Early career Born as the son of a poor nobleman in
Kishinev, Bessarabia (now
Moldova), Purishkevich graduated from the
Imperial Novorossiya University with a degree in
classical philology. Around 1900, he moved to
Saint Petersburg. He became a member of the
Russian Assembly group and was appointed under
Vyacheslav von Plehve. Purishkevich was a hardline supporter of
Russification and
sacerdotal autocracy. Purishkevich was hostile towards
Jews, who he believed to be the "vanguard of the revolutionary movement". He wanted Jews to be deported to
Kolyma. He believed that the "
Kadets, socialists, the
intelligentsia, the press and councils of university professors" were all under the control of Jews. During the
Russian Revolution of 1905, Purishkevich helped organise the
Black Hundreds, a reactionary, monarchist and ultra-nationalist
militia that carried out a number of raids (with unofficial government approval) against revolutionary groups as well as
pogroms against Jews. After the
October Manifesto created the
State Duma, he was elected as a deputy for the Bessarabian and
Kursk province. In the Duma, he gained fame and infamy for his flamboyant speeches and scandalous behaviour, such as speaking on
International Workers' Day with a red
carnation in his
fly. One of the recipients of the letter,
Anna Filosofova, made the letter public and took Purishkevich to court; he was sentenced to one month in jail. Purishkevich was particularly critical of the roles of Empress
Alexandra and her close advisor
Grigori Rasputin. On 19 November, Purishkevich delivered a speech in the Duma that denounced Rasputin and the conduct of the government. He compared Rasputin with the "
False Dmitri", and argued that Rasputin's influence over the tsarina had made him a threat to the empire. He stated that the monarchy was becoming discredited: He concluded that "While Rasputin is alive, we cannot win".
Killing of Rasputin Prince
Felix Yusupov was impressed by Purishkevich's speech criticizing Rasputin. He visited Purishkevich, who quickly agreed to participate in the killing of Rasputin. Also, Grand Duke
Dmitri Pavlovich joined the conspiracy. Purishkevich talked to
Samuel Hoare, the head of the British Secret Intelligence Service in
Petrograd. On the evening of 16 December 1916, the conspirators gathered in the
Moika Palace and eventually killed Rasputin. A curious policeman on duty on the other side of the
Moika had heard the shots, rang at the door, and was sent away. Half an hour later, another policeman arrived, and Purishkevich invited him into the palace. Purishkevich told him that he had shot Rasputin and asked him to keep it quiet for the sake of the tsar. They had planned to burn Rasputin's possessions. Sukhotin put on Rasputin's fur coat, rubber boots, and gloves. He left with Dmitri and Dr. Lazovert in Purishkevich's car, which suggests that Rasputin had left the palace alive. Because Purishkevich's wife refused to burn the fur coat and the boots in her small fireplace in the ambulance train, the conspirators went back to the palace with the larger items. Yusupov and Dmitri were placed under house arrest in the
Sergei Palace. The tsarina had refused to meet them but said that they could explain to her what had happened in a letter. Purishkevich assisted them and left the city to the Romanian front at ten in the evening. Because of his popularity, Purishkevich was neither punished nor exiled.
Revolutionary Russia with the former hotel "Russia" During the
February Revolution in 1917, many right-wingers were arrested but Purishkevich was tolerated by the government and so was "virtually the only former national Black Hundred leader to maintain an active political life in Russia after the tsar's downfall". However, the revolution meant that Purishkevich initially had to moderate his politics. He called for the abolition of the
Soviets, who were, in turn, calling for the abolition of the Duma. In August 1917, he wanted a military dictatorship; he was arrested over the
Kornilov Affair but was released. Following the failure of the putsch, he collaborated with
Fyodor Viktorovich Vinberg in forming an underground monarchist organisation. During the
October Revolution, he organized the "Committee for the Motherland's Salvation". He was joined by a number of officers, military cadets, and others. At the time, Purishkevich was living in the Hotel Russia at
Moika 60. He had a false passport under the surname "Yevreinov". On 18 November 1917, Purishkevich was arrested by the
Red Guards for his participation in a counterrevolutionary conspiracy after the discovery of a letter sent by him to General
Aleksei Maksimovich Kaledin in which he urged the Cossack leader to come and restore order in
Petrograd. He became the first person to be tried in the
Smolny Institute by the first Revolutionary Tribunal. He was given an amnesty on May 1 after the mediation of
Felix Dzerzhinsky and
Nikolay Krestinsky, as he refrained from any political activity. the party collapsed after his death. Vladimir Purishkevich died from
typhus that raged
Novorossiysk in 1920, just before the final evacuation of
Denikin's Army. ==Reputation==