Sergey Yakovlevich Elpatyevsky (), November 3, 1854 – January 9, 1933, was a Russian Empire and Soviet writer and medical doctor.

Early life

Elpatyevsky was born in the village of Novoselki-Kudrino, Vladimir Governorate, into the family of a village priest. He studied at a religious school and, after graduating in 1868, at a seminary. In 1872 he entered the Law Faculty of

Moscow State University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public university, public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, a ...

, later transferring to the Medical Faculty.

Career

In the 1870s Elpatyevsky participated in the

narodnik The Narodniks were members of a movement of the Russian Empire intelligentsia in the 1860s and 1870s, some of whom became involved in revolutionary agitation against tsarism. Their ideology, known as Narodism, Narodnism or ,; , similar to the ...

movement. In 1875, he assisted in the organization of settlements under the populists. He also provided his Moscow apartment for populist meetings. In 1876/77 he helped to organize a student club along with S.V. Martynov and V.S. Lebedev. The club served to coordinate student activities and organize assistance for political exiles in Siberia. In 1877 Elpatyevsky was investigated on charges of having links with revolutionary groups, but released for lack of evidence. In 1878 he finished his studies at the University, and began working as a doctor in Skopinsky County, Ryazan province. He also continued his revolutionary activities. In 1880 he was arrested on charges of promoting The People's Will, and deported to Ufa province under police supervision.

Exile

In 1884 Elpatyevsky was arrested for distributing illegal literature, and sentenced to exile in Eastern Siberia. He arrived in

Krasnoyarsk Krasnoyarsk is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yenisey, Yenisey River, and is the second-largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk, with a p ...

on October 24, 1884, where he met with the writer Vladimir Korolenko. Elpatyevsky settled in the village of Verhnepashennom, in the Yeniseysky District of Yenisei province. His wife Lyudmila and their two children went with him voluntarily. His wife and children settled in the city of Yeniseysk. In 1885 Elpatyevsky was allowed to resettle in Yeniseysk with his family. He repeatedly appealed to the governor of the Yenisei province to allow him to practice medicine, but was refused. He then began to practice medicine free of charge. Later he was granted the right to move freely throughout the countryside to fight the epidemics of

diphtheria Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacteria, bacterium ''Corynebacterium diphtheriae''. Most infections are asymptomatic or have a mild Course (medicine), clinical course, but in some outbreaks, the mortality rate approaches 10%. Signs a ...

and

scarlet fever Scarlet fever, also known as scarlatina, is an infectious disease caused by ''Streptococcus pyogenes'', a Group A streptococcus (GAS). It most commonly affects children between five and 15 years of age. The signs and symptoms include a sore ...

in Angara and measles in Turukhansk. He received the thanks of Governor I. K. Pedashenko for helping to fight these epidemics. In April, 1886 a

Chelyabinsk Chelyabinsk; , is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. It is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, seventh-largest city in Russia, with a population ...

merchant named Balakshin asked Governor Pedashenko if Elpatyevsky could be allowed to accompany him to Lake Shira. The governor allowed Elpatyevsky to visit the Minusinsky District for scientific purposes. Their scientific observations about the healing properties of the water of Lake Shira were outlined in Elpatyevsky's report at a meeting of the Yenisei Province Society of Physicians.

Later life

After his period of exile, Elpatyevsky lived in

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət, t=Lower Newtown; colloquially shortened to Nizhny) is a city and the administrative centre of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast an ...

, and published works in the magazines ''Russian Wealth'' and ''Russian Gazette''. In 1893 he took part in the national fight against hunger and cholera . In the late 1890s he settled in

Yalta Yalta (: ) is a resort town, resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Yalta Municipality, one of the regions within Crimea. Yalta, along with the rest of Crime ...

, where he often met with

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...

and

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

, whom he treated for tuberculosis. In the early 1900s he went abroad, and met with the founders of the

Socialist-Revolutionary Party The Socialist Revolutionary Party (SR; ,, ) was a major socialist political party in the late Russian Empire, during both phases of the Russian Revolution, and in early Soviet Russia. The party members were known as Esers (). The SRs were ag ...

. During the

1905 Russian 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, th ...

he held meetings of members of the party in his apartment. He didn't share some of their ideas and, for this reason, became one of the creators of the Labour Popular Socialist Party.

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

criticized him for this. He was arrested for publishing the booklet ''Land and Freedom'' in 1910. In 1910/11 he was imprisoned in the

Peter and Paul Fortress The Peter and Paul Fortress () is the original citadel of Saint Petersburg, Russia, founded by Peter the Great in 1703 and built to Domenico Trezzini's designs from 1706 to 1740 as a star fortress. Between the first half of the 1700s and early ...

. During World War 1 Elpatyevsky worked in hospitals in the All-Russian Land Union. In 1917 he left the Labour Popular Socialist Party. After the

Russian Revolution of 1917 The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

he lived in Moscow. From 1922 to 1928 he worked as a doctor in the Kremlin hospital. He died in 1933 in Moscow.

Notes

English translations

*''Pity Me!'', from The Russian Review, Vol 2, The Russian Review Publishing Company, NY, 1916. *''The Homeless Ones'', from The Shield, Knopf, NY, 1917.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Elpatyevsky, Sergey 1854 births 1933 deaths People from Alexandrovsky District, Vladimir Oblast People from Alexandrovsky Uyezd (Vladimir Governorate) Narodniks Socialist Revolutionary Party politicians Popular Socialists (Russia) Novelists from the Russian Empire Physicians from the Russian Empire Soviet physicians Short story writers from the Russian Empire Moscow State University alumni Prisoners of the Peter and Paul Fortress