Peter the Painter
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Peter the Painter (), also known as Peter Piaktow (or Piatkov, Pjatkov, Piaktoff; ), was a member of a gang of immigrant Latvian anarchists in London in the early 20th century. After supposedly fighting in and escaping the Sidney Street Siege in 1911, he became an
anti-hero An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero or two words anti hero) or anti-heroine is a character in a narrative (in literature, film, TV, etc.) who may lack some conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism and morality. Al ...
in London's East End. He was never caught, and there is some question as to whether he had participated in the Sidney Street incident, or even whether he existed at all.


Biography

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries London became a destination for many eastern European immigrants, who settled mostly in the East End. Ethnic groups joined together in gangs, and numerous immigrants continued radical political activities. They often stole in order to fund their activities. In the wake of the
Houndsditch Murders The siege of Sidney Street of January 1911, also known as the Battle of Stepney, was a Shootout, gunfight in the East End of London between a combined police and army force and two Latvians, Latvian revolutionaries. The siege was the culminati ...
in London on 16 December 1910, a member of the gang involved was found dead at a flat at which Peter Piatkow had lived with Fritz Svaars. Both of the latter men were believed to be members of a Latvian radical group. Svaars was the cousin of Jacob Peters, another Latvian far-leftist. In January 1911 the police were informed that Svaars and an accomplice were hiding out at 100 Sidney Street. They surrounded the area and laid siege to the building in order to flush out the radicals. Another member was "Peter the Painter", a nickname for an unknown figure, possibly named Peter Piaktow (or Piatkov, Pjatkov or Piaktoff), He used several aliases, including Schtern, Straume, Makharov and Dudkin or Janis Zhaklis. Bernard Porter, writing in the ''
Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'', states that no firm details are known of the anarchist's background and that "None of the ... biographical 'facts' about him ... is altogether reliable." In 1988, based on research in the
KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...
archives, Philip Ruff, a historian of anarchism, suggested Peter the Painter might be Ģederts Eliass. He was a Latvian artist involved in the
1905 Revolution The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, was a revolution in the Russian Empire which began on 22 January 1905 and led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Russian Constitution of 1906, t ...
in Russia and was living in exile in England during the time of the Sidney Street Siege. He returned to Riga after the Bolshevik
1917 Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social change in Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government following two successive revolutions and a civil war. It ...
. More recently, Ruff has identified Peter the Painter as Jānis Žāklis (also spelled Janis Zhaklis or Zhakles), another Latvian far-leftist. Like Peters, Zhaklis was a member of the
Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party The Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party (, LSDSP) is a Social democracy, social-democratic list of political parties in Latvia, political party in Latvia and the second oldest existing Latvian political party after the Latvian Farmers' Uni ...
in 1905; among his exploits was effecting the escape of Fritz Svaars from prison in Riga. Zhaklis associated with Eliass in exile in
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, where they were involved together in the robbery of the Russian State Bank branch in Helsinki. Zhaklis broke with the Social Democrats and became an anarchist. It is unclear what happened to him after 1911. In August 2012 Ruff published a book on the life of Janis Zhaklis; it was released by Dienas Grāmata (in Latvian) as ''Pa stāvu liesmu debesīs: Nenotveramā latviešu anarhista Pētera Māldera laiks un dzīve'' (''A Towering Flame: The Life & Times of Peter the Painter''). This has been succeeded by an English-language edition, published by Breviary Stuff in 2019.


Legacy and honours

*The type of gun which Peter the Painter allegedly used at Sidney Street, a
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
Mauser C96 The Mauser C96 (''Construktion 96'') is a semi-automatic pistol that was originally produced by German arms manufacturer Mauser from 1896 to 1937. Unlicensed copies of the gun were also manufactured in Spain and China in the first half of the 20 ...
pistol, was sometimes called a ''Peter the Painter'' after him, particularly in
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
during the
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and later. There is currently a 'Peter the Painter' Mauser C96 on display in the James Connolly Museum in Belfast, which was used by the IRA in 1919-1921 and named after Peters. *In September 2008
Tower Hamlets London Borough Council Tower Hamlets London Borough Council, also known as Tower Hamlets Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under ...
named two tower blocks in Sidney Street, Peter House and Painter House, even though Peter the Painter was only involved in a minor capacity in the events, and was not present at the siege. A
local councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a Municipality, muni ...
and the
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protested against this, saying that the killer should not be recognised. *'' Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries'', a series about a female detective from the past in Australia, has an episode (s1 e4) which includes Peter the Painter as a major figure. *He appears as a character in the 2012 TV miniseries ''
Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...
'' where he is fleeing Europe for a new life in the New World.


Notes


Bibliography

* * * * * * {{cite book, last=Ruff, first=Philip, year=2018, orig-year=2012, title=A Towering Flame: The Life & Times of "Peter the Painter", url=https://www.janisroze.lv/en/gramatas/memuarliteratura-biografiski-apraksti/towering-flame-a-the-life-times-of-peter-the-painter.html, location=
Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...
, publisher=Dienas Grãmata, isbn=9789934546563


External links


Audio from a talk on Peter The Painter by Phil Ruff for Bristol Radical History GroupPeter the Painter (Janis Zhaklis) and the Siege of Sidney Street
by Pauls Bankovskis and Phil Ruff 20th-century Latvian people Latvian criminals European people whose existence is disputed Latvian expatriates in the United Kingdom Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Latvian anarchists