Mikhail Vasilyevich Butashevich-Petrashevsky (; – ), commonly known as Mikhail Petrashevsky, was a Russian

Utopian A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', which describes a fictional island soci ...

theorist, best known for his central role in the activities of the

Petrashevsky Circle The Petrashevsky Circle was a Russian literary discussion group of progressive-minded intellectuals in St. Petersburg in the 1840s. It was organized by Mikhail Petrashevsky, a follower of the French utopian socialist Charles Fourier. Among the me ...

, a literary discussion group in Saint Petersburg in the 1840s.

Biography

Early life

Mikhail Petrashevsky graduated from the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum (1839) and

Saint Petersburg State University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBGU; ) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the Great, the university from the be ...

with a degree in

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

(1841). He was then employed as a

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

and

interpreter Interpreting is translation from a spoken or signed language into another language, usually in real time to facilitate live communication. It is distinguished from the translation of a written text, which can be more deliberative and make use o ...

at the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

. Petrashevsky is known to have edited and authored most of the theoretical articles for the ''Pocket Dictionary of Foreign Words'' (1846), which popularized democratic and materialist ideas and principles of

utopian socialism Utopian socialism is the term often used to describe the first current of modern socialism and socialist thought as exemplified by the work of Henri de Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, Étienne Cabet, and Robert Owen. Utopian socialism is often de ...

Political activism & Petrashevsky Circle

In 1844, Petrashevsky's apartment became the venue for social gatherings of intellectuals, which from 1845 took place on a weekly basis. These meetings were later dubbed ''pyatnitsy'' ("Fridays") and those attending them would be known as ''Petrashevtsy''. The latter came to Petrashevsky's house and used his personal library, which contained banned books on materialist philosophy, utopian socialism, and history of

revolutionary movement A revolutionary movement (or revolutionary social movement) is a specific type of social movement dedicated to carrying out a revolution. Criteria Charles Tilly defines it as "a social movement advancing exclusive competing claims to control o ...

s. Among the well-known members of the young intelligentsia who participated in the Petrashevsky Circle were

Fyodor Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influent ...

, Mikhail Saltykov-Schedrin, Apollon Maykov and Nikolay Speshnev. In late 1848, Petrashevsky took part in meetings, initiated by Speshnev, that were aimed at creating a secret society. Petrashevsky, however, argued for judicial reform rather than violent methods, and did not participate in the activities of Speshnev's society.

Mock execution and exile

In 1849, Mikhail Petrashevsky was arrested and sentenced to death. Together with the other ''Petrashevtsy'' he was taken to the parade ground of the Semionovsky Regiment in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, the usual place for public executions, and tied to the pole. At the last moment, the execution was stopped, and it was revealed that his sentence had been commuted to ''

katorga Katorga (, ; from medieval and modern ; and Ottoman Turkish: , ) was a system of penal labor in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union (see Katorga labor in the Soviet Union). Prisoners were sent to remote penal colonies in vast uninhabited a ...

'' for an unspecified term. He was sent to Eastern

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

to serve his sentence. In 1856, Petrashevsky's status was changed to that of an exile settler. He lived in

Irkutsk Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and , ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 587,891 Irkutsk is the List of cities and towns in Russ ...

, where he founded a

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

, ''Amur'', in 1860.

Later life and death

In February 1860, Petrashevsky was banished to the

Minusinsk Minusinsk (; ) is a historical types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. Population: 44,500 (1973). History "About 330-200 B.C. the iron age triumphed at Minusinsk, producing spiked axes, partly bronze and ...

district for speaking out against the abuse of power by local officials. He died there six years later.

Political work

Petrashevsky considered himself a follower of

Charles Fourier François Marie Charles Fourier (; ; 7 April 1772 – 10 October 1837) was a French philosopher, an influential early socialist thinker, and one of the founders of utopian socialism. Some of his views, held to be radical in his lifetime, have be ...

and spoke for democratisation of the Russian political system and liberation of the

peasantry A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasan ...

with their lands. He advocated long preparatory work among the masses for revolutionary struggle. As most members of the Russian intelligentsia, their commitment to 'the people' was abstract; being unsure of individual men but loving mankind. Petrashevsky summed this up by proclaiming: 'unable to find anything in either women or men worthy of my adherence, I have turned to devote myself to the service of humanity'.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Petrashevsky, Mikhail 1821 births 1866 deaths Fourierists Politicians from Saint Petersburg People from Sankt-Peterburgsky Uyezd Revolutionaries from the Russian Empire Linguists from the Russian Empire Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum alumni Saint Petersburg State University alumni Russian exiles in the Russian Empire