Pyotr Petrovich Schmidt (; – ) was one of the leaders of the Sevastopol Uprising during the

Russian Revolution of 1905 The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, was a revolution in the Russian Empire which began on 22 January 1905 and led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Russian Constitution of 1906, t ...

Early years

Pyotr Petrovich Schmidt was born in 1867 in

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, now

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, to the family of rear admiral and the head of Berdyansk port, Pyotr Petrovich Schmidt (1828–1888). His father Pyotr Petrovich Schmidt Sr, descendant of Anton Schmidt from

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, officer in the navy of

Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...

, participated in the defense of

Sevastopol Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...

during the Siege of Sevastopol (1854). His mother Yekaterina Yakovlevna Schmidt (born von Wagner) was of German descent. Schmidt spent his youth in Berdyansk, where his father was city governor (gradonachalnik) and city port head. In 1883 Schmidt Jr entered the Naval Officers' Corps in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

and after graduation enrolled in the

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until being dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution and the declaration of ...

. He resigned in 1888 and married Dominika Gavrilovna Pavlova. After the birth of his son Yevgeniy in 1889, the family moved to

Taganrog Taganrog (, ) is a port city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, on the north shore of Taganrog Bay in the Sea of Azov, several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don (river), Don River. It is in the Black Sea region. Population: Located at the site of a ...

, where Alexander Nentzel, manager of the Azov-Don Commercial Bank offered him a bookkeeper position. In 1893, Schmidt left Taganrog and enrolled again in the

Uprising in the Black Sea Fleet

The uprising in the

Black Sea Fleet The Black Sea Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Mediterranean Sea. The Black Sea Fleet, along with other Russian ground and air forces on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, are subordin ...

was part of the

. Schmidt was a lieutenant commander of the

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

''Number 253'' in the

. On 1 October 1905, he made a speech during a meeting in

, urging the citizens to stand up for their rights and demanding the authorities free political prisoners. Participants of the meeting headed towards the city prison, where they were met with machine gun fire. In the following days, Pyotr Schmidt gave a speech at the special session of the Sevastopol City Council and at the cemetery during the funeral ceremony, where he was arrested. He was conveyed to the battleship ''Tri Sviatitelia'', which provoked protests and the authorities were forced to release him. On 7 November 1905, Schmidt was retired with the rank of captain (капитан 2 ранга). The uprising continued and with the cruiser ''Ochakov'' in its center. On November 26, 1905, a mutiny began the cruiser, and its officers were expelled from the ship. Lieutenant Commander Schmidt, though not being a member of RSDRP, was invited to take command of the rebel ships, including the minelayer ''Griden'', gunboat ''Usuriets'', destroyers ''Zavetniy'', ''Zorkiy'', ''Svirepiy'', ''265'', ''268'', ''270'', training ship ''Dnestr'' and mine carrier ''Bug''. The same day, the Soviets of Sailors' and Soldiers' Deputies decided to start a Black Sea Fleet-wide mutiny and appoint Schmidt as Commander of the Fleet. On November 28, Pyotr Schmidt arrived on board the cruiser ''Ochakov'', which raised the red flag and the signal ''Commanding the Fleet''. The rebel squadron was also joined by the battleship ''Panteleimon''. The revolutionary forces made up some 8,200 vs. 10,000 government forces. Schmidt sent a telegram to Emperor

Nicholas II of Russia Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until Abdication of Nicholas II, hi ...

The glorious Black Sea Fleet, sacredly devoted to the people, demands Your Majesty to immediately call a meeting of the Constituent Assembly (Учредительное собрание), and no longer obeys orders of Your ministers. Commander of the Fleet P. Schmidt.

The commander of the Imperial Russian forces, General Alexander Meller-Zakomelsky, gave an ultimatum demanding immediate capitulation, but there was no reply. Three hours after the ultimatum, the government forces opened fire at rebel ships and barracks. In 90 minutes, the revolutionary squadron was defeated by the government ships led by the battleship ''Rostislav''. Schmidt and his 16-year-old son were captured, and all who remained alive were arrested. The next day, the government forces supported by artillery took the rebel barracks.

Death

A closed hearing was held in February 1906 in a small fortress in the island of Tendra near Sebastopol. Schmidt and other leaders of the uprising were sentenced to death. He was executed on 19 March 1906 at Berezan Island by the crew of the gunboat ''Terets''.

Aftermath

In 1922, Mikhail Stavraki, commander of the gunboat's

firing squad Firing may refer to: * Dismissal (employment), sudden loss of employment by termination * Firemaking, the act of starting a fire * Burning; see combustion * Shooting, specifically the discharge of firearms * Execution by firing squad, a method of ...

was discovered in

Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ), historically Batum or Batoum, is the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), second-largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast ...

in possession of five fake passports in different names and old bank notes, by

Cheka The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə, links=yes), ...

agents. The trial of Stavraki, who was Schmidt's classmate at the Naval Corps in St Petersburg, was held on 1 April 1923 in Sebastopol, while most of the witnesses and participants of the events were still alive. On 3 April 1923 the Military Board of the Supreme Court of the USSR sentenced Stavraki to death by firing squad.

Places named after Pyotr Schmidt

* Blagoveshchensky Bridge (the Annunciation Bridge), a major bridge across the

Neva River The Neva ( , ; , ) is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast (historical region of Ingria) to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length of , it is the fourth-l ...

