Viktor Chernov

1
Viktor Chernov
Viktor Chernov
Born Viktor Mikhailovich Chernov
December 7, 1873
Novouzensk, Russian Empire
Died April 15, 1952 (aged78)
New York, USA
Ethnicity Russian
Occupation Revolutionary, political activist, writer
Viktor Mikhailovich Chernov (Russian: ; December 7, 1873 April 15, 1952) was
a Russian revolutionary and one of the founders of the Russian Socialist-Revolutionary Party. He was the primary
party theoretician or the 'brain' of the party, and was more analyst than political leader.
V.M. Chernov.
Biography
Early years
Viktor Chernov was born in Novouzensk, a town southeast of Saratov
in Samara guberniya. He was the son of a former serf peasant who had
risen to become a low-level functionary in the local civil service.
[1]
Chernov attended gymnasium in Saratov, a hotbed of radicalism,
where he joined a populist discussion circle in which he studied the
works of Nikolay Dobrolyubov and Nikolay Mikhaylovsky. His radical
proclivities attracted the attention of the local police and Chernov
transferred to school in Iurev for his final year of study.
Chernov enrolled in the Law department of Moscow University, where
he once again joined a radical discussion circle, defending populist
views against Marxists. He was arrested for his political activities in
the spring of 1894 and spent 9 months in Peter and Paul Fortress in St.
Petersburg. Following his incarceration, Chernov was sentenced to a
period of administrative exile in central Russia.
Viktor Chernov
2
Political career
By the end of the 1880s he was involved in revolutionary activity. He attended the law faculty of Moscow University
and in the early 1890s joined the Narodniks; in 1894 he joined Mark Natanson's "People's Right" (Narodnoe pravo)
group, an attempt to unite all the socialist movements in Russia, and with other members was arrested, jailed, and
exiled. After spending some time organizing the peasants around Tambov, he went abroad to Zurich in 1899. He
joined the Socialist-Revolutionary Party upon its founding in 1901 and became the editor of its newspaper
Revolutionary Russia. He returned to Russia after the Revolution of 1905; after boycotting the elections for the First
Duma, he won election to the Second Duma and became a leader of the SR faction.
In 1907 he published Philosophical and Sociological Studies in which he espoused the viewpoint of Richard
Avenarius. As such he was one of the Russian Machists criticised by Lenin in Materialism and Empirio-Criticism
(1909).
Under Alexander Kerensky's provisional government in 1917, Chernov was the Minister for Agriculture. He was
also the only Chairman of the Russian Constituent Assembly until its disbandment on January 6, 1918. Following the
Bolsheviks' seizure of power, he became a member of an anti-Bolshevik government leading the more moderate
Social Revolutionaries in Samara, before fleeing to Europe and then the United States.
Death and legacy
Viktor Chernov died in New York City in 1952.
Sources
"Viktor Mikhaylovich Chernov"
[2]
. Britannica Online. Retrieved October 2, 2005.
"Chernov, Viktor"
[3]
. The Columbia Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 2, 2005.
Footnotes
[1] Maureen Perrie, "Viktor Mikhailovich Chernov," in George Jackson with Robert Devlin (eds.), Dictionary of the Russian Revolution.
Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1989; pp. 116-119.
[2] http:/ / www. britannica. com/ eb/ article-9023845
[3] http:/ / www. bartleby.com/ 65/ ch/ Chernov.html
External links
Victor Chernov website (http:/ / chernov. sstu. ru/ ) chernov.sstu.ru (Russian)
Article Sources and Contributors
3
Article Sources and Contributors
Viktor Chernov Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=603758902 Contributors: AB, Alex Bakharev, Allen1861, Andros64, Bloodsorr0w, Carrite, Chastra, Chemako0606, David
Kernow, Dmitri Lytov, DonaldDuck, Folero, Hmains, Ineuw, Joel7687, Johnpacklambert, Lamro, Languagehat, LanternLight, Leutha, LilHelpa, Omnipaedista, Soman, TheAnkopinko15,
Woohookitty, 18 ,55 anonymous edits
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
File:Viktor Chernov (1873-1952), Russian revolutionary (small).jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Viktor_Chernov_(1873-1952),_Russian_revolutionary_(small).jpg
License: Public Domain Contributors: Aristodem, David Kernow, Quibik,
Image:Chernov.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Chernov.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: "Petrogdadskaya gazeta"
License
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