Aleksandr Ulyanov
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| Aleksandr Ulyanov | |
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| Born | 1866 Russia |
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| Died | May 8, 1887 (Age: 21) Shlisselburg, Russia |
Aleksandr (Alexander) Ilyich Ulyanov (Russian: Александр Ильич Ульянов; 1866 – May 8, 1887) was a Russian revolutionary and older brother of Vladimir Lenin.
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[edit] Life
In 1883, he graduated from the College of Simbirsk with a gold medal and entered Petersburg University, where he majored in Natural Sciences and earned another gold medal for his work in zoology. Aleksandr participated in illegal meetings, demonstrations and ran propaganda activities among students and workers. In 1886, he became a member of the "terrorist faction" of the Narodnaya Volya (People's Will) party. He was one of the authors of its program with Marxism being one of his obvious influences.
Acknowledging the working class as a "nucleus of the Socialist Party", the party program affirmed the revolutionary intelligentsia's initiative in fighting with autocracy; terror was seen as a means of struggle.
[edit] Assassination attempt and execution
Ulyanov and his comrades began preparing an assassination attempt on the life of Alexander III of Russia, but on March 1, 1887, they were arrested. In court, Ulyanov gave a political speech. On May 8, he and his comrades Pakhomiy Andreyushkin, Vasili Generalov, Vasili Osipanov and Petr Shevyrev were sentenced to death and hanged at Shlisselburg. As they had been arrested on March 1, they became known as the Pervomartovtsi.
Legend has it that the execution of his brother Aleksandr radicalized Lenin and he became more involved in student protests and revolutionary propaganda efforts, though given Lenin's cold response to the execution and their differing sensibilities this is unlikely. When he heard of the execution Lenin calmly replied, "There is another way," never becoming involved in a plot to kill the Tsar or other high officials. At the time, Lenin was taking final examinations and graduating, earning a gold medal.[1]
[edit] Legacy
A minor planet, 2112 Ulyanov, was discovered in 1972 by Soviet astronomer Tamara Mikhailovna Smirnova and named after him.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Possony, Stefan T. (1964) Lenin: The Compulsive Revolutionary, 11-12
- ^ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003). Dictionary of Minor Planet Names (5th ed.). New York: Springer Verlag. pp. 171. ISBN 3540002383. http://books.google.com/books?q=2112+Ulyanov+1972.
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