Alexander Ulyanov - Lenin's brother - was almost always in the shadow of his more famous relative. But it is interesting how the course of history would have turned if it were not for the oath of young Volodya to avenge Sasha, who was executed by the tsar. It was then that the future leader of the world proletariat said his most famous phrase: “We will go the other way.”
Childhood and youth
Alexander Ilyich Ulyanov was born in Nizhny Novgorod on March 31, 1866. When he was 3 years old, the family moved to Simbirsk. Alexander's father, Ilya Nikolaevich, initially held the position of inspector of public schools, and after 5 years he was promoted and took the place of the manager of the directorate. Mother, Maria Alexandrovna, was from an intelligent family and knew several foreign languages. It was she who taught her children to read and write. In total, Maria Alexandrovna had 8 children, two of them died in infancy.
Sasha learned to read quite early, namely at the age of 4. When he was eight, his homethe training was completed, and he entered the Simbirsk gymnasium. Starting from elementary school, according to his classmates, he was very popular at school. This is also evidenced by the fact that the gymnasium graduation, which took place in 1883, was called "Ulyanov's class".
I must say that Alexander Ulyanov was brought up on classical Russian literature. He liked to read the works of Pushkin, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Nekrasov. In addition, while still at the gymnasium, he became seriously interested in natural science, in particular, zoology. But Sasha's real passion was chemistry. When he was 16 years old, he independently equipped a kind of chemical laboratory for himself, where he spent his free time, often staying overnight.
As you can see, young Alexander Ulyanov was an extremely developed boy beyond his years, very serious and immersed in studies. Based on this, many predicted a great future for him, certainly connected with science.
Student years
Alexander, after graduating from the classical gymnasium and receiving a gold medal, in 1883 easily enters St. Petersburg University. He becomes a student of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics. By the way, this university was already at that time not only one of the best universities, but also the largest scientific center in the Russian Empire.
The first two years of study in the capital, Alexander Ulyanov spent all his time attending lectures and doing scientific research. He was one of the most beloved students of D. I. Mendeleev, therefore he was a regular in the chemicallaboratory, where he could often be seen sitting at a microscope. At that time, he did not even think about politics.
At the end of his second year, he finally decided on the choice of specialization - he was most interested in invertebrate zoology. He conducted coursework, for which he was awarded a gold medal, which opened wide the doors for him to real scientific activity. Then no one doubted that the most talented student Ulyanov would remain at the university and eventually received a professorship.
Revolutionary activity
It was Alexander's scientific successes that largely contributed to increasing his popularity among students. Soon he joins the Scientific and Literary Society at St. Petersburg University. At the initiative of Prince Golitsyn, Count Heiden and other reactionary students, this organization acquired the opposite impulse. A group of students with pronounced revolutionary views began to exert a huge influence on him.
Gradually, Alexander began to participate in all illegal student meetings and demonstrations, as well as to conduct revolutionary propaganda in the workers' circle. At the end of 1886, together with his comrade Shevyrev, he organized the so-called terrorist faction in the Narodnaya Volya party.
Attempt
The assassination of Emperor Alexander III was scheduled for March 1, 1887. It was organized by the same terrorist faction. Initi althe plan was to shoot the king, but it was later resolutely rejected. Then the idea arose to throw bombs, and Andreyushkin and Gerasimov expressed their desire to do this.
After numerous assassination attempts on the emperor, the authorities began to pay special attention to those students who constantly participated in illegal demonstrations, and the police often opened their correspondence. One of these letters spoke of a merciless terror that was to be committed in the near future. This message was addressed to a certain Nikitin. The police gradually began to unravel the thread of a conspiracy against the emperor. Thus, the attempt of Alexander Ulyanov and his comrades was discovered and prevented.
Litigation
It is known that from April 15 to 19 court sessions were held behind closed doors. They were allowed to be attended only by ministers, their associates, senators, members of the State Council and persons belonging to the highest bureaucracy. Even relatives and friends of the defendants were not only not allowed into the courtroom, but were not even allowed to visit them.
Several dozens of people were arrested for attempting to assassinate the emperor, but only 15 of them were brought to trial. Among them was Alexander Ulyanov, Lenin's brother. Initially, the death pen alty was demanded for all the convicts, but a little later, for eight defendants, this such a harsh sentence was replaced by other punishments. Emperor Alexander III signed the verdict only for five defendants, in the list of which, in addition to Shevyrev, Osipanov,Generalov and Andreyushkin, Alexander Ulyanov was also listed. The rest were assigned different periods of imprisonment, as well as exile to Siberia.
Execution of revolutionaries
As you know, Alexander's mother wrote a letter to the Russian emperor, asking for his permission to visit her son. Historians are inclined to think that, most likely, the convict had the opportunity to apply for pardon, but for some reason this was not done. Therefore, on May 8 (20), the execution of Alexander Ulyanov and his associates took place. They were hanged on the territory of the Shlisselburg fortress.
