struck up a friendship with Karl Marx and

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
'' N.F. Danielson. In the winter of the busy and eventful year of 1870, Lopatin returned to Russia, intending to free the respected revolutionary writer N.G. Chernyshevsky from Siberia. However, Lopatin was himself arrested. He escaped from Siberia in 1873 and returned to Western Europe. Lopatin sided with Marx during the latter's conflict with

Bakunin Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin (; 1814–1876) was a Russian revolutionary anarchist, socialist and founder of collectivist anarchism. He is considered among the most influential figures of anarchism and a major founder of the revolutionary s ...

, which eventually destroyed the First International. He especially opposed the 'nihilistic' ideology of S.G. Nechaev, who was then an associate of Bakunin's. In 1879 Lopatin returned clandestinely to Russia to work with ' Land and Liberty'. When that organisation split the same year, Lopatin sided with ' The People's Will'. However, he was arrested again. In 1883 he escaped from Siberia once more and returned to the West. In Paris he collaborated with Lavrov and other exiles in reviving 'The People's Will', trying to convert it from a

Blanquist Blanquism refers to a conception of revolution generally attributed to Louis Auguste Blanqui (1805–1881) which holds that socialist revolution should be carried out by a relatively small group of highly organised and secretive conspirators. Hav ...

conspiratorial organisation into a mass party and arguing that the party should seek to organise the emerging industrial proletariat. Lopatin became a member of the party's Administrative Committee and served as its ''de facto'' leader. He was instrumental in unmasking the secret police agent S.P. Degaev. However, in October 1884, in the course of yet another daring secret mission to Russia, he was arrested. A large number of addresses were found on him, leading to mass arrests and to the Trial of the 21 in 1887. Lopatin was sentenced to life imprisonment in the notorious

Shlisselburg Fortress The fortress at Shlisselburg is one of a series of fortifications built in Shlisselburg on Orekhovy Island in Lake Ladoga, near the present-day city of Saint Petersburg, Russia. The first fortress was built in 1323. It was the scene of many confli ...

. During this incarceration Lopatin's health was seriously compromised. Lopatin was freed during the abortive

Russian Revolution of 1905 The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...

. He sympathised with the

Socialist-Revolutionary Party The Socialist Revolutionary Party, or the Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries (the SRs, , or Esers, russian: эсеры, translit=esery, label=none; russian: Партия социалистов-революционеров, ), was a major politi ...

, but was also respected by the

Social-Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...

. Due to his broken health he did not become politically active but settled in Vilno (now Vilnius, Lithuania). He returned to St. Petersburg in 1913 and live in the ' House of Literati'. Lopatin welcomed the February Revolution of 1917 enthusiastically but opposed the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mome ...

Literary works

Lopatin was also a respected literary figure. In addition to his journalism, he wrote extensive poetry, short stories and an autobiography. Russian writers who praised him included I.S. Turgenev, G.I. Uspensky, L.N. Tolstoy and

Maksim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and sociali ...

. German Lopatin died of cancer in 1918.

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopatin, German Russian revolutionaries Writers from the Russian Empire Russian socialists 1845 births 1918 deaths Politicians from Nizhny Novgorod Journalists from the Russian Empire Russian male journalists Saint Petersburg State University alumni Narodniks Prisoners of Shlisselburg fortress Prisoners of the Peter and Paul Fortress Writers from Nizhny Novgorod