Memoirs of a Revolutionist

by Vera Figner, Richard Stites (Introduction)

Born into the comforts of the Russian aristocracy in 1852, Vera Figner as a child harbored the fairy-tale dream of one day becoming tsarina. By the age of thirty-two, however, Figner had become one of Russia's most vocal revolutionaries, a terrorist and member of the Executive Committee of the People's Will party, and a prisoner sentenced for life for her involvement in the assassination of Alexander II.

In this classic memoir, Figner recounts her journey from aristocrat to revolutionary, candidly relating the experiences that shaped her ideas and provoked her to political action and violence. As she reflects on her own lifelong commitment to improving the lives of ordinary Russians, she reveals much about the concept, structure, and leadership behind the radical movement in late nineteenth-century Russia. In his incisive introduction to this edition, Richard Stites discusses the importance of the memoir as a personal testimony and provides background for understanding a courageous woman's role in the struggle for political change.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Russia, Memoir, Russian History, Russian Literature, 19th Century

336 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1968

Reviews

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look at the Russian revolutionary movements in the second half of the 19th century, and one of the first (if not the first) prominent female voices in Russian intellectual history. The first half goes from her childhood to her imprisonment, and it is full of introspection and action: she explains the motives that drove her to become a revolutionary and finally a (rather cool-headed) terrorist. The second half talks about her time in prison, and the momentum is kind of lost after all the assassination plots and confabulation, but it still makes for a good read with a lot of historical value.

Figner is writing about her life retrospectively, of course; because of this, more than just narrating it she frames it all with respect to her becoming a revolutionary and embracing terror later in life. The same way that St. Augustine reads everything as steps in his path to conversion in his Confessions, Figner puts a lot more weight to events that shaped her dissident perspective -- her short-lived courtship and marriage to a conservative is brushed off, while her reading a poem that awakened some socialist leanings in her is presented as momentous. Figner says that her commitment to her ideals was absolute, and this really comes across not just in the actions she narrates but also through the very style of the narration.

That being said, this translation is a little stuffy and antiquated (they use words like 'whither' in accusative constructions, although I forgive them because there were no bothersome outdated 'thous'), so I found it hard to get into the book at first. But it's nothing I couldn't live with -- after a while I got used to it and ended up finishing the whole first half of the book in one sitting. Read it in Russian if you can; Figner is rather factual but her prose is much more enchanting than it seems here.

[Elizabeth Woodcraft · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating, detailed, powerful book of a young woman breaking away from her loving but conservative family and fighting the injustices of life in Tsarist Russia.

[Highjump · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating history and raised some still relevant topics like the difference between servicing and organizing, if violence is ever justified, and prison strikes.

[Christine Powell]

This is a translation and I suspect adaptation, and I very much would love to read a more direct, unedited version. That said, it's a wonderful view into non-religious zealotry and a violent radical. This woman sacrificed everything to advance her cause. She helped murder, she watched her friends be killed for the cause, and kept on. It's so very alien.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

First half is a mind-blowing account of the attempts and final successful assasination of Czar Alex II from a women who was part of the group that did it. Second half, not as interesting, is her account of life in prison.

[Vicky Sherwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

the best story you've never read

[Romina · Rating 5 out of 5]

The translation is spotty, but the content is great.