DOI 10.51255/2311–603X_2025_2_143

M. A. Nosko, I. S. Ratkovsky. “I Was 15 Years Old When, in 1903, I Was Accepted at the Sestroretsk Factory…”: On the Biography of V. A. Emelyanov // Petersburg Historical Journal, no. 2, 2025, pp. 143–153

Abstract:

The article provides an analysis of significant aspects of the biography of Vasily Alexandrovich
Emelyanov (1888–1978), a worker at the Sestroretsk Arms Factory and a member of a prominent family involved in concealing V. I. Lenin in Razliv in 1917.

The authors undertake a thorough examination of his revolutionary activities, encompassing the transportation of weapons and illegal literature from Finland, participation in combat squads, and his subsequent arrests and exile. Of particular note are the events of December 1907, when V. A. Emelyanov was involved in armed clashes with the authorities. The study introduces hitherto unexplored and newly discovered sources into academic circulation, thereby facilitating a comprehensive reassessment of the social and socio-political history of Sestroretsk during the revolutionary transformations.

The researchers identify contradictions in V. A. Emelyanov’s recollections of the 1917 events and compare them with archival materials. The authors emphasise the significance of an interdisciplinary approach, reflecting sociocultural changes in the local revolutionary movement. The article emphasises the necessity of further in-depth research into the biographies of labour movement participants to gain a more complete understanding of their role in the revolutionary events of the early 20th century.

Key words: V. A. Emelyanov, Sestroretsk Arms Factory, Emelyanov family, labor movement in Russia, V. I. Lenin, microhistory, revolution in Russian.

Author:

Nosko, Mikhail Andreevich — Postgraduate Student at the Department of Modern History of
Russia, Institute of History, St. Petersburg University; expert in the study and promotion of cultural heritage sites at St. Petersburg State Budgetary Institution of Culture “Historical and Cultural Museum Complex in Razliv” (St. Petersburg, Russia).
E-mail: st133976@student.spbu.ru
ORCID: 0009-0008-1194-5022

Author:

Ratkovsky, Ilya Sergeevich — Associate Professor at the Institute of History of St. Petersburg
State University (Saint Petersburg, Russia).
E-mail: i.ratkovskij@spbu.ru
ORCID: 0000-0002-3263-701X

Author Contributions Statement:
The authors contributed equally to this article. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.

References:

Erykalov, E. F. Mushtukov, V. E. (eds.). Geroi Oktyabrya 1917 g.: Biografii aktivnykh uchastnikov podgotovki i provedeniya Oktyabr’skogo vooruzhennogo vosstaniya v Petrograde [Heroes of October: Biographies of Active Participants in the Preparation and Execution of the October Armed Uprising in Petrograd. In Russ.]: in 2 vols. Leningrad, Lenizdat, 1967. 655 + 821 p.

Kukushkin, V. N. Emelyanovy [The Yemelyanovs. In Russ.]. Leningrad, Lenizdat, 1974. 319 p.

Nosko, M. A., Bazhanov, D. A. “Ya vidal Lenina sovsem zhivogo…”: vospominaniya Sestroretskikh
rabochikh o vstreche lidera RSDRP(b) 3 aprelya 1917 g. na stantsii Beloostrov [“I Saw Lenin Completely Alive…”: Memories of Sestroretsk Workers about the Meeting with the Leader of the Russian Social Democratic Workers’ Party (Bolsheviks) on April 3, 1917, at the Beloostrov Station. In Russ.]. In Nikolaev, A. B. (ed.). Revolyutsiya 1917 g. v Rossii: Novye podkhody i vzglyady. St. Petersburg, RGPU im. A. I. Gertsena, 2024. P. 38–48.

Startsev, V. I. Ot Razliva do Smol’nogo. Dokumental’nyi ocherk o poslednem podpol’e V. I. Lenina [From Razliv to Smolny: A Documentary Essay on the Last Underground of V. I. Lenin. In Russ.]. Moscow, Politizdat, 1977. 183 p.

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