Mikhail Novorusskii
Novorusskii, Mikhail Vasil’evich
Born Sept. 28 (Oct. 10), 1861, in the village of Novaia Russa, now in Demianovsk Raion, Novgorod Oblast; died Sept. 21, 1925, in Leningrad. Russian revolutionary and member of the People’s Will.
The son of a priest, Novorusskii graduated from the St. Petersburg Theological Academy in 1886. In the beginning of 1887 he joined the terrorist faction of the People’s Will. Together with A. I. Ul’ianov and others, he planned an attempt on the life of Alexander III. He was arrested on Mar. 3, 1887, and sentenced to death. The sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in solitary confinement in the Shlisse’burg Fortress. He was released in October 1905. Novorusskii conducted considerable research and public work in the fields of natural science, museology, and public education. He also wrote memoirs.