DOI: 10.51255/2311–603X_2025_4_66

P. V. Ilyin. Memoirs of the “Surviving” Participants of the Decembrist Movement:
Features of a Retrospective View // Petersburg Historical Journal, no. 4, 2025, рр. 66–82.

Abstract:

This represents a novel approach in historiography, whereby the memoirs of participants in
clandestine societies and rebellions of 1825 who evaded a court sentence are regarded as a distinct category of Decembrist memoir sources. The diaries and memoirs published by members of the movement who were subjected to extrajudicial repression, released from punishment, or not involved in the investigation (F. N. Glinka, P. Kh. Grabbe, F. P. Litke, S. P. Shipov, and others) contain various kinds of descriptions or references to the previous Decembrist experience of memoirists. The article, in its concise form, underscores the author’s perspective on the memoirs of the “survived” Decembrists. These memoirs make references or omit information regarding participation in clandestine organisations, as well as involvement in the investigation into the political movement during the era of Alexander I. The article provides commentary on the concealment of their affiliation with such organisations, along with other distortions and omissions that are characteristic of memoirists within this series. The article employs a chronological approach to grading the memoirs, meticulously categorising them based on the time of their creation. This systematic grading method ranges from notes that emerged during the events of 1825–1826 to subsequent autobiographical recollections. Following an initial analysis, conclusions are drawn about the attitude of the “surviving” members of the
Decembrist movement to their political past. This ranges from denial or concealment to recognition of belonging to secret societies and the conspiracy of 1825.

Key words: Decembrist movement, uprising of December 14, 1825, judicial investigation, administrative punishment, forgiven Decembrists, release from punishment, memoirs, diaries.

Author:

Ilyin, Pavel Vladimirovich — PhD in History, senior researcher, St. Petersburg Institute of
History, Russian Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg, Russia).
Е-mail: pavilyn1970@gmail.com
ORCID: 0000-0001-6058-2186

References:

Bolenko, K. G., Shchedrinskii, B. N. Arheograficheskoe predislovie [Archaeographic Preface. In Russ.]. In Kulikov, S. V. (ed.). S. P. Shipov. Politicheskie i ekonomicheskie sochineniya. Vospominaniya. St. Petersburg, Rostok publ., 2021. P. 549–569.

Il’in, P. V. Novoe o dekabristakh. Proshchennye, opravdannye i neobnaruzhennye sledstviem uchastniki tajnyh obshhestv i voennyh vystuplenij 1825–1826 gg. [New about the Decembrists. Forgiven, Released and not Involved in the Investigation Members of Secret Societies and Military Uprisings 1825–1826. In Russ.]. St. Petersburg, Nestor-Istoriya publ., 2004. 664 p.

Il’in, P. V. Mezhdu zagovorom i prestolom. Ya. I. Rostovtsev v sobytiyakh mezhdutsarstviya 1825 g. [Between Conspiracy and the Throne. Ya. I. Rostovtsev in the Interregnum of 1825. In Russ.]. St. Petersburg, Nestor-Istoriya publ., 2008. 308 p.

Il’in, P. V. K izucheniyu praktiki obvineniya i strategii zashhity podsledstvennykh na protsesse
dekabristov: V. P. Zubkov i ego “Rasskaz o moem zaklyuchenii v Sankt-Peterburgskoi kreposti” [Towards a Study of the Practice of Accusation and Strategies for Protecting Defendants during the Investigation of the Decembrists: V. P. Zubkov and his “Story of my Imprisonment in the St. Petersburg Fortress”. In Russ.]. In Ruzhitskaya, I. V. (ed.). Put’ istorika. Sbornik statei pamyati E. L. Rudnitskoi. Moscow, 2022. P. 111–139.

Il’in, P. V. Figury umolchaniya i skrytye smysly v memuarnykh tekstakh (na primere zapisok “utselevshego dekabrista” A. F. Baggovuta) [Aposiopesis and Hidden Meanings in Memoir Texts (on the Example of the Memoirs of the “Surviving Decembrist” A. F. Baggovut). In Russ.]. In Ural’skii istoricheskii vestnik. 2024. No. 3 (84), pp. 162–170.

Similar Posts

|

PHJ № 4 (48) 2025 — V. G. Vovina-Lebedeva. PEASANT ELECTIONS IN VERKHOVAZHYE AT THE TURN OF THE 17TH–18TH CENTURIES

The article under scrutiny herein undertakes a thorough analysis of the election documents of 1704 for the Pezhemskaya volost, which have been preserved in the Archives of the St. Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences. These materials serve to supplement extant information regarding Pezhma for a previously documented period, and have been incorporated into the scholarly discourse for some time. The analysis demonstrates that the peasants of the Pezhemskaya volost were compelled to hold elections in 1704 to fulfil certain obligations to the state on at least 17 occasions. Nevertheless, the notion of a total elective principle that became entrenched in the lives of northern peasants during the 17th century is not without its limitations. In the event of a clear and demonstrable connection between the world and state power through the elected, the internal life of the volost, which did not concern the collection of taxes or other duties to the authorities and was outside the electoral traditions, remained largely in the shadows.

| |

PHJ № 3 (47) 2025 — A. A. Antonov. VIRTUES OF ANCIENT GREEK PHYSICIANS ACCORDING TO HELLENISTIC EPIGRAPHIC SOURCES FROM ASIA MINOR AND THE AEGEAN ISLANDS