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was called "Lieutenant Schmidt Bridge" in memory of Pyotr Schmidt from 1918 to 2007. * In 1924 a fisherman discovered the spot where Schmidt and other revolutionaries had been shot dead. The remains were buried in

, and in the 1960s a 15-metre-high stela was placed on the island of Berezan. * After the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

streets in several Soviet cities were named after Lieutenant Schmidt: in

Astrakhan Astrakhan (, ) is the largest city and administrative centre of Astrakhan Oblast in southern Russia. The city lies on two banks of the Volga, in the upper part of the Volga Delta, on eleven islands of the Caspian Depression, from the Caspian Se ...

, Bataisk,

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Vologda Vologda (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the river Vologda (river), Vologda within the watershed of the Northern Dvina. Population: The city serves as ...

Vyazma Vyazma () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of Vyazemsky District, Smolensk Oblast, Vyazemsky District in Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Vyazma River, about halfway between Smolensk, the ...

Berdiansk Berdiansk or Berdyansk (, ; , ) is a port city in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, south-eastern Ukraine. It is on the northern coast of the Sea of Azov, which is connected to the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Berdiansk Raion. The c ...

Tver Tver (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative centre of Tver Oblast, Russia. It is situated at the confluence of the Volga and Tvertsa rivers. Tver is located northwest of Moscow. Population: The city is ...

(boulevard),

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, Yeysk, Gatchina,

Dnipro Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is t ...

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, Yegoryevsk,

Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

, Lysva,

Murmansk Murmansk () is a port city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast in the far Far North (Russia), northwest part of Russia. It is the world's largest city north of the Arctic Circle and sits on both slopes and banks of a modest fjord, Ko ...

, Babrujsk, Nizhniy Tagil,

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, Pervomaisk, Ochakiv,

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Simferopol Simferopol ( ), also known as Aqmescit, is the second-largest city on the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula. The city, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine, but controlled by Russia. It is considered the cap ...

(unofficially the widest street in the world; its sides are situated on different sides of the bay),

Tyumen Tyumen ( ; rus, Тюмень, p=tʲʉˈmʲenʲ, a=Ru-Tyumen.ogg) is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Tyumen Oblast, Russia. It is situated just east of the Ural Mountains, along the Tura ( ...

Kerch Kerch, also known as Keriç or Kerich, is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of Crimea. It has a population of Founded 2,600 years ago as the Colonies in antiquity#Greek colonies, ancient Greek colony Pantik ...

, Kropyvnytsky,

Kremenchuk Kremenchuk (; , , also spelt Kremenchug, ) is an industrial city in central Ukraine which stands on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. The city serves as the administrative center of Kremenchuk Raion and Kremenchuk urban hromada within ...

, Kamianets-Podilsky,

Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( ) is the largest city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China–Russia border, at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri Rivers, about north of Vladivostok. As of the 2021 Russian c ...

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

, Liubotyn,

Melitopol Melitopol is a city and municipality in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, southeastern Ukraine. It is situated on the Molochna River, which flows through the eastern edge of the city into the Molochnyi Lyman estuary. Melitopol is the second-largest city ...

, Petropavlovsk. * On 31 December 1922 the old (1899)

torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...

''Svirepy'' of the ''Sokol'' class was renamed ''Lieutenant Schmidt''. It was decommissioned in 1927.

In popular culture

Boris Pasternak Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (30 May 1960) was a Russian and Soviet poet, novelist, composer, and literary translator. Composed in 1917, Pasternak's first book of poems, ''My Sister, Life'', was published in Berlin in 1922 and soon became an imp ...

wrote a poem about him entitled “Lieutenant Schmidt”. * There are two operas based on his life: the first was written in 1938 (composer NI Platonov), the second in 1970 (composer BL Yarovinsky, staged in 1970 by VM Sklyarenko at the Kharkov Opera House).Музыкальная энциклопедия. Гл. ред. Ю. В. Келдыш. Т 6. Хейнце — Яшугин. 1008 стб. илл. М.: Советская энциклопедия, 1982 (стб. 1002) * The 1969 film ''Postal Novel'’ depicts his complex relationship with Zinaida Riesberg, on the basis of their correspondence. He is played by Alexander Parra. * In the classic film '' We’ll Live Till Monday'', there is a long discussion about him in one of the final scenes, where one of the students claims that Schmidt's sacrifice was foolish, only to have the teacher (played by

Vyacheslav Tikhonov Vyacheslav Vasilyevich Tikhonov (; 8 February 1928 – 4 December 2009) was a Soviet and Russian actor whose best known role was as Soviet spy Stierlitz in the television series ''Seventeen Moments of Spring''. He was a recipient of numerou ...

) counter that it is easy to say things like this with historical hindsight. He then launches into a detailed portrait of Schmidt's accomplishments, and urges the children to read his correspondence with Zinaida Riesberg.

References

* ''Encyclopedia of Taganrog'', Taganrog, 2003, Second edition * ''По старой Греческой '' by Oleg Gavryushkin, Taganrog, 2003 * ''The Black Sea'' novel (1935) by Konstantin Paustovsky translated in Dutch ''De Zwarte Zee ''

External links

memorial stella in Berezan'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmidt, Pyotr 1867 births 1906 deaths Military personnel from Odesa People from Odessky Uyezd Imperial Russian Navy personnel Revolutionaries of the Russian Revolution of 1905 Executed revolutionaries People executed by the Russian Empire by firing squad Executed Russian people People executed for mutiny