Dmitry Karakozov

Who was Dmitry Karakozov?

Dmitry Vladimirovich Karakozov was the first Russian revolutionary to make an attempt on the life of a tsar.

Karakozov was born in the family of a minor nobleman in Kostroma. He grew to hate his class because all they did was "suck the peasants' blood." He studied at Kazan University 1861-64 and at Moscow State University 1864-66. He was expelled from both which led to depression and a failed suicide bid. In early 1866 he became a member of the "revolutionary wing" of the Ishutin Society, founded by his cousin Nikolai Ishutin in Moscow in 1863. In the spring of 1866, Karakozov arrived in St Petersburg to assassinate Alexander II. He circulated his hand-written proclamation called "Друзьям-рабочим", in which he incited people to revolt. He wrote a manifesto to the St Petersburg governor blaming the Tsar for the suffering of the poor: "I have decided to destroy the evil Tsar, and to die for my beloved people." This note never reached anyone; it was lost in the mail. It is possible 1866 was the year chosen because of the character of Rakhmetov in What Is to Be Done?. This fictional inspiration of revolutionary youth plans for a revolution to coincide with the apocalypse according to Newton-1866.