First of March, 1881

Categories / Social Life
FIRST OF MARCH 1881, the day Emperor Alexander II was assassinated, prepared and accomplished by the party People's Will. The plan included exploding the Emperor's carriage on its way to the Mikhailovsky Manege, where Alexander II used to go on Sundays (usually along Nevsky Prospect and Malaya Sadovaya Street). At the beginning of December 1880, members of People's Will A.V. Yakimova and Y.N. Bogdanovich, under the surname of the married couple Kobozev, rented a cheese shop in the vault of the building at 8 Malaya Sadovaya Street, from which a gallery was dug under the pavement and a mine was laid at the end of February 1881. In case the explosion failed, four throwers armed with bombs would wait for the Emperor at the beginning and at the end of Malaya Sadovaya Street. Preparations for the attempt were led by A.I. Zhelyabov; after his arrest on 27 February 1881, it was led by S.L. Perovskaya. At the sitting of the Executive Committee of People's Will (25 Voznesensky Avenue), it was decided to carry out the attempt on the 1st of March. Four bombs were made under the supervision of N.I. Kibalchich; on the morning of 1 March, Perovskaya gave them to I.I. Grinevitsky, T.M. Mikhailov, I.P. Emelyanov and N.I. Rysakov. That day, however, the Emperor did not go along Sadovaya Street, and on his way back from the Manege turned towards Mikhailovsky Palace. Throwers moved to Ekaterininsky Canal (today Griboedova Canal) at a signal given by Perovskaya and took their positions near the turning point from Engineers' Street. At about 15:00, Rysakov threw the first bomb at Alexander II's carriage, but the Emperor survived. Both the Emperor and the thrower were mortally wounded by the explosion of the second bomb, thrown by Grinevitsky. Alexander II was taken to the Winter Palace, where he died; Grinevitsky perished in the Stable Department Hospital. Rysakov was caught at the spot of the explosion and soon gave evidence, which led to the arrest of many participants in the conspiracy. On 30 March 1881, Zhelyabov, Perovskaya, Kibalchich, Mikhailov and Rysakov were condemned to death, and on 3 April 1881, they were hanged on Semenovsky Platz (the scaffold stood behind present-day building no. 11 Podyezdny Lane). The bodies of the executed were secretly buried in Preobrazhenskoe Cemetery (now the Cemetery In Memory of the Victims of 9 January). In 1883-1907, on the spot where Alexander II was mortally wounded, the Holy Resurrection Cathedral was erected.

References: 1 марта 1881 г. (1881-1931): Ст. и воспоминания участников и современников. 2-е изд., испр. и доп. М., 1931; Барабанова А. И., Ямщикова Е. А. Народовольцы в Петербурге. Л., 1984.

Z. P. Solovyeva. Alexander II, Emperor
Bogdanovich Yury Nikolaevich
Emelyanov Ivan Panteleimonovich
Grinevitsky Ignaty Ioakhimovich
Kibalchich Nikolay Ivanovich
Mikhaylov Timofey Mikhailovich
Perovskaya Sofia Lvovna
Rysakov Nikolay Ivanovich
Yakimova Anna Vasilievna
Zhelyabov Andrey Ivanovich
Inzhenernaya Street/Saint Petersburg, city
Malaya Sadovaya St./Saint Petersburg, city
Malaya Sadovaya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 8
Nevsky prospect/Saint Petersburg, city
Podiezdnoy Lane/Saint Petersburg, city
Voznesensky Ave/Saint Petersburg, city, house 25
1 марта 1881 г. (1881-1931): Ст. и воспоминания участников и современников. 2-е изд., испр. и доп. М., 1931
Барабанова А. И., Ямщикова Е. А. Народовольцы в Петербурге. Л., 1984 Narodnaya Volya
Manege
Mikhailovsky Palace
Winter Palace
Memorial Cemetery to the Victims of 9th January
Holy Resurrection Cathedral, (Spas-na-Krovi)
1881