Fyodor Raskolnikov
Fyodor Raskolnikov | |
---|---|
Фёдор Раскольников | |
Born | Fyodor Fyodorovich Ilyin 28 January 1892 |
Died | 12 September 1939 | (aged 47)
Citizenship | Russian Empire Soviet Union |
Occupation(s) | Journalist, diplomat, writer |
Spouse | Larissa Reissner (1918–1924) |
Awards |
Fyodor Fyodorovich Raskolnikov (
Career
Early life
Fyodor Raskolnikov was born to a general's daughter, A. V. Ilyina, and an
In December 1910 he joined the
Revolution and Civil War
In March 1917 he was sent to the sea fortress of
Civil War
In November 1917 Raskolnikov with a group of Kronstadt seamen was sent to fight anti-Bolshevik insurgents in
Raskolnikov was promoted to membership of the
While commanding a fleet consisting of a battleship, cruiser and two destroyers that were supposed to counter the British fleet, he became a prisoner of war when his destroyer Spartak was captured by the Royal Navy[1] off the coast of Estonia in December 1918, and held in Brixton prison until May 27, 1919, when he was exchanged for 17 British prisoners of war. Appointed commander of the Caspian Flotilla[1] he led the assault on the British base at Enzeli, on May 18, 1920[7] which destroyed what remained of the White Russian navy and British garrison stationed there, and established the short lived Iranian Socialist Soviet Republic, in northern Iran.
Soviet service
In August 1920, Raskolnikov wrote a report warning that the shipbuilding facilities in Petrograd had been so badly depleted of technical specialists during the civil war that they were not capable even of repairing damaged ships, and called for recruitment drive, a wage system based on piece work, and an end to 'interference' by the Metal Workers' Union.
During 1921–1923 Raskolnikov was the ambassador to Afghanistan (the first country that established diplomatic relations with the Russian Soviet Republic[9]). Raskolnikov's actions caused a diplomatic rift with Great Britain, and the British government insisted on his removal. Eventually he was replaced.[1]
His marriage to Larissa Reissner ended after their return from Afghanistan.
Literary career
In 1924–30, Raskolnikov worked in literature as editor-in-chief of the literary magazine Molodaya Gvardiya (Young Guard), that was an organ of the Komsomol, and head of the publishing house publishing house Moskovsky Rabochy [10]
He arrived at a time of an angry controversy within the communist party over whether Soviet journals should be publishing by writers from comfortable family backgrounds who sympathised with the revolution – the so-called 'fellow travelers' – or concentrating exclusively on developing 'proletarian literature'. When the press department of the Central Committee organised a debate between the two sides, in May 1924, Raskolnikov gave a speech which Leon Trotsky praised as "the most distinctive expression" of the 'proletarian' side of the argument, which Trotsky opposed.[11]
In June 1924, the Central Committee appointed him an editor of Krasnaya Nov, which had specialised in publishing the works of fellow travelers, under its incumbent chief editor, Aleksandr Voronsky. He delayed taking up the appointment because he had contracted tuberculosis, and went to Italy for a sun cure. After his return, Krasnaya Nov was filled with articles by advocates of proletarian literature, such Ilya Vardin, whom Voronsky had refused to publish. But Raskolnikov was ousted from the magazine early in 1925, possibly because Maxim Gorky had angrily refused to contribute while he was in charge. He was reinstated in May 1927.[12]
In 1928 he was the chairman of the Repertory Committee, the de facto main censor of theatre and cinematography. He also wrote his own play Robespierre which even servile critics labelled "dry and boring".[1]
Later diplomatic career
From 1930 Raskolnikov was the plenipotentiary representative to Estonia 1930–33, and Denmark 1933–34. When diplomatic relations with Bulgaria were re-established in August 1934, after they had been severed since the Russian Revolution, Raskolnikov was appointed head of the diplomatic mission in Sofia.
Defection
In March 1938 he was recalled from Sofia to the
Not long after the signing of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, Raskolnikov was admitted to a mental hospital because the signing of the pact was a severe shock to him. He promptly died from "falling out of a window" while staying in the hospital. According to the writer Nina Berberova, Raskolnikov committed suicide. This account was contested by Raskolnikov's wife at the time, who claimed her husband died of pneumonia.[14]
According to the historian
Raskolnikov was posthumously rehabilitated in 1963.[1] However, "Around the end of the decade his photographs disappeared from reference books, and editors mentioning him favourably were reprimanded or dismissed. Finally, in February 1969 the Party organ, Kommunist, categorised him as 'a deserter to the side of the enemy and a slanderer of the Party and the Soviet state'."[15] His reputation would be restored during the Glasnost period, with the publication of his Open Letter to Stalin in the Soviet press.[16]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Zalessky K.A. Stalin Imperia Moscow, Veche, 2002 citing by "Раскольников Федор Федорович" (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2007-06-26. Retrieved 2007-05-01.
- ^ a b c Online biography Archived 2007-06-26 at the Wayback Machine based on Zaytsev V.S. Voprosy Istorii KPSS N12 1963, etc. (in Russian)
- ^ Norman F. Saul, "Fedor Rashkolnikov, a 'Seconday Bpolshevik'", Russian Review v.32 no. 2, April 1973, p. 131.
- ^ Haupt and Jean-Jacques Marie, George (1974). Makers of the Russian Revolution. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd.
- ISBN 0-86068-857-7.
- ^ Brian Pearce, Introduction to Fyodor Raskolnikov s "Tales of Sub-lieutenant Ilyin."
- ^ The Taking of Enzeli, by F.F. Raskolnikov
- ^ Raskolnikov, Fyodor. "31 августа 1920 г. — Рапорт командующего Балтийским флотом Ф. Ф. Раскольникова в Совет военной промышленности о мерах по воссозданию военного судостроения (31 August 1920 - Report of the Commander of the Baltic Fleet F. F. Raskolnikov to the Council of the Military Industry on measures to restore military shipbuilding)". Исторические Материалы. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
- OCLC 1124543098. Archived from the original(PDF) on 30 March 2023.
- ^ "Раскольников Федор Федорович 1892–1939, Биографический Указатель". Khronos. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
- ISBN 0-87348-738-9.
- ^ Maguire, Robert A. (1987). Red Virgin Soil, Soviet Literature in the 1920s. Ithaca: Cornell U.P. pp. 170–73, 180.
- ^ Raskolnikov's Open Letter to Stalin
- ^ "«Потерял голову из-за Сталина»: загадка гибели любимца Троцкого". Газета.Ru (in Russian). 2019-09-12. Retrieved 2023-10-01.
- ^ Robert Conquest. We & They. London: Maurice Temple Smith. 1980. p. 127.
- ^ Roy Medvedev. Let History Judge: The Origins and Consequences of Stalinism. New York: Columbia University Press. 1989. p. 484.
External links
- Tales of Sub-Lieutenant Ilyin
- Kronstadt and Petrograd in 1917: the memoirs of Fyodor Raskolnikov
- Newspaper clippings about Fyodor Raskolnikov in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW