In memory of our lost Comrades: the Funerals of Russian Revolutionaries in Exile (1900–1914)

Abstract

During the years 1900–1914, the number of exiled Russian revolutionaries staying in the major cities of Europe to escape tsarist repression increased. Some died in exile. This article is about the funerals of five of them who, apart from the first, were members of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party (SRP), affiliated to the Second International since 1904. The funerals of Pëtr Lavrov (1900, Paris), Pëtr Polivanov (1903, Lorient), Mihail’ Goc (1906, Geneva), Grigorii Gershuni (1908, Paris) and Leonid Shishko (1910, Paris) were the occasion for demonstrations in which the exiles affirmed their convictions and emphasised what made the deceased revolutionaries. Pëtr Lavrov and Grigorii Gershuni were buried in the Montparnasse cemetery near the graves of Communards. Two monuments were erected on their graves. A monument was also erected on the grave of Mikhail Gots in the Carouge cemetery in Geneva. The five funerals mentioned here were attended not only by Russian exiles, but also by representatives of political parties affiliated to the Second International, Russian students, emigrant workers from the empire, and French socialist sympathisers. Among the organisers of these events, the exiled Ilya Rubanovich played a key role. As a member of the central committee of the PSR and a French citizen, he highlighted the links between the PSR and international socialism. These events were occasions of recollection, cohesion, affirmation of a revolutionary identity, internationalist socialisation and the development of a collective memory.