Early life Kravchinskii, the son of an army doctor of
Belarusian descent and a
Ukrainian noblewoman, was born on in Novy Starodub,
Aleksandriya uezd,
Kherson Governorate,
Russian Empire (now in Ukraine). He received a liberal education, and when he left school, he went on to attend the Military academy and graduated from the
Mikhailovsky Artillery Institute before joining the
Imperial Russian Army. He reached the rank of
second lieutenant before resigning his commission in 1871.
Beginning of revolutionary activities Kravchinskii's sympathy lay with the peasants, among whom he had lived during his boyhood in the country, which led him to develop democratic, and later revolutionary opinions. He joined the
Circle of Tchaikovsky, a group of like-minded
Narodnik philosophers and political activists whose ultimate goal was the "liberation of the people." Stepniak became a member of the original St. Petersburg branch of the Circle, where he joined thirty other men and women of education, including
Pyotr Kropotkin As a member of this Circle, he began secretly to sow the sentiments of
democracy and the ideals of the Narodniks among the peasants. To this end, he participated in a precursor to the
Going to the People, when members of the Narodnik movement disguised themselves as peasants and laborers to spread the idea of revolution. Stepniak, accompanied by another member of the Circle, Dmitry Rogachev, appeared in a Tver village as woodcutters in the autumn of 1873. In November, they were tracked down by the rural police, but escaped at first, swearing to each other that they would dedicate their lives to the people. Arrested by Italian authorities after the failure of the uprising, he was threatened with
death penalty, but regained his freedom as a result of a royal
amnesty. After the killing, Kravchinskii exposed himself to danger by remaining in Russia, staying in Saint Petersburg and writing articles for the underground
Zemlya i Volya newspaper. His mind gradually turned from belief in the efficacy of violent measures to the acceptance of constitutional methods. In his last book,
King Stork and King Log, Stepniak spoke with approval of the efforts of politicians on the Liberal side to effect, by argument and peaceful agitation, a change in the attitude of the Russian government towards various reforms. Stepniak constantly wrote and lectured, both in Great Britain and the United States, in support of his views, and his energy, added to the interest of his personality, won him many friends. He was chiefly identified with the
Socialists in England and the
Social Democratic parties on the Continent; but he was regarded by people of all opinions as an agitator whose motives had always been pure and disinterested. Russian anarchist leader
Peter Kropotkin, who knew Stepniak personally, testified as to his character: He was a stranger to the feeling of fear; it was as foreign to him as colors are to a person born blind. He was ready to risk his life every moment. Egotism as well as narrow partisanship was unknown to him; he believed that in a movement to defeat oppression there are always parties and factions with differences of opinion,—"but let every party do its share in the work for the common good, the best it knows how"—he used to say—"and the result will be much greater for the cause [...]" He also could not understand why there should be strife among the various parties, since all are involved in the struggle against a common enemy. This was the result of his inborn instinct for justice. I have known but few people who have possessed this instinct developed to such a degree. [...] When he heard someone relating about an injustice, he was at once ready to annihilate the oppressor. I shall never forget the expression of his face, when I related to him the treatment our comrades had received in France and Italy. And yet he was kindness personified. Whoever knew him loved him. The children in Russia worshipped him. He spent some of the most enjoyable moments of his life in America where, surrounded by bright black faces, he taught in a negro school.
Death and memorial service Stepniak was killed by a train at a railway crossing at Woodstock Road,
Chiswick,
London, where he resided, on 23 December 1895. At the time of his untimely death, Kravchinskii had been preparing the publication of a new novel. ==Legacy==