Ruble Society

a revolutionary youth organization in Russia founded in late 1867 by F. V. Volkhovskii and G. A. Lopatin. The society derived its name from the monthly dues paid by its members. The chief task the members set for themselves was to become close to the people. The organizers intended for the members to assume the guise of itinerant rural schoolteachers and then establish ties with, and conduct revolutionary propaganda among, the peasants through the use of both legal and illegal publications. The Ruble Society had groups in St. Petersburg, where members included Lopatin, N. F. Daniel’son, N. N. Liubavin, and V. V. Mikhailov, and in Moscow, where members included Volkhovskii, I. S. Klimenko, P. A. Bykov, K. Ia. Belyi, and N. V. Shugurov. The society published I. A. Khudiakov’s easy-to-understand book Ancient Rus’for the people. In Feburary 1868 most of the members of the society were arrested.