The article’s focus is on the dearth of research concerning the virtues of ancient Greek physicians. It is customary for researchers to ascertain the moral and ethical qualities of a physician by referring to the Hippocratic corpus. Therefore, the opinion expressed is that of a medical practitioner, as determined by the relevant physician. In contrast to medical literature, honorary decrees illustrate the socially approved qualities of physicians from the perspective of the general citizenry, rather than that of professional colleagues. The virtues enumerated in the honorary decrees bestowed upon physicians align with the principles of an ideal citizen, embodying tangible, rather than abstract, philosophical or purely professional attributes of a physician. The present paper explores the virtues of physicians in a context of the common civic virtues attributed to the euergetes of the Hellenistic era. As demonstrated in the paper, physicians were attributed the same virtues as philanthropists and politicians. Concurrently, the decrees exhibit a paucity of special professional virtues; the prevailing emphasis is on “medical art” as it is the primary virtue of a physician. Consequently, the honorary decrees illustrate the physician as a constituent of the polis collective, and the most accomplished physicians are distinguished by the same qualities as political leaders — kalokagathia, zeal, and ambition.

|

PHJ № 4 (48) 2025 — D. V. Timofeev. REGULATION OF INTER-VERBAL INTERACTIONS AND THE SERFDOM ISSUE IN RUSSIA IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE 19TH CENTURY

In Russia during the first quarter of the 19th century, the quest for solutions to the issue of serfdom was inextricably intertwined with the government’s policy of regulating interactions between various estates and intra-estate groups within Russian society. The article, which is based on an analysis of archival materials, presents an analysis of the content and focus of discussions on measures to prevent the fraudulent sale of peasants and the development of ways to introduce a contractual model of relations between peasants and landowners. In this context, the article presents an analysis of the arguments of senators, members of the Department of Laws of the State Council and the Council of the Commission for the Drafting of Laws, expressed during the discussion of the draft submitted by the Minister of Internal Affairs O. P. Kozodavlev on allowing all free Russian subjects to acquire populated lands. Consequently, rhetorical techniques, semantic accents and ideological attitudes were employed to justify the rejection of the proposed measure, thereby demonstrating, firstly, the recognition of the importance of maintaining state control in the sphere of interclass relations and, secondly, the understanding of the need to transition from a model of precedent-based response to private abuses of power by landowners to a model of preventive resolution of potentially possible conflict situations through the introduction of the practice of contractual relations.

|

PHJ №1 (45) 2025 — A. V. Ushakov. FRAGMENTS FROM THE BOOK ABOUT THE NARVA TRADE NOWGORODFAHRER FROM LÜBECK: FEES ON GOODS EXPORTED FROM NARVA DURING THE LIVONIAN WAR

The article under scrutiny herein examines fragments from a handwritten merchant’s book stored in the archive of the Nowgorodfahrer merchant association, which is one of the funds of the Archive of the Hanseatic city of Lübeck. The book chronicles the commercial activities of a trading corporation in Narva during the Livonian War, providing insights spanning the years 1563 to 1577. The study focuses on the commodity lists for 1563, 1564, 1568 and 1577, which detail the internal charges applied to all goods arriving from Narva in Lübeck. The financial proceeds received from these merchants were allocated towards the organisation of collective commercial activities on behalf of the entire trade association. These activities included the maintenance of warehouses and wharves, the chartering of merchant ships, the remuneration of seafarers, mercenaries, scribes and servants, and the settlement of numerous other expenses. Utilising these records, an analysis was conducted of the product range that was characteristic of Narva exports during the Livonian War. Furthermore, a correlation was identified between fluctuations in the amount charged for these goods and the prevailing political situation in the Baltic region. The appendix to the article presents transcriptions of the studied product lists.

| |

PHJ № 3 (47) 2025 — A. V. Lomakin. FROM ILYICH TO KUMACH: THE POETIC DESIGN OF SOVIET HOLIDAYS ON THE AIR OF LENINGRAD RADIO IN THE 1950S AND 1970S

The article is devoted to specific works of fiction — poems written for the public holidays of May 1 and November 7 and played on holiday radio broadcasts in Leningrad in the 1950s and 1970s. Based on the documents of the Central State Archive of Literature and Art of St. Petersburg, the thematic diversity of festive poetry is studied, its functions in festive narratives and the Soviet holiday as a whole are revealed, special attention is paid to the motivation of writers and poets when fulfilling a state order to create poetic agitation. Poetry “on occasion”, written for the Leningrad radio committee by local poets, was most often dedicated to V. I. Lenin, the Great October Socialist Revolution, Leningrad, and the Communist Party. The poems not only complemented the announcers’ comments about the parades and demonstrations on the Palace Square, created a festive mood, but also carried a certain ideological load and performed an educational function. At the same time, these works were usually performed without specifying the authorship, and later the authors did not include them in their printed collections. The participation of poets and writers in the creation of artistic texts for radio broadcasts can be considered a kind of fulfillment of a state order, in which each individual author could have his own motivation, whether it was establishing relations with the authorities or making easy money.

|

PHJ № 1 (33) 2022 — T. V. Andreeva. IN THE SERVICE OF RUSSIA: STATESMEN OF SWEDISH-FINNISH ORIGIN IN THE 19TH — EARLY 20TH CENTURIES

The article examines the political and official biographies of dignitaries — immigrants from Finland, who were in the 19th — early 20th centuries members of the State Council, studied the factors of their career growth in the structure of administrative institutions of the Russian Empire, identified the main principles of the personnel policy of the imperial government in the context of the highest Finnish bureaucracy, determined the socio-political rationale for its service in Russia. It has been demonstrated that the appointment of representatives of the highest bureaucracy of Finland in different periods of Russian history as members of the State Council, heads of the most important Russian ministries, was determined by both objective political processes associated with a special Finnish imperial policy and subjective preferences and personal relationships of representatives of the reigning dynasty.